Feb 15, 2024 - DIRECTV Bargaining Opens in CWA District 9

Last week, the CWA District 9 DIRECTV (DTV) Field Operations Bargaining Committee opened negotiations for a new contract. Amongst other demands, members are seeking wage increases, pension contribution increases, improved medical benefits, and more funding for education. The current agreement expires on April 6.

In a letter to members, CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce encouraged members to participate in mobilization efforts, writing, “We must influence the decision-makers at DTV that bringing in a timely, just, and fair contract is the only route to take. We do this by Mobilizing. Your local will be rolling out a comprehensive mobilization plan so that we can all engage and let DTV know we will not accept anything less than a fair and just Contract.”

CWA District 9 will open contract negotiations with AT&T West on February 21.

AFA-CWA Flight Attendants joined a worldwide day of action with pickets at over 30 airports around the globe. They are seeking better contracts with improved wages and flexible working hours.

CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister made the case that clean jobs must be union jobs in a White House Roundtable on Clean Bus Manufacturing last week.

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $11 billion to support purchasing American-made, low- or no-emission buses. The funding supports good union jobs for CWA members manufacturing clean buses at New Flyer facilities in Crookston, Minn.; St. Cloud, Minn.; and Jamestown, N.Y. New Flyer was awarded over $200 million in competitive grant awards in 2023 and was represented at the roundtable by CEO Paul Soubry.

The roundtable brought together U.S. transit agencies, bus manufacturers, labor unions, and other stakeholders to focus on ensuring U.S. capacity to manufacture clean transit buses at the scale and pace needed to meet market demand and achieve national climate and equity goals.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. attended the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s annual “Black Men in Unions” Conference last week where he delivered the keynote address. His speech focused on the history of Black participation in the labor force and the strides Black men have made in the fight for equality. He urged Black men not only to participate in their unions but also in civic organizations and in the political process.

“The work we have to do right now is vote,” said President Cummings. “That’s our key. We have to put people who share our values of family, freedom, and fairness in positions of power so they can make sure those values are reflected in our laws and policies.” He concluded by saying, “Nobody is coming to fix this. We have to fix it ourselves.”

Other CWA members who presented at the conference included Dorethea Brown Maxey, President of NABET-CWA Local 54043 in Detroit, and Micah McClure, Senior Campaign Lead with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

The University of Michigan’s Black Men in Unions Institute is part of the university’s Center for Labor and Community Studies. Click here to learn more about the Institute.

 
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered the keynote address at the University of Michigan’s Black Men in Unions Conference.

Last week, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. joined fellow union presidents, airport service workers, and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) for a press conference to demand Congress include the Good Jobs for Good Airports (GJGA) bill as an amendment to the larger FAA reauthorization bill. The bill would establish federal minimum standards for pay, benefits, and working conditions for all essential airport service and passenger service workers, who currently have none.

For CWA’s 20,000 represented passenger service workers, the GJGA would help bridge the pay gap between regional and mainline workers by setting wage minimums based on the airport’s location. It would mean that our skilled workforce can afford to live where they work.

“Airport workers kept our economy moving and our flights in the air, despite the risks, all while being overworked and underpaid,” said President Cummings. “It is time to make sure that our frontline aviation workers get compensated fairly for all they do to make our transportation system work.”

Following the press conference, the GJGA amendment was withdrawn from the FAA reauthorization bill, but advocacy from union leaders resulted in an amendment to require the Comptroller General conduct an "analysis of the airport service workforce and its impact and importance to the aviation economy." CWA passenger service agents and AFA-CWA Flight Attendants are urging Congress to pass the FAA reauthorization bill before its current extension expires on March 8.

All of the members of the Georgia State Senate Democratic Caucus wore red bandanas last week in solidarity with CWA members who are leading the fight against an anti-union bill. The bill would make companies that respect their workers’ right to form unions through voluntary recognition ineligible for state economic incentives.

Last week, our CWA family lost brother Kevin Torres, an AT&T worker who passed away while on the job in Miami Beach, Fla. The circumstances of his death are still under investigation. Kevin is survived by his mother and sister.

CWA Local 3122 has put together a GoFundMe to support his family during this difficult time.

 
Kevin Torres of CWA Local 3122 passed away while working in Miami Beach, Fla. He is survived by his mother and sister.