Sep 21, 2023 - Skeletons at the Bargaining Table

CWAer Testifies Before Congress to Protect Public Investment in Union Jobs

Yesterday, CWA Local 7304 member Veronica Puentes testified before Congress for public investments that support union jobs.

When Veronica first walked into the New Flyer plant in Crookston, Minn., for her first day of a union job 12 years ago, she thought she might work there for a year. Now, Veronica credits God and her union for transforming her life. Once a returning citizen looking for a second chance, Veronica has found purpose and a better life through her union, becoming a union steward and a homeowner.

As Congressional Republicans threaten to shut down the government at the end of the month unless they are allowed to slash the budget, Veronica offered powerful testimony to protect critical investments made through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) because so many are benefiting from the good union jobs created by the investments from these laws.

“Thanks to the incentives and investments provided by the IIJA and IRA, our facility has been busy filling orders for electric buses for transportation systems across the country and workers no longer stress about losing their jobs,” Veronica testified. “I am a prime example of how unions can be a life-changing opportunity for someone struggling to get by. Congress must ensure that all jobs created through federal investment are union jobs that will provide workers with a good quality of life.”

Watch Veronica’s testimony before Congress.

CWA Local 7304 member Veronica Puentes with Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Budget Committee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) after delivering her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget.

###

No Tax Breaks for Union Busters

This week, U.S. House of Representatives members Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), and Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.) introduced the No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act to end the ability of corporations to deduct union busting expenses from their taxes. A similar bill has also been introduced in the U.S. Senate.

“Giving tax breaks for union busting adds insult to injury,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “Corporations spend millions to prevent workers from joining together to demand what we are due – family-supporting wages, good benefits, and reasonable work schedules. For the U.S. Government to subsidize these attempts to silence working people is unconscionable. Congress must do everything in its power to crack down on union busting and ensure that all workers who want to form a union have a chance to do so.”

In recent decades, as union busting activity has exploded, corporations have profited by deducting the ever increasing expenses of union busting from their federal taxes. Employers now collectively spend over $430 million per year on “union avoidance” consultants alone – not counting untold millions more on anti-union advertising campaigns and mandatory “captive audience” meetings where workers are forced to listen to anti-union propaganda. Despite this activity being directly opposed to the stated purpose of the National Labor Relations Act, companies are allowed to deduct all of these expenses from their federal taxes just like any ordinary business expenses.

Learn more about the bill here.

American Airlines

CWA-IBT passenger service agents at American Airlines are sending out an S.O.S: Save Our Scope.

During the twelfth round of negotiations between the CWA-IBT bargaining team and American Airlines management last week, the company proposed to pay industry wages so agents are not behind Delta and United Airlines. However, the company also proposed the scope and work rules also match Delta and United. Delta does not have a union and has no protection of scope while United's protections are not as strong as the CWA-IBT proposal. There are also concerns about technology at the airports and reservations.

Share this image on social media in solidarity with CWA-IBT members in their fight for a contract that secures both fair pay and job security.

###

YouTube Music

Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009 members who work at YouTube Music went on a one-day unfair labor practice strike against Google and its contractor Cognizant yesterday after Google announced that it will not bargain with workers, despite a National Labor Relations Board decision recognizing Google as their employer.

“Once again, Google’s stated company values are at odds with its behavior. Google claims that it respects its workers’ right to organize. However, when it comes time for them to actually meet unionized workers like us at the bargaining table—they are nowhere to be found,” said Liana Hernandez, a member of AWU-CWA who works on the YouTube Music Content Operations team.

You can watch the video of the event here.

At a press conference and rally, the workers, who were joined by Texas AFL-CIO president Rick Levy, set up a table with large skeletons to represent Google and Cognizant’s refusal to come to the bargaining table.

###

The Second City Canada

Comedy educators at The Second City Canada ratified their first contract agreement earlier this month. The workers, who are members of CWA Local 30112 (AICE Canada), teach performance, writing, and communication skills at The Second City's Toronto location.

The agreement addresses a range of important issues, including wages, pedagogical training, scheduling, health and safety, and professional development.

"This is a big step for comedy educators at The Second City," said Lisa Merchant, Interim President of Local 30112. "Many have long enjoyed passing on their experience and skills to upcoming generations of talent. We look forward to carrying on that tradition in an environment that fosters respect for its workers. This agreement helps us bolster the progressive and healthy work environment in which everyone upholds Second City's reputation for comedic excellence.”

Second City educators in Los Angeles, members of CWA Local 9505, and Chicago, represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, have been fighting for their own first contracts for over 600 days. You can support their fight by signing their petition.

SkyWest Airlines

On September 13, SkyWest management illegally fired Flight Attendant union activists Shane Price and Tresa Grange in an attempt to intimidate Flight Attendants who are working to form a union with AFA-CWA at SkyWest.

Shane and Tresa uncovered a serious security flaw in the company-sponsored voting system used by the company union and heroically stood up for what was right to alert their coworkers to the issue while demonstrating how easily votes can be manipulated. SkyWest is using their whistleblowing as pretext to fire these two prominent leaders on the union drive. But the company shouldn’t be involved in “union voting” at all.

The AFA-CWA legal department is addressing these illegal firings, but enforcement rests with the federal courts and management may hope it can get away with their illegal actions long enough to stop Flight Attendants from organizing and gaining the right to collectively bargain.

Support the Flight Attendants organizing at SkyWest by signing their petition demanding that SkyWest immediately rehire Shane and Tresa. Let’s show them that we have their back.

###

Verity Credit Union

Employees of Verity Credit Union in Seattle have announced that they are forming a union with CWA as part of the Committee for Better Banks project. The workers are frustrated by pay inequities and limited opportunities for advancement at the Credit Union and are concerned about possible limits on remote work.

"Our whole goal of starting this union has been to make Verity a better place to work…If you're going to say that 'people come before the bottom line' is a part of your values, I think it's important that your actions back that up," Verity call center representative Jessica Ufland told American Banker.

Management has launched an anti-union campaign at the credit union, including illegally restricting the distribution of leaflets.

###

Update: Meow Wolf Omega Mart

The management of Meow Wolf Omega Mart in Las Vegas, Nev., has agreed to recognize the Meow Wolf Workers Collective (MWWC-CWA Local 7055) after a majority of workers signed cards requesting union representation. They will join over 450 artists and workers at Meow Wolf locations in Santa Fe, N.M., and Denver, Colo.

The workers will now elect a bargaining team and survey workers to determine which issues they most want to address in an agreement.

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.