Sep 19, 2024 - Strike Ends! CWA Members Reach Tentative Agreements with AT&T Southeast and West

Earlier this week, bargaining teams reached tentative agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West.

The agreement in the Southeast ends the 30-day unfair labor practice strike—the longest telecommunications strike in CWA District 3’s history—with union members across nine states pressuring the company to negotiate in good faith.

The agreement at AT&T West comes after members rejected a previous tentative agreement on September 6.

“I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “I’m not just talking about AT&T members in the Southeast and West, although the determination of our striking AT&T Southeast members was remarkable. CWA members and retirees from every region and sector of our union mobilized in support of our bargaining teams, including by distributing flyers with information about the strike at AT&T Wireless stores. Gone are the days when CWA Districts and Sectors had to fight their fights alone. Together, we win.”

Watch and share these videos celebrating our strength on the picket line and our solidarity across the country.

“We are incredibly proud of our members and thank CWA members, retirees, and allies across the country for the solidarity that has sustained us through these difficult negotiations,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. “Their willingness to make sacrifices in order to win major improvements and stop the removal of key items in their contract, not just for themselves but for future members, is truly inspiring.”

“This new agreement builds on what we achieved in the first round of bargaining,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce. “In addition to maintaining gains on employment security, overtime, and scheduling, we improved the compensation package. This was possible due to the dedication of our membership, their mobilization efforts, and the elected bargaining team’s ability to quickly address the concerns our members raised.”

Both Districts will host contract explanation meetings for their respective members ahead of a ratification vote. The bargaining committees in each District recommend ratification.

Editorial workers at LexisNexis-owned Law360 have reached a tentative agreement for a new, five-year contract. The deal marks the end of a weeklong unfair labor practice strike over unilateral changes to their healthcare plan and the illegal layoffs of their colleagues earlier this year.

The tentative agreement secures major gains for the 250 NewsGuild of New York-represented (TNG-CWA Local 31003) journalists at Law360, including average wage increases of 12 percent, increased family leave to 14 weeks, an average bonus of $9,000, and strong job protections on artificial intelligence.

“What this tentative agreement represents is our unwavering belief in our value as workers,” said Hailey Konnath, a reporter for Law360 and unit chair for the union. “We refused to accept anything less than a contract that recognized our worth. This past week on the picket line we saw—and felt—the power of solidarity not only among ourselves but from the entire labor community. It’s that power and strength that got us to this point and earned us this tentative deal.”

A ratification vote for Guild members is scheduled for September 23.

The Times Tech Guild—which includes software engineers, product managers, data analysts, and designers at The New York Times—authorized a strike with 95 percent in favor. The Times Tech Guild is part of The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003), which represents nearly 6,000 media workers, including two other units at The New York Times.

The timing of the strike authorization vote, just weeks before the presidential election, is no accident. Roughly half of Times Tech Guild members in the bargaining unit work on programs critical to election coverage. Members are leveraging their power to fight for a fair contract that secures the benefits and protections they deserve. Top issues for members include just cause for termination, pay equity, work-life balance, and respect on the job.

“We are sending Times management a strong message with our vote today,” said Kathy Zhang, a Senior Analytics Manager at The New York Times and unit chair of the Tech Guild. “Our work produces incredible value in this company. Our members have earned a fair contract, and we’re ready to do whatever it takes to make sure we get it.”

The Times Tech Guild returned to the bargaining table this week for a three-hour bargaining session where they expect to receive a counterproposal on wages and working hours.

Last weekend, West Philadelphia, known for cheesesteak sandwiches and its fabled son the “Fresh Prince,” welcomed CWA members and retirees from across the tri-state area. Led by CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis and CWA District 1 Local Leaders, the group of more than 200 union volunteers, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, met to knock on union members’ doors and have conversations with potential voters. With the election less than two months away, both energy and pressure are high to turn out as many voters as possible.

“We’ve got a lot at stake,” said Davis. “We have to turn out the vote for our champion, Kamala Harris. She is a champion for Labor; she’s always been for Labor, and she knows what it is to struggle. She knows what it’s like to fight for the people who are unheard. She gets out there, and she works for us every day. So let’s get to work and let’s have a good day!”

Officers and members of CWA Local 2205 also hosted a canvassing event in Norfolk, Va., the same weekend.

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) attended the Philadelphia event on behalf of the Harris presidential campaign. Scanlon spoke with CWA members about the importance of making sure every voice is heard on Election Day. CWA volunteers knocked on nearly 5,000 doors with a high success rate for person-to-person interactions. CWA members will continue to volunteer through November 5, with phonebanks being held twice per week in conjunction with the PA AFL-CIO.

