Mar 28, 2024 - CWA Members Fight Healthcare Cuts

CWA Members Reach Landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement at SEGA

CWA Local 9510 members at SEGA of America voted to ratify their first collectively bargained contract on Tuesday. The contract covers 150 full-time and temporary employees across a range of job titles, including designers, translators, editors, producers, quality assurance testers, marketing managers, and more.

"This is a watershed moment for workers in the video game industry. We've proven that a collectively bargained contract with substantial improvements and protections is possible even when management takes an initially hostile stance toward worker organizing. We’re hopeful that in the midst of extensive layoffs, workers across the video game industry will see organizing as a pathway to improve working conditions for all of us,” said Local 9510 member Jasmin Hernandez, a Short-Form Animation Production Manager at SEGA.

The ratified contract includes raises that ensure equitable compensation across titles and departments, layoff protections, requirements to provide notice of planned use of AI, and more.

"Workers in the video game industry have contributed to the success of multiple games and companies that have become household names. Yet, that hasn’t translated into the fair wages, job stability, or career trajectories they deserve. Workers at SEGA of America have just shown what is possible by standing together to demand the respect their hard work has earned," said CWA Local 9510 President Peter O'Brien.

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CWA District 2-13 Reaches Dual Tentative Agreements with Comcast

Members of CWA District 2-13’s bargaining teams have been hard at work negotiating a pair of contracts with telecommunications and media conglomerate Comcast.

The Alle-Kiski group (CWA Local 13000), comprised mainly of line maintenance and service technicians, has been at the bargaining table since late April of last year. Earlier this month, the two sides reached an agreement, which has since been ratified. This agreement comes after workers successfully defeated a decertification campaign, won with overwhelming support to retain CWA as their union representative. The bargaining team fought tenaciously not only to maintain job security and wages but also to improve on both. They also won improvements to working conditions. The new agreement comes with full retroactivity dating back to May 2023.

The South Hills group (also CWA Local 13000) similarly defended itself against an aggressive decertification campaign. The workers in this group are mostly maintenance workers and service technicians. The bargaining team won an extension in November and was finally able to reach an agreement earlier this month. Just as with the Alle-Kiski group, workers won better job security, improved wages, and safer working conditions. Workers are also leaving the table having won yearly general wage increases, improved wage progression for new hires, increased schedule flexibility, and a ratification bonus. The agreement was ratified on March 27 and will also be retroactive.

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NewsGuild-CWA Members at Law360 Stage 24-Hour Solidarity Walkout

NewsGuild-CWA workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 (TNG-CWA Local 31003) took to the streets last week with a 24-hour work stoppage in protest of recent layoffs that violate labor law. Despite the company showing impressive revenue growth, management announced the termination of 26 union members. CWA Unit Chair Hailey Konnath said, “This walkout is an unequivocal demonstration of solidarity for our co-workers who lost their jobs. The success of Law360 is due in no small part to us and the work we produce. Today we are showing the company that we—including those who lost their jobs—are Law360.”

CWA Workers at Law360 have been without a contract since 2022, and negotiations have been ongoing since then to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement. Changes to workplace terms and conditions after a contract has expired, including layoffs, must be negotiated and agreed to by the NewsGuild. Failure to maintain the workplace status quo is a violation of labor law and is the basis of an unfair labor practice charge filed by The NewsGuild of New York on behalf of Law360 Union earlier this month.

“Our entire union stands in solidarity with the workers who have been laid off,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “If management continues to refuse to bargain in good faith and reverse these unlawful layoffs, labor peace will be difficult to come by at Law360.”

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CWA Workers at Transdev Celebrate Tentative Agreement Gains

CWA Local 7777 members at Transdev, the largest private operator and integrator of public transportation in the United States, are doing a victory lap after negotiating a new contract. According to CWA Local 7777 Vice President Marlene Jimenez, the bargaining team won considerable gains, including improved healthcare coverage, additional pay for those training new hires, and annual wage increases over the course of the three-year contract. In addition, workers are now eligible to apply for Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) offered in the state of Colorado.

 
The bargaining team from CWA Local 7777 has reached a tentative agreement with Transdev. Pictured here (left to right) are CWA Local 7777 President and Chair of Negotiations Anthony Scorzo, Co-Chair of Negotiations and CWA Local 7777 Vice President Marlene Jimenez, with CWA Local 7777 members Debra Torango, Jorge Ayala, and Marcelino Lazano.

Last week, CWA members and allies joined Colorado Representative Tammy Story (D) at a press conference to announce her bill, HB24-1245, also referred to as the “Fair Labor Practice Requirements for Broadband Projects” bill. The proposed legislation would require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to pay a prevailing wage and promote good labor standards for broadband workers when they receive public funds to build Colorado broadband deployment projects.

