Volume 86 | Spring 2026

CWA News Spring 2026

CWA Is Leading a Worker-Centered Approach to AI and the Future

As artificial intelligence reshapes our jobs faster than lawmakers respond, union contracts are the most effective way workers can set rules for the future of work. CWA is developing strategies to empower workers in the age of AI.

It’s in Your Contract: How CWA Members are Shaping AI Through the Power of a Union Contract

Advances in artificial intelligence may be moving fast, but CWA’s union contracts are moving faster. While lawmakers debate and corporate executives experiment, CWA members are using the power of collective bargaining to write enforceable rules for how AI is implemented on the job.

graphic design of a robot giving phone support

The Union Difference in Telecom Builds on Past Fights Over Workplace Technology

Telecommunications workers have always been at the center of the fight for good jobs. We responded to technology-driven job destruction by organizing workers for internet and wireless communications. Today, CWA members are again on the forefront of a technological revolution, having used AI tools on the job long before the general public first heard of ChatGPT.

two CWA members rally against the use of artificial intelligence

People-Powered Principles for AI

CWA has taken a member-led approach to AI, harnessing the expertise of CWAers with direct experience working with AI programs from diverse industries, including call centers, telecommunications, journalism, airlines, manufacturing, tech, and the public sector.

1991 photo of CWA Local 3806 members marching for Operator Awareness Week in Memphis

The Historical Fight for Skilled, Human Labor

From switchboards to software, CWAers have always been on the frontlines of the fight to protect the dignity of work against the siren’s call of cost-cutting through automation and new technologies.