Want to volunteer to contact union members in Pennsylvania? Click here to sign up!

 
CWA members from District 1 and District 2-13 met in West Philadelphia to engage potential voters in the hopes of encouraging high turnout this coming election. 

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis (left) motivated the crowd of canvassers with help from Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.). 

Last week, CWA, along with the AFL-CIO Technology Institute and the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, held a conference on AI and the Future of Work on Cornell’s campus in Ithaca, N.Y. Representatives from more than twenty unions, from the U.S. and globally, convened with academic researchers to discuss the impact of AI on workers across various industries, occupations, and countries and strategize about how to increase worker power over the design and adoption of AI.

Conference attendees engaged in workshops to share experiences with collective bargaining, worker organizing, and policy frameworks related to AI in the workplace. The conference built upon the AI Principles published by CWA in December 2023.

 
CWA local leaders joined other union representatives and academic researchers from around the world for discussions about how to challenge corporate abuses of AI that harm workers. In this picture, they showed their solidarity with CWA members on strike against AT&T Southeast.

Earlier this month, at a Labor Day event in Biloxi, Miss., a young Maximus federal call center worker spoke to a local station, WLOX, about what she needs from her government. With Election Day less than 50 days away, voters like wife and mother of three Christina Mack are focused on the candidates, the candidates’ plans, and how those plans will impact their lives.

Mack and other workers at Maximus are organizing with CWA to improve their wages, healthcare benefits, and working conditions.

“I want people to know that we’re not fighting against the government. We just want the government to do its job and support the people they’re supposed to represent. If you can’t represent our best interests, how are we supposed to trust you with our livelihoods, our families, our healthcare? Who’s keeping our children safe in school? The only light at the end of the tunnel is to go out and vote for those who stand for your issues. And it’s not just about you, either. It’s about your neighbors, your community. Everyone is affected, so choose the candidates who take care of the most people,” said Mack.

She stressed that job security is her number one issue this election season because “without job security, we can’t have healthcare, or food, or a working school system.”

Since beginning to organize for a union in 2017, Maximus workers have seen a reduction in their healthcare deductibles from $4,000 to $1,800, and an increase in their starting wages from $9 an hour to $17.20. Workers are still fighting for family-supporting wages, a clear path to career advancement, protections from abusive callers, and a right to organize. Instead of meeting them at the table, Maximus has persisted with anti-union emails and fear-mongering about potential site closures to slow their organizing efforts.

During her career, former CWA Research Director Debbie Goldman saw, firsthand, how telecom companies moved to employ technology in increasingly hostile ways for call center workers. In her new book titled “Disconnected: Call Center Workers Fight for Good Jobs in the Digital Age,” Goldman explores the struggle of CWA customer service reps, mostly women, who mobilized to limit abusive surveillance, speed-up, and outsourcing of their work as their employers joined the race to the bottom in the years after the 1984 break-up of the Bell system.

In 1992, on a research tour of a New Jersey Bell call center (what would later become Verizon Communications), CWA local president Hazel Dellavia introduced Goldman to the new automatic call distributor (ACD) technology, which not only distributed calls but gave detailed reports of worker productivity in a dizzying array of metrics. Revolutionary at the time, these devices and the data they generate have become standard equipment for most call centers across the country.

Goldman writes, “I was appalled, anticipating the ways management would use the data to intensify surveillance, speed up the pace of work, increase sales quotas, and enhance control over the way the service representatives did their jobs. This was a stress epidemic in the making.”

Read a detailed history of this struggle, from 1992 to today, as Goldman deftly weaves public and union records with the stories of more than 35 feisty, creative CWA-represented service rep leaders, activists, and organizers. She gives in-depth detail on how CWA and its call center members mobilized to win impressive victories at the bargaining table through contract enforcement, labor-management initiatives, organizing, and striking. A must-read for today’s workers, activists, and organizers who continue to struggle with management for control in the workplace and in the halls of power for pro-worker policy.

Get your discounted copy today! Use the discount code: F24UIP.

 
(PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Mellon, Pittsburgh Union Progress, member of TNG-CWA Local 38061.)

Name: Alexandra Wimley
Local: The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, TNG-CWA Local 38061
Workplace: Post-Gazette
Title: Photojournalist
Experience: 5 years
Strike Time: 23 months
Quote: “I love my job, and I miss it every day while on strike. But the future of strong local journalism is worth fighting for. I want the next generation of journalists to feel secure and inspired and to be able to afford a balanced life in the city they are covering.”
Inspiration: “I’m inspired by the natural world. Spending time outdoors helps me to keep things in perspective.”

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