Dec 5, 2024 - CWA Staff Member Saves Neighbor's Life

 
Members of CWA Local 38061 Ed Blazina (left) and John Santa (right) hold the picket line through their third holiday season on strike in their fight for justice at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Photo credit: Alex McCann, Pittsburgh Union Progress, member of CWA Local 38061.)

Proving CWA to be one of the hardest-fighting unions, striking CWAers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are waging the longest-running strike in America and facing a third holiday season fighting for a fair deal and the newspaper Pittsburgh deserves.

“We have parents who have told their kids, ‘This’ll be over soon. We’ll be able to have a normal Christmas next year.’ And that obviously is not the case because we have an employer that will not bargain in good faith,” said striking photojournalist Steve Mellon.

CWA members with Locals 14842, 14827, and the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA (TNG-CWA Local 38061) first walked out on strike in October 2022, after the company unilaterally cut off the healthcare of its production, advertising, and distribution workers. Since beginning their strike, the workers have had numerous victories in court, proving the just nature of their cause. By standing strong, CWA strikers are holding their employer to account as the Post-Gazette faces a federal injunction.

“As we begin our third holiday season on strike, I am most grateful for the time I get to spend with my wife, Jill, and my son, Jack,” said John Santa, a striking page designer and copy editor. “We have sacrificed a lot to remain on strike, and I will forever be in awe of the love I receive on a daily basis from my little family. Each day I wake up and work alongside my union siblings to fight for the dignity and fair treatment we deserve from our employer; I am reminded of how critical our cause is. I am proud to show my son that this cause is just. I want him to know I stood on the right side of history.”

Donations to the Striker Fund allow striking workers to cover rent, utilities, car repairs, and unexpected bills while they continue to fight. Strikers have a big fundraising goal: $50,000 to get through a third holiday season in this fight. Help them make it happen with a donation at https://cwa.org/ppgholiday.

Last week, in an extraordinary act of bravery, CWA District 9 Staff Representative and Staff Steward Robert Longer put his life on the line to save his elderly neighbors from a life-threatening house fire. Robert, without hesitation, sprang into action, checking first on the husband, who had escaped the home. Robert then entered the house, battling intense heat and smoke, making several trips as he searched for the wife. After locating her, he carried her outside to await medical and fire services.

CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce, in a statement regarding Longer’s heroics, wrote, “Robert’s actions exemplify the values we hold dear in our community—compassion, bravery, and a commitment to supporting one another. We are incredibly proud to have someone like him among us. His readiness to put himself in harm's way for the sake of others serves as a reminder of the impact one individual can have in times of need.”

A new report from CWA and New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) finds that declining staffing and increasing caseloads are impacting the ability of social service workers to assist New Jersey residents.

“Understaffed and Underfunded: Barriers to Effective Anti-Poverty Assistance” includes findings from surveys conducted with nearly 600 CWA members working in social services in N.J. Across multiple agencies surveyed from 2019 to 2023, staffing levels decreased by 3% while caseloads increased by 32%. Nearly 3/4 of respondents reported that understaffing prevents families from receiving benefits in a timely manner.

“Our agency primarily services low-income families and is designed to assist with their financial struggles,” said Chair of the CWA Welfare Council and CWA Local 1084 Steward Tyniquah Mullen. “On the other hand, it isn't servicing the financial needs of their staff to help the individuals in the community we serve; the staffing shortage is causing a significant delay in ensuring vital anti-poverty assistance to the residents in our respective counties.”

“I became a social service employee to get people the same help that I relied on when I was serving our country,” said Ocean County Board of Social Services Chapter VP and CWA Local 1088 member Steven Hernandez. “During my tenure in social service work in New Jersey, low pay and short staffing have led to increasing stress, low morale, and the loss of time to work closely with our clients to get them the help they need. Fortunately, at Ocean County we recently ratified a contract to significantly increase starting pay. That has led to us hiring 60 new employees. All counties and the state need to prioritize increasing pay and taking this staffing shortage seriously. Our communities deserve fully staffed social service agencies where the workers are fairly paid and have reasonable workloads so that we can offer the quality of care that we got into this work to provide.”

The report also includes insights from CWA Local 1087 President Joanne McWilliams and CWA Local 1085 member Paul Watkins.

Click here to read the full report.

After six long years of negotiations, journalists at the Chicago Tribune (TNG-CWA Local 34071) won their first contract. Reporters, photographers, and other journalists formed their union in April 2018, but negotiations stalled after the Tribune Publishing Company was bought out by hedge fund Alden Global Capital.

The Chicago Tribune contract includes a signing bonus, provides raises for journalists who haven’t seen a raise since 2018, retains the 401(k) match, raises minimum salaries, and puts the newsroom on a path to pay equity. The contract also provides protections against misuse of artificial intelligence and many standard benefits found in Guild contracts.

Eight other Tribune newsrooms ratified their first contracts in June. All groups coordinated with each other throughout bargaining, and journalists in several newsrooms went on a 24-hour strike in February.

