News

CWA members at Qwest Communications voted overwhelmingly to give CWA leaders authorization to call a strike if they deem it necessary to reach a fair settlement, with 93 percent of participating members voting for authorization. The vote "demonstrates members' solid support for their bargaining team and their strong determination to achieve a fair settlement with Qwest," said District 7 Vice President Louise Caddell.

The number of CWAers signing on to the Million Member Mobilization for the Employee Free Choice Act is increasing steadily – reaching 26,802 as of Aug. 11 – as local unions have linked the importance of the legislation to the election of pro-worker candidates and critical issues like health care.

The new tentative three-year settlement with Verizon reached on Aug. 10 achieves CWA's goals of creating union jobs, securing fully paid health benefits for both active and retired workers and boosting wages and pensions for 65,000 workers in the northeast and mid-Atlantic.

As the school year is about to start, let us wish our 2008 CWA/IBEW Academic Awards Scholarship Recipients good luck as they rise to the challenges that will be before them.