Dec 12, 2024 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Workers Spend Third Holiday Season on the Picket Line

Diagnosticians at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS), represented by UPTE-CWA Local 9119, held an informational picket earlier this week to blow the whistle on dire laboratory conditions interfering with the critical work of testing and monitoring for avian flu (H5N1 or HPAI), primarily in dairy and poultry populations. The CAHFS is a part of the University of California, Davis, and plays an essential role in safeguarding the health and safety of food and livestock in California and across the nation.

High turnover caused by inadequate compensation, poor morale, and toxic working conditions has been left unaddressed by the University of California, leading to short-staffing in the laboratory during a predictably busy peak season for the spread of avian flu. The current staffing crisis leaves the broader public and the agricultural industry susceptible to the economic and health impacts of an outbreak.

“Human error can occur when we are stretched thin and overworked. The combination of high workload, short deadlines, and inconsistency of communication creates a high potential for mistakes, which could be catastrophic for consumers and producers alike,” said Victoria Ontiveros, a staff Research Associate currently working at CAHFS.

“We are tackling the most pressing scientific challenges of our time. While we have been bargaining with the University of California for a contract that recognizes our critical and life-saving work. We have been disappointed with their lack of urgency and illegal, unfair labor practices. To prevent another outbreak on par with or worse than the COVID-19 pandemic, we must test and contain the spread of the virus. That starts with investing in the committed workers on the frontlines of safeguarding our communities from H5N1,” said Amy Fletcher, a staff Research Associate working at the Department of Food Science and Technology, who also serves as the UPTE-CWA UC Davis Co-Chair and union-wide UPTE-CWA Treasurer.

 
Members of UPTE-CWA Local 9119 marched and rallied, calling on the University of California-Davis to fully resource frontline medical workers in the fight against avian flu.

 
CWA strikers hold their picket line against the scab Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (Photo Credit: Pam Panchak, Pittsburgh Union Progress, member of TNG-CWA Local 38061.)

In America’s longest-running strike, CWA members from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are finally getting their day in court. Last month, a federal judge began hearing testimony to consider granting the federal labor board’s (NLRB) request for a 10(j) injunction. If granted, this could compel the newspaper to pay for workers’ health care expenses until a new contract or health care arrangement is reached.

As strikers maintain their picket lines and their solidarity through their third holiday season on strike, they are looking forward to a decision on the injunction in the new year.

The striking journalists of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061), which went on their own unfair labor practices strike in October 2022, won their NLRB board decision in September, and are also seeking relief from the federal courts.

You can help CWA strikers win this fight by donating to their holiday strike fund. Donations to the Holiday Striker Fund help striking CWA families cover rent, utilities, and unexpected bills as they continue to fight in the most expensive time of year.

Donate at cwa.org/ppgholiday.

To help strikers even more, you can sign up for a holiday strike fund phone bank session to ask others to join you in supporting these strikers on labor’s frontlines.

Last week, members of CWA Local 1298 filed a lawsuit against the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Agency (PURA) for recent rulings that could force telecommunications company Frontier to use non-union contractor labor for vital utility pole repair work. These rulings run counter to legal precedent, dating back over a century, explicitly barring state regulatory agencies from interfering in contracts between public utilities companies and their employees.

Despite this law, PURA has issued a series of decisions since 2021 that mandate Connecticut public utilities employers outsource telecommunications work, long protected by CWA’s collective bargaining agreement, to contractors.

“CWA members work day in and day out to expand telecommunications access and provide safe infrastructure across Connecticut. PURA’s decisions have violated state law and put the jobs of 1,400 CWA members in jeopardy,” said CWA Local 1298 President David E. Weidlich Jr. “The men and women of Local 1298 will not allow this agency to operate with impunity and take away our jobs.”

In April, CWA Local 1298 submitted a petition to PURA asking it to respect state law and cease its interference in CWA’s collective bargaining agreement. In October, PURA refused. The Local is now petitioning the Connecticut Supreme Court to hold PURA accountable and to prevent reliable, good-paying union positions from being replaced with cheap contractors in violation of state and federal law.

Click here to read CWA Local 1298’s complaint to the Connecticut Supreme Court.

Last month, members of NABET-CWA Local 54048 held two informational pickets to educate the Saginaw, Mich., community about the ongoing labor dispute with WNEM-TV, owned by Gray Television.

WNEM-TV recently issued two layoff notices to engineering employees without following the required seniority provisions of the labor contract. As a result, NABET-CWA has filed grievances and an unfair labor practice charge. Both employees, who are also officers of the union, have filed state and federal discrimination charges against the station.

NABET-CWA members and retirees, along with members of the Mid-Michigan Central Labor Council, political allies, and college educators, picketed in front of the television station prior to a joint federal mediation session. Several guests who were scheduled to appear on-air at the television station refused to cross the picket line. An informational picket was also held during the area Thanksgiving Holiday Parade.

NABET-CWA represents more than fifty workers at WNEM-TV, including on-air, engineering/maintenance, news production, news producers, and web employees.

Surveys show that half of nonunion workers would join a union if they could. A new program developed by CWA will help IT workers in one of the fastest-growing sectors of our economy understand how they can make that dream a reality.

CWA members will provide workers’ rights training as part of “Clean IT,” a new program designed to equip workers with the skills needed for IT careers in the renewable energy sector. Our union has partnered with the Urban Institute, Per Scholas, and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council to launch the innovative program, which is primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

“The variety of employment opportunities across both tech and energy industries means we need to prepare workers to navigate these fields,” said CWA Director of Research Nell Geiser. “With technology companies using more and more energy, there is a growing overlap between tech and energy production. As workers move from one industry to another, they will need to understand their rights, which aren’t necessarily explained at hire.”

CWA members will teach modules on labor history, workers’ legal rights, union basics, and present case study reviews of workers’ rights in action. CWA will also serve as the subject matter expert on worker rights and inform program design to maximize the job quality outcomes for participants.

The program aims to reach people previously excluded from the IT industry, including people of color, women, rural residents, and individuals without college degrees. It is also focused on particular geographies, which are currently Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, and rural areas in North Carolina.

Click here to learn more about the Clean IT program.

 
CWA Director of Research Nell Geiser explained CWA’s role in the Clean IT program during a webinar earlier this week.

 
CWA PHEW Vice President Margaret Cook addresses public service workers and supporters at a rally on Capitol Hill.

This week, CWA cosponsored a rally of union members and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to advocate for fairness in Social Security for public service workers. Under current law, millions of public service workers see their retirements unfairly slashed and reduced after lifetimes of serving their communities because of unfair offsets created by the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). A bill currently before the Senate, the Social Security Fairness Act, would fix the GPO-WEP provisions and restore the promise of a fair retirement for dedicated public service workers.

CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers (PHEW) Vice President Margaret Cook shared stories of CWA members impacted by this unjust policy. “I think about regular folks who have dedicated their lives through careers of service—folks like CWA member and Columbus, Ohio, retiree Susan, who got up and went to work every day for decades to help with nutritional needs for children in her city and serve those in real need. Susan didn’t ask for much from that work, but what she counted on was being able to retire with dignity and security in the community she’d worked so hard to strengthen.”

CWA was joined by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and union leaders and activists from AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, NARFE, NEA, SEIU, AFGE, IAFF, and others. CWA represents more than 130,000 public service workers across the country who have dedicated their careers to serving their communities.

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