Aug 20, 2020 - Workers Can't Sit This One Out

On Tuesday, postal workers and other union members will take action across America with one clear message – #SaveThePostOffice.

In mid-July, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy implemented policies that slowed down and delayed the mail, including arbitrarily canceling overtime and limiting mail transportation runs. Mobilization by postal union workers, public outcry, and hearings called by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee resulted in a temporary suspension of those policies, but the threat to mail service remains high.

Postal workers are making three immediate demands of our elected officials and of Postmaster General DeJoy:

• Provide at least $25 billion in immediate support for the Postal Service.
• Permanently end the mail slowdown policies introduced by Postmaster General DeJoy.
• Ensure public confidence in voting-by-mail by providing all necessary resources to ensure the most timely delivery of election mail possible.

What You Can Do:

The House of Representatives will be returning from August recess to vote on a bill that would provide $25 billion in financial relief to the Postal Service. Call 844-477-7651 to tell your Representative to vote Yes.

Show your support and solidarity on Tuesday, August 25. Join the day of action by sharing stories and pictures demonstrating what the USPS means to you, and post them on social media using the hashtags #SaveThePostOffice and #ProtectOurVote. And tag @CWAUnion so we can share them too!

Visit www.apwu.org/savepostoffice for more information on what’s at stake and how to get involved.

Denver Public Schools

Last week, after three days of bargaining, more than 1,000 emails to the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education from members, multiple press events, an op-ed, and countless other actions, all seven Education Support Professionals’ (ESP) unions within DPS, including CWA Local 7777, reached a tentative agreement with the district that provides equitable pay increases as educational support staff face the new, challenging reality of providing service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agreement includes an additional 3% towards salary, including steps, COLA, and longevity, for ESPs in the 2020-21 school year and an additional 0.5% in January if a tax levy passes in November.

This agreement was won because, for the first time ever, all seven ESP unions bargained together in solidarity. The school district's initial offer was around 1% for ESP groups. The unions stood strong and moved the district to an agreement that honors the work of our members.

On a Zoom call this week, CWA kicked off the final phase of the CWA Votes 2020 program to get out the vote for pro-worker candidates. In addition to working hard to turn back Trump's anti-worker tide by electing Joe Biden, CWA members have been focusing their efforts on key Senate races to flip the Senate over the past year – a push that is particularly important as Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have shamelessly blocked crucial aid like the HEROES Act for working people during the pandemic.

 

On the call, CWA President Chris Shelton, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, and CWA activists in key electoral states highlighted just how crucial the final push is towards repairing the damage that Trump and COVID-19 have done to our communities.

"The difference between succeeding in this election and failing could not be greater. We need to do every last thing that we can to win this election in the time between now and Election Day," said CWA President Chris Shelton.

"Donald Trump sold American workers a phony populism to make them feel like he was on their side, and he betrayed them," said Senator Sherrod Brown. "When you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work – that's what CWA workers do every day, and it's what we are all going to do between now and November."

"If we want real change next year and real progress for working people, we need to not only elect the top of the ticket – we need to flip the Senate," said Fernando Roman, Executive Vice President of CWA Local 7026 in Tucson. "Here in Arizona, CWA members are working hard to make sure we elect Mark Kelly in November so we can actually pass pro-worker legislation like the PRO Act, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, the HEROES Act, and other critical aid to help our nation recover from the pandemic.

"The Trump administration has been a disaster for working people. His union-busting NLRB has been dismantling workers' rights to organize, and he's completely abandoned us during the pandemic," said Meeca Miller-Brooks, a member of IUE-CWA Local 84758 from Dayton, Ohio. "The choice couldn't be more clear in November for union members. IUE-CWA members in Ohio and across the country will be working hard to elect Biden-Harris in November."

Check out highlights from the call at https://www.facebook.com/cwa.political/posts/3148218391962374 and visit CWAPolitical.org to find out how you can get involved.

This week, members of the United Campus Workers of Georgia-CWA (UCWGA-CWA) held a week of action to protest the unsafe reopening of campuses. UCWGA-CWA members called for the Board of Regents to set policies that allow a safer and more equitable return to campus during the pandemic, including providing masks, not requiring face-to-face interaction in the Fall, and providing free COVID-19 testing for the entire campus community. UCWGA-CWA includes staff, faculty, and students on University System of Georgia (USG) campuses.

USG has made national headlines lately, and not in a good way. Recently revealed documents show that USG's private housing "partner," Corvias Campus Living, LLC, is pressuring the USG Board of Regents to prematurely open campuses, putting students, workers, and communities at risk. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) have asked Corvias for more information about the nature of its partnerships at USG and other campuses across the country. Corvias opposes the idea of students studying remotely or reducing dorm capacity because it will lose money if USG dorms are empty.

UCWGA-CWA members held a week of action where they protested the unsafe reopening of campuses across the state.

CWA members in New York are incredibly disappointed with the staffing study that the N.Y. State Health Department released last Friday night, eight months past the given deadline. This study adds further insult to injury to all the healthcare heroes who, just months after fighting in the trenches against a global pandemic, are desperate for the state to take decisive action to address the dangerous and urgent crisis of staffing in our healthcare facilities.

As the COVID-19 crisis has shown us, adequate staffing can mean the difference between life and death. If implemented uniformly throughout New York, safe staffing would improve patient outcomes, save lives, and increase the state's capacity to respond to future public health emergencies. The DOH report completely ignores the reality of frontline healthcare workers. CWA members in District 1 remain committed to fighting for statewide mandated staffing ratios in hospitals and nursing homes.

Last October, CWA members testified in NYC on the importance of safe staffing before the Department of Health and rallied outside along with members of the New York State Nurses Association, the Public Employees Federation, and several elected officials and community allies.

 

Check out this video produced by NowThis featuring veterans who want a safe way to vote in November, including two CWA members – Angel Wells, a U.S. Army veteran who works for AT&T and is a member of CWA Local 7050 in Mesa, Ariz., and U.S Navy Veteran Bruno Pavone, who works as a Wire Technician at AT&T and is a shop steward for CWA Local 3611 in North Carolina.

CWA released a report recently analyzing the public-private partnership between the City of San Diego and Verizon. The report finds that the partnership was executed as a backroom deal that stands to benefit the company instead of centering the connectivity needs of all San Diegans. The report also highlights how the agreement fails San Diego workers.

Help us spread the word about how 5G has been built wrong for San Diego by sharing these posts on Facebook and Twitter.

Join your union family for a Democratic National Convention virtual watch party tonight. The pre-program starts at 8 pm EDT and the watch party begins at 9 pm. During tonight's program, Joe Biden will formally accept the Democratic nomination for President and speak about his vision for uniting America to move us forward out of constant chaos and crisis.

Visit www.mobilize.us/joebiden/event/298810/ for more information and to register.