Aug 31, 2023 - Marching for Jobs and Freedom

Once again, CWA members and retirees in District 3 are being impacted by the destructive effects of a major hurricane. Yesterday, Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida, causing power outages and extensive flooding. Among those most affected are members of CWA Local 3179 who provide essential services for the hard-hit cities of Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg Beach, and Port Richey. The storm will also impact other areas throughout the Southeast.

Please consider contributing to the CWA District 3 Disaster Relief fund. Click here for information on how to contribute online or via check.

Frontier Members Win Job Security, Raises in Tentative Agreement in W. Va. and Ashburn, Va.

After three months of negotiations and member mobilization, CWA members in West Virginia and Ashburn, Va., have reached a tentative agreement with Frontier Communications for a new four-year contract. The contract achieves significant wage increases, preserves existing job security language, and maintains quality health and welfare benefits for 1,400 CWA members. In addition, Frontier has committed to creating additional jobs and a long-term work at home agreement.

CWA members at Frontier built power for negotiations through mobilization activities across the state, from tailgate rallies to coordinated t-shirt and digital actions for the work-at-home members. In July, members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if necessary, backed up by visible member mobilization. During the final week of negotiations, members stood strong against pressure from the company for concessions on post-Medicare retiree benefits and increased their power at the bargaining table by choosing to work without a contract.

At a time when West Virginia is slated to receive $1.2 billion from the bipartisan federal infrastructure bill to invest in expanding broadband internet access, this tentative agreement will keep good jobs in local communities while building high quality networks that strengthen local economies. Read more.

TVO Workers Strike Against Public Sector Gig Work

Public television workers in Ontario, Canada are on strike against TVO, a public media agency and Canada’s oldest educational television service. Members of the Canadian Media Guild (CMG-CWA Local 30213) have been on strike for 10 days as members fight to prevent public sector jobs from being turned into gig work.

Ontario’s Ministry of Education has given the order to create only temporary contract jobs at TVO, even if the work is permanent in nature. By keeping workers in precarious contracts, TVO is denying workers health benefits, dismantling job security, and impairing the stability needed to deliver strong public services for all Ontarians.

As public sector workers, CMG-CWA members believe in fighting wealth inequality, not widening it with temporary contract work and wage increases for dedicated public servants that do not keep up with the rate of inflation. Read more.

Striking TVO workers picket with the support of the public and fellow union members.

On August 26th, over 300 CWA activists gathered in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. CWA activists from across the country attended this historic event and members rode into our nation’s capital on buses from New York, New Jersey, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, and beyond!

During a kickoff rally at CWA Headquarters activists heard from Executive Board Member and CWA Local 9412 President Keith Gibbs, Telecommunications and Technologies President Lisa Bolton, and Human Rights Director Angie Wells. A group of workers who are organizing with CWA at federal call center contractor Maximus addressed the crowd, sharing information about their fight for equitable pay and a voice on the job. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam and Public, Health and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook also joined the rally and the march.

Activists wrote postcards in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, the PRO Act, and the fight for a living wage.

Our members then marched from Headquarters to the Lincoln Memorial to let their voices be heard and continue the rich tradition of labor and civil rights activism. One of the workers from Maximus, Tonya Jackson, spoke from the stage, saying, “At the original March on Washington, the marchers called for the federal government to make sure everyone had access to good jobs with fair wages and that people weren’t discriminated against. How is it OK in 2023 that we work for the federal government and we can’t afford to pay our bills, and the CEO of our company took home more than six million dollars last year?” You can watch Jackson’s full speech here and check out a CWA highlight reel on Facebook or TikTok.

CWA activists from across the country traveled to Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

CWA members in Florida aren’t backing down. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state legislature passed legislation earlier this year that was designed to destroy public sector unions in the state, and they are more determined than ever to make their voices heard and improve their working conditions.

Earlier this month members of CWA Local 3179 who work for the City of Clearwater and their allies testified at a city council meeting about working conditions that make them feel undervalued, underpaid and unsafe. These workers who helped Clearwater residents prepare for Hurricane Idalia this week are now essential to restoring critical services.

