Workers Face “Death Trap” in Massachusetts and other news

Frontier Communications

CWA members at Frontier Communications in California, Connecticut, and New York ramped up their mobilization efforts this month, letting the company know that they were prepared to go on strike on January 15 if the company did not get serious about bargaining fair contracts.

The pressure paid off. Earlier this week, the CWA Frontier California bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with the company after months of mobilization and bargaining. The agreement includes retro pay, wage increases, and retains the current 401(k) matching.

Frontier members in Connecticut and New York have seen progress at the bargaining table but have not yet reached tentative agreements.

CWAers Rally to Protect Our Democracy

Last week, on the January 6 anniversary of the violent attack on the United States Capitol, CWA members all over the country participated in rallies to demonstrate their commitment to protecting our democracy and holding legislators accountable. The anniversary of January 6 is an unfortunate reminder of how fragile our democracy is and of the ongoing attempt to suppress the voices and rights of Black, brown, and working class voters. The CWAers joined with a coalition of other union members and community allies who continue to mobilize to advance critical voting rights legislation, eliminate the filibuster, and reform our democracy.

Clockwise from left: CWA members in New York, Arizona, and Florida joined community allies to demonstrate their commitment to protecting our democracy and hold legislators accountable for the January 6 attacks.

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CWA Political Activists Participate in Voting Rights Training and Mobilization

With the fight for voting rights expected to come to the floor of the U.S. Senate next week, CWA members from across the country are combining education with activism to deepen their understanding of the issues and put pressure on legislators to pass legislation to protect our sacred right to vote.

During their virtual sessions, the members are learning about the history of voting rights from the Civil War, through emancipation, Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. They are discussing the most recent attacks on voting rights and how the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act will ensure that voters decide the outcome of elections, not politicians.

The educational sessions are followed by phone banks to urge voters in West Virginia and Arizona to call Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to put pressure on them to support updates to the Senate rules that will allow these important bills to pass on a majority vote.

CWAers from across the country are participating in virtual voting rights training.

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Strengthening Bargaining Rights in New Jersey

For the last several weeks, CWA members in New Jersey have been going all out to fight for the Responsible Collective Negotiations Act to strengthen workers’ bargaining rights. The act expands the scope of bargaining for state government workers beyond basic topics like wages and benefits, and stops state government management from imposing their version of a contract during bargaining with employees. It also allows unions to charge non-union members for the cost of arbitration.

With time running out to get this bill passed, members sent over 700 emails to their New Jersey State legislators, urging them to stand with workers and strengthen our collective bargaining rights. That hard work paid off on Monday, when legislators voted to pass the Responsible Collective Negotiations Act in the Senate (23-14) and Assembly (49-27-1).

This is a huge win for our 30,000 State Worker members in New Jersey, and will have a big impact on our bargaining power going forward!

CWA public sector workers in Colorado, members of CWA Local 7799, have launched a campaign to pass state legislation that would expand the right to collectively bargain for all public workers, giving them a real seat at the table to fight for better working conditions. Collective bargaining would provide the framework for nurses to bargain for safe staffing ratios to make sure that they can give the best medical care; educators to bargain for more resources so that every student can get the education they deserve, and much more. Over the coming months, the members will share their stories on social media, write letters to the editor, lobby state lawmakers, and mobilize community members who care about public workers and public institutions to show their support for this legislation that will benefit all Coloradans.

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