Colorado is receiving $826.5 million in federal funding through President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and just recently released another $113 million from the state’s Capital Projects Fund, all to expand broadband access. “CWA members have been hard at work to ensure this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to close our country’s digital divide doesn’t go to waste. Colorado must ensure that Internet Service Providers provide high-quality wages and benefits, and will create good jobs in Colorado,” said CWA Local 7777 President Anthony Scorzo. “We want to make sure every community has access to broadband 50 years from now. Should it be done by highly trained professionals or go to contractors who take the money out of state? We want to make sure companies use labor standards and pay a prevailing wage.”

“Between both federal and state funding, Colorado will be spending over a billion dollars to upgrade and expand internet access, an historic investment that comes with the potential to create thousands of good-paying jobs,” said Sandra Parker, Executive Board Member of CWA Local 7777 in Denver. “However, this vision can only be realized if guardrails are put in place to ensure broadband deployment is done equitably and safely with a well-trained, highly-qualified local workforce.”

 
CWA members and supporters, including CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister (second from left) and CWA Local 7777 President Anthony Scorzo (far left, back row) participated in a press conference to introduce the Fair Labor Practice Requirements for Broadband Projects bill (HB24-1245).

Freezing temperatures and fresh snow could not stop the thousands of activists, including CWA members, who took to the streets in cities across New York State last week. They mobilized to protest N.Y. Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposed budget, which, according to activists, would cut hundreds of millions of dollars from healthcare spending and fail to adequately fund Medicaid, a program on which an estimated seven million low-income residents rely.

CWA represents about 15,000 healthcare workers across the state.

At City Hall in Buffalo, President of CWA Local 1168 and 37-year Registered Nurse Cori Gambini declared, “No one knows better the problems caused by underfunding. This is a crucial fight for health care justice. The State is not adequately funding hospitals, and there are not enough staff to take care of our patients. These people are not numbers on a page; they are our family, our friends, and members of our community.”

A rally and lobby day also took place last week in Albany, N.Y., for a day-long training on legislative lobbying where participants quickly became experts in how to speak with elected officials and what it takes to get new laws passed.

CWA members called on New York State legislators to increase the Medicaid reimbursement rate in order to adequately fund hospitals, which are currently understaffed. “As an emergency room nurse, I've seen firsthand the critical importance of adequate staffing levels,” said Vanessa Quinn, a 39-year veteran Registered Nurse and member of CWA Local 1133. “We do our best day in and day out to provide the best, most compassionate care for every patient who walks through our doors. But chronic, long term understaffing has hit us hard and made it harder and harder with each passing year to deliver timely and effective care—the type of care that our patients deserve. With the proposed budget’s cuts, I’m worried for our future—and I know I’m not the only one. If these cuts outlined in the Governor’s budget are allowed to proceed unchecked, the consequences will be dire.”

Governor Hochul’s budget cuts come amidst an ongoing healthcare crisis. CWA District 1 healthcare workers earlier this month filed over 2500 safe staffing complaints with the N.Y. Department of Health.

 
CWA healthcare workers rallied in Albany, N.Y., for a lobby day to encourage law-makers to increase funding for Medicaid, adequately fund hospitals, and increase staffing to relieve the current understaffing crisis.

It’s no secret that the video game industry has been plagued with labor issues for many years. Citing a pervasive culture of misogyny dating back to the infamous “Gamergate” in 2014 to more recent concerns about inadequate staffing, “crunch culture” (extended periods of high intensity, high stress work surrounding game development and launches), and unreasonable deadlines imposed by management, video game workers saw a banner year of organizing and union formation in 2023. Much of that union power is being driven by members of CODE-CWA, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees, and they’re looking to extend their gains into 2024.

At the Game Developer Conference, the largest gathering of video game developers in the nation, CODE-CWA organizers and members used an unusual tactic to draw in crowds for conversations about union power: Sonic the Hedgehog. Over bouts of classic Sonic, organizers chatted with game developers about recent wins, struggles in the workplace, and the benefits of organizing.

“It’s been a tough year to work in the video game industry; come by our booth for a free ray of hope. Together, we can change this industry for the better by continuing to organize for the pay, benefits, and job stability we deserve,” said Kara Fannon, QA Functional Tester and member of Activision QA United-CWA.

CWA-represented workers from Tender Claws Human Union, Activision QA United, Blizzard Albany, ZeniMax Workers United, and Sega USA spoke to attendees about their experiences joining the union at the CODE-CWA booth.