“I worked for the city for 20 years,” Local 3179 Steward Jason Wallace told the council members. “We still don't have decent wages. The cost of living has skyrocketed. The people who make this city bright and beautiful every day have to fight for crumbs. In fact, y'all gave yourself a raise. Why can I get one? We demand safety, fair wages and respect.”

The new legislation bans paycheck dues deduction for public sector unions, so local members have been holding regular worksite meetings and phone banks to ensure that represented workers know what to do to prevent a lapse in their membership. They are also strengthening the union by building leadership through regular steward trainings.

CWA Local 3179 members and allies attended a recent city council meeting to testify about working conditions that make them feel undervalued, underpaid and unsafe and have been phone banking members to strengthen their union.

This month members of CWA’s Broadband Brigade have been attending conferences to promote safety training and workforce development initiatives.

CWA’s OSHA Authorized Construction Trainer Bob Gourdie from Local 13000 and Broadband Brigade Lead for Maryland Marcus Chambers from Local 2108 attended the NTCA/The Rural Broadband Association’s annual HR & Benefits Conference in National Harbor, Maryland this month to promote a new, nationwide OSHA-10 Construction training CWA is offering for free to broadband technicians involved in fiber network deployment. Many construction job sites require workers to have an OSHA-10 Construction card, making it a valuable asset for workers and employers. CWA’s OSHA-10 Construction class is targeted specifically for broadband and will be taught by CWA OSHA Authorized trainers who are experienced technicians.

CWA and NTCA entered a partnership through President Biden’s 2022 Talent Pipeline Challenge that committed our organizations to promote safety training and apprenticeship to rural broadband providers. This month’s conference was the first opportunity to put that partnership into practice.

Louisiana Brigade Lead Matt Wood from Local 3411 represented CWA on the “State of the Labor Pool Ahead of BEAD” panel at the Fiber Broadband Association’s Fiber Connect 2023 Conference. He explained the high labor standards required for funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program and the role union labor can play in meeting the need for trained, experienced workers to build high quality fiber networks.

Ohio Brigade Lead Joe Snyder from Local 4302 also attended the Fiber Connect conference. He met with state broadband officials from several states to discuss their plans for procuring and utilizing BEAD funds and connected with the Fiber Broadband Associations’ Workforce Development staff to discuss building out training and apprenticeship programs at the state and county levels.

“There is still much work to do,” said Snyder, “But it was incredible to see so many providers, operators, manufacturers, and industry professionals come together and discuss the common goal of conquering the digital divide.”

Members of CWA’s Broadband Brigade promoted safety training and workforce development at the Fiber Connect 2023 Conference (left) and the NTCA/The Rural Broadband Association’s annual HR & Benefits Conference (right).

Members of CWA’s Broadband Brigade in Washington are spreading the word about the need for affordable broadband and good jobs in our communities with a new digital advertisement. The ad features CWA Local 7803 President Darrin Hartman explaining the importance of using well trained, local workers for broadband infrastructure projects and encouraging viewers to ask state officials to create broadband deployment plans that ensure federal funds go toward building lasting infrastructure and creating good jobs. Watch the ad here.

Meow Wolf Omega Mart

The workers of Meow Wolf Omega Mart in Las Vegas, Nev., announced this week that they are joining the Meow Wolf Workers Collective (MWWC-CWA). The workers have demanded recognition from their employer.

In the past three years, 450 artists and workers at Meow Wolf locations in Santa Fe, N.M., and Denver, Colo., have joined CWA. Omega Mart is the third of the company’s four locations to form a union with CWA.

Meow Wolf is an immersive arts and entertainment company that was founded as an artist collective. For the artists and production workers, their union is a collaborative force that holds the now-corporate Meow Wolf true to its progressive roots as a collective dedicated to making radical art. Together, the workers and artists of the Meow Wolf Workers Collective are working to make Meow Wolf a beacon for working creatives around the world.

More Organizing

Workers have also been organizing to join CWA at International Game Technology in Pueblo, Colorado and Denver Urban Gardens in Denver, Colorado.

Workers at MAZON, a nonprofit working to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel, won voluntary recognition for their union, CWA Local 9003/MAZON-United.

Workers at non-profit publisher Public Library of Science (PLOS) won their election to join the Pacific Media Workers Guild (TNG-CWA Local 39521).