Apr 6, 2023 - Need a Lawyer? Take Advantage of Discounts on Legal Services for CWA Members and other news

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Striking NewsGuild-CWA journalists and other CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and supporters held a demonstration last Saturday outside the residence of John Block, a member of the millionaire family that owns the publication. The workers, who have been on strike for six months, handed out yard signs and displayed their solidarity and commitment to stay out on the picket line until their demands are met.

CWAers Help Deliver Electoral Victories

In Wisconsin, Judge Janet Protasiewicz​, a staunch advocate for working families and a CWA-endorsed candidate for the open State Supreme Court seat, won her election on Tuesday. CWA members, along with a coalition of other pro-labor and pro-democracy activists, significantly contributed to this victory by mobilizing to build support throughout the campaign. Between the primary and general elections, over 50 CWA activists volunteered to participate in phone banks and reached out to hundreds of voters to communicate our endorsed candidate’s message and the impact of the election on working families.

In Chicago, CWA and other union members mobilized to build support for CWA-endorsed mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson, who won the city's runoff election on Tuesday. Johnson is an experienced union organizer, teacher, and county commissioner with a proven track record of supporting workers and communities over corporations. He supports making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share in taxes and is committed to fighting for good jobs, fully funded public schools, affordable housing, public transit, and more.

State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Graduate student Research Assistants of the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) hand delivered a letter last Thursday to President Joanie Mahoney’s office demanding voluntary recognition after a majority of them signed cards indicating their desire to form a union with CWA. Their union, ESF Research Assistants Union (RAU)-CWA, is seeking voluntary recognition.

The university relies on the Research Assistants to conduct crucial research, run labs, teach and assist students, and more. Despite the essential role they play, these workers have been saddled with severe economic hardships resulting from low pay and burdensome student fees, as well as poor working conditions, including lack of affordable and adequate healthcare coverage, workplace harassment, and being overworked without additional compensation. One of the primary challenges the Research Assistants face are the burdensome student fees they need to pay in order to perform their duties, like operating the software system through which they access their students’ assignments and submit grades. In addition to eliminating this work-to-pay culture, the workers, who currently make less than the living and minimum wage, are demanding fair compensation that reflects the value they bring to the university. Read more here.

Graduate student Research Assistants of the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) hand delivered a letter last Thursday to President Joanie Mahoney’s office demanding voluntary recognition after a majority of them signed cards indicating their desire to form a union with CWA.

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Activision Blizzard

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found merit with several elements of the unfair labor practice charges filed by CWA on behalf of workers at Blizzard who faced illegal coercion, intimidation, and silencing by their employer in August 2022. The NLRB is moving forward with prosecuting Blizzard for engaging in illegal surveillance of workers organizing in Irvine, Calif., and Albany, N.Y., and unlawfully threatening to disable standard communication platforms as part of the company’s ongoing union-busting campaign.

This egregious behavior by Blizzard is yet another example of the company using its platforms and tools to coerce and intimidate workers exercising their protected right to organize. These actions, coupled with Activision Blizzard’s illegal firing of workers speaking out about their working conditions and several other unlawful actions, show a clear pattern to disregard the law in an attempt to silence workers. CWA has filed numerous additional pending Unfair Labor Practice charges against Activision Blizzard to hold the company accountable for its illegal union-busting tactics. Read more here.

Late last month, CWA activists and staff from District 9 convened to develop strategies and plans to build power and organize the telecommunications infrastructure workforce across California. Sessions included creating a vision and crafting goals to build power within locals through internal organizing, building political power through member education and strengthening the Political Action Fund, and seeking and cultivating organizing leads at our employers’ largest non-union contractors. This member-led campaign will continue to fight to raise industry standards and level the playing field for CWA members and other workers.

CWA Broadband Brigade member Ernie Pacheco, CWA Local 9412, participated in a virtual panel discussion about creating good jobs for workers in the broadband sector. The panel discussion, hosted by the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, included leading workforce experts and focused on exploring the identification, training, and placement of marginalized workers in occupations directly and indirectly created by the deployment of high-speed broadband networks. Pacheco highlighted CWA’s Build Broadband Better campaign and the work the broadband brigade and our members are doing to close the digital divide and ensure broadband access for all while creating good jobs in the process. He also expressed why union representation is important in the broadband industry to prioritize safety, training, resources, good wages and benefits for workers, as well as higher quality of service for the communities that depend on it.

CWA Local 1170 held its annual United Way Leadership Breakfast last month. The event highlighted the Local’s workplace campaign to raise funds to support various community service organizations in the Rochester area. So far this year, they have raised over $50,000 from over 200 members and retirees. The workers’ campaign, which has been running for more than 50 years and raised millions of dollars to date, has been recognized with numerous awards and serves as a reflection of the deep ties and commitment the members have to their community.

Thanks to donations from CWA Local 1118 and other private donations, the Schenectady, N.Y., chapter of Habitat for Humanity broke ground on its 58th project, and the second in the town of Rotterdam, late last month. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that helps communities in need around the globe build or improve a place they can call home. The families that will move into homes like the one being built in Rotterdam get to play a role in building them.

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