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CWA District 2-13 Members Focus on Organizing During Annual Conference
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CWA members gathered last month in Linthicum Heights, Md., for the District 2-13 Conference. Approximately 100 participants from across the district attended and participated in group sessions focused on topics including grievance processes and broadband buildout.
CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis urged the attendees to focus on increasing their outreach and the positive impact they can have for workers and retirees, their families, and their communities.
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam, returning to her home district, was excited to lay out her plans for “fiscal accountability and responsiveness to the needs of our local leaders and members.” In her speech, she gave details for increasing fiscal efficiency, ease of communication for members, and cutting redundancies wherever possible.
Conference participants reported that they were leaving “reinvigorated” and ready to tackle organizing, both internally and externally, reinforcing our national push to boost organizing and mobilization efforts, especially ahead of this year’s electoral battles.
Other speakers included CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton; Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson; Kim Kelly, author of Fight Like Hell; Partner at Law Firm of Willig, Williams & Davidson, Stuart Davidson; and Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu.
Organizing Update
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Wells Fargo Workers United
Workers at a Wells Fargo branch in Albuquerque, N.M., voted in late December to join CWA’s Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU), becoming the first-ever Wells Fargo workers to form a union. In an in-person election, bankers, and tellers chose to join WFWU and take the next step towards securing a meaningful voice on the job.
Workers across branches and call centers are organizing with WFWU and the Committee for Better Banks in response to rampant understaffing, low pay, and mismanagement.
“This victory is not just for those of us working at the Albuquerque branch. It's for the customers we serve every day and for workers across Wells Fargo. This stands as a testament to workers in the financial services industry who know we need a collective voice to improve the industry we are integral to,” said Sabrina Perez, a Senior Premier Banker at Wells Fargo’s Albuquerque branch. “Our victory today is the first of many to come. Despite Wells Fargo's aggressive attempts to dissuade us, we are igniting a fire and showing our colleagues across the industry that not only is change possible, it is within reach.”
Bargaining Update
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America’s Test Kitchen
Members of CWA Local 1400 at America’s Test Kitchen ended the year with a victory, reaching a tentative agreement on their first contract. Negotiations took 14 months to complete, but after strong and sustained mobilizing by the members the result was a 3-year contract providing, among other wins, guaranteed wage increases, better health benefits, flexible time off, and a streamlined grievance process. The contract was ratified on December 21, 2023, with 95 percent of workers voting “yes.”
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eBay/TCGPlayer
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found merit in charges filed by CWA against eBay/TCGPlayer after the company refused to recognize their workers’ successful vote to form TCGUnion-CWA and stalled bargaining.
The NLRB also confirmed that eBay/TCGPlayer refused to provide information to which the union is legally entitled, made changes to sick leave benefits and other working conditions without engaging in bargaining, denied union representation to employees during disciplinary investigations, and strictly enforced work rules and policies in retaliation for the workers’ decision to form their union.
The NLRB has not yet issued a decision in this matter while it awaits the company’s response, but workers are demanding that eBay/TCGPlayer act quickly to repair the damage its union-busting has caused and end its pattern of delay tactics as workers continue to show up to bargain their first collective contract.
“When employers break the law and violate the rights of their workers, there are consequences. And when workers organize, they can stand united to protect one another. Now that the board has come to a decision on eBay’s illegal practices, we hope the company will see the light, obey labor law, and engage in good faith bargaining practices so that workers can secure a strong union contract,” said Dennis Trainor, CWA District 1 Vice President.