 
CODE-CWA members attended the Game Developers Conference last month, where they hosted a booth, played classic Sonic, and chatted with fellow conference-goers about the benefits of union membership. 

Berea College

Student workers at Berea College, a work college in Kentucky, are organizing their union with CWA. As a work college, every student at Berea holds a campus job that supports the building and operation of the college.

“The values that led us to Berea are the same values that led us to form a union,” said Lily Barnette, a member of the organizing committee. “It’s about supporting each other and making sure we have the support we need to thrive here.”

Student workers are organizing their union to give them a voice on the job and solve ongoing concerns like improving workplace safety, ensuring every student worker has the training to be successful in their jobs, creating a formal grievance procedure, and ensuring that student workers earn fair wages. Students work as a way to defray educational costs and graduate with less debt. The workers have demanded recognition for their union and are awaiting a union election date before the end of the current semester.

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End-of-the-Month Organizing Roundup

Over the last month, workers also joined CWA at:

• Capital Public Radio/North State Public Radio (NABET-CWA Local 59051)
• Houston Landing News (Media Guild of the West and TNG-CWA Local 39213)
• Whitefish Mountain Resort (CWA Local 7781)
• Wells Fargo Bank, Prospect, Conn. (CWA Local 1298)
• Wells Fargo Bank, Wilmington-Fairfax, Va. (CWA Local 13101)
• SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (CWA Local 9421)
• Chinese for Affirmative Action (CWA Local 9415)
• CQ Roll Call (TNG-CWA Local 32035)
• Index Media / The Stranger / Portland Mercury / Ever Out Seattle / Ever Out Portland / Bold Type Tickets (TNG-CWA Local 37082)
• Imagine Games Network (TNG-CWA Local 39521)

Last week, federal call center workers briefed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and members of the House Labor Caucus about the impact of low wages, unaffordable healthcare, lack of job security, and high workplace stress at ACA and Medicare call centers run by Maximus, a for-profit government contractor. While the Affordable Care Act has been a huge success in connecting Americans to affordable health coverage, it has been built on the backs of underpaid and undervalued call center workers.

“I help hundreds of Spanish and English-speaking callers connect to affordable healthcare that I do not have… Instead, I have my children on Medicaid for their coverage,” Maximus worker Katherine Charles told the legislators. “Maximus puts us between a rock and a hard place on our health. Our low wages and unaffordable healthcare coverage mean that many of us cannot afford to go to the doctor.”

“Make no mistake, these workers take pride in the work that they do,” CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam told legislators. “However, in order to have their voices heard, they’ve had no choice but to engage in actions like striking, which disrupts services to the millions of Americans who need to access their Medicare and Affordable Care Act benefits.

Maximus holds a $6.6 billion federal contract to provide customer services for the ACA Marketplace and Medicare, employing 10,000 customer service professionals. Many of the federal call center workers, the majority of whom are Black and Latina women, cannot afford healthcare themselves.

The workers have gone on strike six times in the last two years to protest poor working conditions, with more than 700 workers participating in November in the largest strike of non-union workers in the South in recent history.

The workers testified before Congress and shared their stories in front of the White House in an effort to draw attention to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s failure to apply the President’s Good Jobs Principles to the agency’s contract with Maximus.

Read more about the workers’ stories in their op-ed published in Newsweek.

 
Katherine Charles (second from right), a Maximus worker from Riverview, Fla., testified before members of Congress that Maximus’s high deductible health insurance forces her to skip necessary doctor’s appointments.

Earlier this week, CWA members joined other union workers, supporters, and members of the Tucson, Ariz., community in a march and rally celebrating the lives of labor leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chavez, who helped found the United Farm Workers. Hosted by the Arizona César E. Chávez + Dolores Huerta Holiday Coalition, the festivities drew a large crowd, including Juanita Chavez, daughter of Dolores Huerta. Cecilia Valdez, former Secretary-Treasurer for CWA Local 7026 and current Chair of the Defense Fund Oversight Committee, spoke to the crowd after the march, extolling the virtues of Dolores Huerta and reminding the crowd of the lasting impacts not just of Huerta but of many women in the labor movement.

“We owe her a debt of gratitude for setting such a powerful example to follow,” said Valdez. “When we are tired, we can remember her struggles. When we are beaten and bloodied, we can remember her resolve. And when we win, we remember that she said, ‘We as women should shine light on our accomplishments and not feel egotistical when we do. It’s a way to let the world know that we as women can accomplish great things!’”

 
Cecilia Valdez, Chair of the CWA Defense Fund Oversight Committee, spoke at the march and rally celebrating the lives of Dolores Huerta and César Chavez.

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