Flight Attendants Stage Nationwide Pickets for Better Pay & Benefits

Members of the Pittsburgh NewsGuild (TNG-CWA Local 38061) and CWA Locals 14842 and 14827, along with members of Teamsters Local 205/211 and Pressmen’s Union GCC/IBT Local 24M/9N, have been on strike for over 14 months, fighting for fair working conditions at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. For yet another holiday season, these brave strikers are maintaining their picket lines and their solidarity during the longest-running current strike in the U.S.

In Pittsburgh, dozens of supporters came together to raise funds to support the strikers and their families with a ‘Tis the Season for Solidarity bake sale, sponsored by United Steelworkers (USW) Local 3657’s fundraising and organizing committees along with USW District 10. Supporters across the country have shown their solidarity by sharing messages of support and purchasing holiday gifts from the Strike Santa registry.

You can help the strikers and their families find a little joy this season by donating a gift from the Strike Santa registry. Striking members listed gifts for their loved ones, hoping to spread some holiday spirit and normalcy.

“It is not easy to ask for things when you have been used to working for a living, and many of us are more accustomed to giving rather than receiving,” said Joseph Knupsky, a striking Sports Desk Editor. “However, this year, we find ourselves in a different situation.”

So, if you can, Post-Gazette strikers would be grateful for your donation and generosity in the spirit of the season.

Top: Striking photojournalist Emily Matthews greets supporters at a bake sale fundraiser.

Bottom: Striking copy editor Karen Carlin (left) shares holiday cheer with supporters.

Over the past week, Flight Attendants with United and Alaska Airlines, both represented by AFA-CWA, staged multiple actions at airports across the country. Both groups, who are in the middle of contract negotiations, expressed similar frustrations over staffing, pay, and benefits.

Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants also announced that they will take a strike vote after mounting frustrations in mediated negotiations. Just months after stating that Flight Attendant proposals were not “economically feasible,” Alaska management announced plans to purchase Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion. The hypocrisy angered Flight Attendants, who responded with pickets at eight major airports nationwide.

“The truth is Alaska management can afford an industry-leading contract,” said Jeffrey Peterson, president of the Alaska chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “Management’s unwillingness to present adequate proposals brought us to this strike vote announcement. Our quality of life is non-negotiable. We will not accept terms that leave us falling even further behind the industry for years to come. Enough. If you want to PLAY like a big airline, you need to PAY like one. It’s time for Alaska to pay us, or CHAOS.”

The acronym “CHAOS™” stands for “Create Havoc Around Our System.” With CHAOS, Flight Attendants decide when and how to strike without notice to management or passengers, either across the system or on a single flight. This method was used by Alaska Flight Attendants during their 1993-1994 contract dispute.

Similarly, United Airlines Flight Attendants took to the picket line last week, demonstrating at nineteen airports around the world. After decades of austerity and delayed improvements, United Flight Attendants are demanding a fair contract.

“Flight Attendants kept United in the air during the biggest crisis our industry has ever faced,” said Ken Diaz, President of the AFA United Master Executive Council. “We served our passengers through extreme challenges—the pandemic, a rash of unruly passenger behavior, and operational meltdowns. It’s time for United to stop playing games and negotiate a fair contract that recognizes our contribution to this airline’s record success.”

“We’ve been at the table for over two years while United management’s heads were in the clouds,” said Diaz. “We’re done being disrespected. We’re going to negotiate a contract that reflects our contribution to this company, and we’re not going to let management delay any longer.”

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. on the picket line in Houston with United Airlines Flight Attendants.

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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendants gathered at San Diego Airport to demand better pay.

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Flight Attendants and supporters rallied outside of John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif.

Last week, workers at the Southern California News Group (SCNG), including journalists, photographers, and other staff, staged a one-day strike to voice their frustration with management over slow contract negotiations. The workers formed a union, the SCNG Guild, part of the Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213) on June 11, 2021, and have yet to reach an agreement with management. Workers cite low pay, short staffing, and unsustainable work loads, with many employees making just above minimum wage and needing second jobs to make ends meet. SCNG is owned by Alden Global Capital, a vulture hedge fund known for destroying America’s newsrooms.

Josh Cain, SCNG Guild Vice-President, spoke to Spectrum News saying, “We are tired. We are tired of the cuts. We’re tired of waiting for a deal. It’s been long enough.”

“We want to bargain and bargain in good faith,” Cain said. “We’re not going to strike for multiple days. We want to send a message to the company…we’re ready to walk out but still want to bargain.”