“We won because we fought, and we fought because we believe in the work we do for Chicago,” said Unit Chair Jake Sheridan. “The world needs people to push for truth right now. That’s what we do. This contract gives us a little more stability and a little more pay so we can keep doing it.”

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Southern California News Group Guild members voted to approve their first contract, with 93% voting in favor of ratification. The Southern California News Group Guild are members of the Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213) and represent roughly 125 journalists at 11 newspapers owned by the Southern California News Group, which is itself owned by Alden Global Capital.

The ratification vote comes after two years of negotiations and weeks after 94% of members voted to authorize the first open-ended strike against Alden Global Capital. Alden Global Capital owns more than 200 daily newspapers across the country, and their business strategy is simple: aggressively cut costs and reduce staff to extract as much profit as possible.

Under the contract, some experienced, underpaid members will see wage increases of up to 48%. Other highlights include protections that honor time worked, such as a procedure for layoffs in inverse order of seniority, just cause protections, and guardrails around management performing Guild work, including the use of AI, freelance contracting, and involuntary changes in beat assignments for reporters.

“This is a first step in repairing some of the damage that Wall Street has done to local journalism and to Main Street here in Southern California,” said Matt Pearce, president of Media Guild of the West. “These journalists stood up, demanded what was fair, and now the Southern California News Group is set to add at least $700,000 of new investment into their journalism serving our communities at a time when many of our other local newsrooms have been making cutbacks.”

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In Maine, journalists at the Bangor Daily News voted unanimously to accept the terms of their first, two-year contract. Bangor Daily News Union (CWA-TNG Local 31128) gained voluntary recognition on May 11, 2022, and is the first union to represent the newsroom after two failed campaigns in the 1980s and 1990s.

Under the terms of the contract approved on Nov. 1, Bangor Daily News Union members will see average wage increases of 3%-4%, improved paid time off, equipment stipends for photographers, improved parental leave, and improved health care.

“This first contract was a labor of love and many, many hours of hard work,” said Christopher Burns, the Bangor Union’s Council Chair and a member of the Bargaining Committee. “It represents a positive step forward for us. The Bangor Daily News’ hardworking journalists will see improved compensation, and our contract terms will provide for a better work-life balance.”

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Full-time faculty members at Point Park University—represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061)—voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new three-year contract.

Highlights of the contract include 3.6% annual, across-the-board wage increases; increased just-cause protection for nontenure-track faculty; more pay for overload courses; an established pathway for nontenure-track faculty to be considered for promotion to tenure track; and more. Throughout bargaining, which occurred from May to October, Guild members were supported by students who expressed their solidarity with staff.

“Without the union and its ability to engage in collective bargaining, I don’t know where we would be,” said Fred Johnson, Point Park Unit Chair of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and a Professor of Cinema. “If we were getting raises at all, they would be minuscule; there would be no benefits accruing whatsoever. I am grateful to be represented by a union in the higher education landscape that we’re facing today.”

Read more on Pittsburgh Union Progress, the publication run by striking Pittsburgh-Post Gazette workers.

Marty Bowman has been an IR technician at Frontier Communications for 32 years. He serves as a union steward for CWA Local 7019, representing members of the Navajo Nation in northern and eastern Arizona. He actively mobilizes his group to ensure safe working conditions and effective representation. He strongly believes in community involvement, especially for youth. Marty participates in cultural events such as powwow dance circuits and facilitates Yeibichai services with his family. A dedicated family man and union activist, Bowman strives to keep his Native culture vibrant among the youth on the reservation.

Click here to read more profiles of Native American union leaders.

Since 1990, CWA members and retirees have contributed over $9 million to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), which aims to end AIDS in children, youth, and families. These generous contributions through our Charity of Choice program are key to EGPAF’s ability to work towards an AIDS-free generation.

Each December 1 we recognize World AIDS Day by highlighting EGPAF’s work. This year CWA and EGPAF launched our “One is Powerful” campaign to help us reach our contribution goal of at least one dollar per member. It may not seem like much, but one dollar can make a tremendous difference! It can help EGPAF provide phone credits for healthcare workers to communicate with clients, or it can help provide the materials for an HIV test for one infant.

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam represents CWA on EGPAF’s Board of Directors. “Through this role, I’ve learned a lot about EGPAF’s global impact, made possible in part by consistent contributions of CWA members and retirees,” Salaam said in a video. “When CWA began supporting EGPAF more than 30 years ago, the situation was dire. There were no medicines for kids living with HIV. But today, a mom living with HIV can prevent transmission of HIV to her baby if she receives the appropriate care and treatment. This is incredible progress, and CWA is proud to be a part of that.”

Make a donation online at www.pedaids.org/cwa so that CWA and EGPAF can reach the most vulnerable at critical points in their lives with lifesaving support.

 
In this video, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam shares information about the impact of CWA’s contributions on the fight to end AIDS in children, youth, and families.