Last week, CWA’s Broadband Brigade brought workers’ feedback on infrastructure spending through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program directly to the White House. Throughout the process, the Biden Administration has sought the input of workers to ensure that federal funding is used to build broadband the right way, creating good jobs and high-quality, reliable connections.

The Brigade met with senior Biden Administration leadership, including Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, and officials responsible for overseeing the BEAD program. During the meeting, the Brigade members provided feedback on the quality of the plans established by states to meet the goals set out by the Commerce Department to ensure that that money targeting telecom infrastructure goes to companies that employ well-trained union workers and not low-road contractors.

They also spoke to the problems of the digital divide and why it is so important to expand the Affordable Connectivity Program and make it permanent so that CWA members can continue to extend broadband connectivity to underserved and low-income communities.

While in Washington, D.C., the Brigade also met with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), and staff for Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) to discuss CWA priorities on broadband.

Members of the Broadband Brigade address senior Biden Administration officials during a White House visit.

CWA Next Generation members and the Human Rights Department are working together to educate and engage as many young members as possible in an effort to expose the historic and ongoing connections between union busting and racial and gender bias. Earlier this month, members of CWA Next Generation participated in the Building an Anti-Racist Union Training at CWA Local 7050 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Lillian Coon, a member of AFA-CWA Local 24063, and Tayqwoiseceyon “Tay” Akins, a member of CWA Local 7050, are members of the Next Generation Confronting Bias Team, a partnership with CWA’s Human Rights Department. The training, developed by CWA’s Committee on Human Rights and Equity, was facilitated by Will Lykes, an Area Vice President with CWA Local 7050, and Civil Rights and Equity Committee member Vonda Wilkins, Executive Vice President of CWA Local 7019.

According to Akins, “I was inspired by this training because it helped me recognize that despite all the adversities I’ve faced, I’m able to fight for, speak up for, and be an example of the change we want to see. This class doesn’t only educate young activists but also gives us a safe space to talk about the real struggles we face as minorities, whether at work, in our unions, or in the community.”

CWA Next Generation members attended the Building an Anti-Racist Union training hosted by CWA Local 7050 in Phoenix, Ariz.

Last week, the United Campus Workers of Kentucky (CWA Local 3365) and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KyPolicy) released their report, When Higher Ed Is a Lower Priority: Kentucky Campus Workers Sound the Alarm, highlighting the precarious climate for Kentucky higher education workers and the resulting consequences for the education system. This includes rising tuition costs as universities squeeze students to make up funding gaps and compromises to the quality of education that overtaxed instructors can offer. Expanding class sizes and an increasing shift towards online schooling make learning more difficult for students, while many workers at Kentucky’s universities and colleges struggle to make ends meet.

The report, which surveyed campus employees from Kentucky’s eight public universities and the state’s community college network, reveals stagnant pay, insufficient benefits, chronic understaffing, and cuts to tenure track positions as dire threats to workers’ wellbeing on campuses. These hostile working conditions, due in large part to cuts from Kentucky’s General Assembly, threaten the quality of public higher education in the state as workers under duress struggle to meet administrative demands.

Ultimately, UCW-KY and KyPolicy identified support for campus worker unions as a critical component for improving the state of higher education and its associated working conditions. UCW-KY, a wall-to-wall union representing campus workers across the state, is one such union already fighting for higher education employees. With chapters at Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky Community and Technical College System, Murray State University, University of Kentucky, and University of Louisville, UCW-KY is advancing campus workers’ ability to enjoy job security, pay increases, and essential health benefits.

Night Owls Print Shop

Last week, workers at Night Owls Print Shop in Houston, Texas, won an NLRB union election with over 70 percent support to join CWA Local 6222. With the support of Local 6222 President-elect Belinda Aguilar and CWA District 6 staff, the Night Owls union organizing committee battled through a grueling anti-union campaign that involved the illegal termination of an organizing committee member. Management hired anti-union consultants to scare workers and spread misinformation in anti-union meetings. The organizing committee held strong, however, with a focused message of support for one another and a path to improving conditions for workers. Night Owl employees now have a voice in their workplace, and CWA has filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge to get the organizing committee member rehired.

This past weekend, CWAers from District 4 came together to provide food for families in Franklin County, Ohio. Members and retirees participated in “Christmas Cares, Unions Share,” an annual event hosted by the St. Stephen’s Community House and the Central Ohio Labor Council. Through their efforts, these volunteers helped to prepare food boxes for more than 3,000 families in need, reflecting a commitment to the spirit of giving and community solidarity.

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CWAers in District 4 participated in “Christmas Cares, Unions Share,” preparing holiday meals.