Jan 9, 2025 - CWA Ski Patrollers End Strike with Contract Win

Just before the holidays, CWA-represented public sector workers received some great news: the U.S. Senate passed the Social Security Fairness Act. CWA members and retirees advocated for the bill, which restores the promise of a dignified retirement for public service workers, reversing decades of unjust policy that limited Social Security benefits for these workers and their spouses.

Earlier this week, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., PHEW Vice President Margaret Cook, CWA Local 4502 President Hugh Williams, and others joined President Biden as he signed the bill into law. Going forward, millions of working-class people will receive the full Social Security benefits that they have earned and deserve.

Read more about this historic bill here.

 
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. (above), PHEW Vice President Margaret Cook (below), and CWA Local 4502 President Hugh Williams (below, opposite Cook) joined President Biden as he signed the Social Security Fairness Act of 2024. 

Ski patrollers with the Park City Professional Ski Patrol Association (PCPSPA-CWA Local 7781) have ratified a new union contract with Vail Resorts. The contract raises wages by an average of $4/hour and guarantees the workers wage parity if wages are raised at other non-unionized Vail Resorts. The contract covers more than 200 ski patrollers and mountain safety personnel at the country’s largest ski resort.

After almost ten months of bargaining, the Park City patrollers went on strike over unfair labor practices on December 27. During the 12-day strike, resort guests voiced their support for the striking workers, chanting, “Pay your workers,” as ski lift lines had hours-long wait times and Vail Resorts could keep only 17% of the resort’s terrain open.

“The road to this agreement was anything but easy. Negotiating with Vail Resorts has been an incredibly challenging process, marked by months of persistence and dedication from our board, negotiators, and union members. This contract is more than just a win for our team—it’s a groundbreaking success in the ski and mountain worker industry. This effort demonstrates what can be achieved when workers stand together and fight for what they deserve,” said Seth Dromgoole, lead negotiator and 17-year patroller.

Park City ski patrollers were supported by union ski patrollers across Colorado, with CWA units from Breckenridge, Crested Butte, and Keystone joining a letter with Park City patrollers to hold Vail Resorts accountable for attempts to recruit scab workers from other Colorado ski resorts. Union patrollers with the Keystone Ski Patrol Union (KSPU-CWA Local 7781) are also in negotiations with Vail Resorts and took their first collective action in support of bargaining last month with a walk-in to demonstrate their solidarity and the patrol’s ability to mobilize for a fair contract.

CWA has led the fight for a fair and sustainable ski industry, with a union movement that has grown from four union ski resorts five years ago to 16 bargaining units today. CWA Local 7781 represents nearly 1,100 mountain workers, including ski patrollers, lift mechanics, and mountain safety personnel.

Just in time for the holidays, CWA District 7 members at New Flyer in St. Cloud, Minn., voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the company. New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader. The four-year contract negotiated by Local 7304 President Matt Lelou and the St. Cloud bargaining team with assistance from CWA staff members includes across-the-board minimum wage increases of 16%, four to nine additional paid days off depending on seniority, and a commitment from the company to collaborate on joint apprenticeship programs.

The local also won major wage gains for a group of 29 quality assurance and material coordinator employees who recently organized with CWA and set the stage for more organizing through a new national agreement that outlines a free and fair process for workers who want to join the union. The St. Cloud members mobilized to support their bargaining committee by wearing red, rallying in front of the plant, and other collective actions. The St. Cloud unit is part of the over 2,400 New Flyer employees represented by CWA nationwide, over 1,400 of whom recently organized with IUE-CWA at plants in Alabama, Kentucky, and New York. Solidarity at New Flyer!

In December, members of Meow Wolf Workers Collective (CWA Local 7055) at the Omega Mart location in Las Vegas, Nev., ratified their first contract, joining fellow Meow Wolf members in Denver, Colo., and Santa Fe, N.M.

Workers won several improvements, including an average wage increase of 19.23% over 3.5 years, greater worker protections from termination, and improvements to scheduling and working conditions.

Meow Wolf is an immersive art space where both full-time staff artists and local artists collaborate to create media including sculpture, painting, fabrication, digital art, writing, and film.

CWA Local 7603 Steward Jeremiah Clever received national recognition for his innovative work in Idaho establishing a Fiber Technician Apprenticeship Program (FiTech) during a White House ceremony last month honoring fourteen rural innovators from across the country.

In 2023, CWA Local 7603 secured funding for the program through a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor in recognition of the growing need for trained broadband technicians as companies begin receiving federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds to build out fiber internet access. Clever reached out to community groups for help identifying workers who might be interested in the program. Through the Afghan Cultural Center of Idaho, he learned that many members of the Afghan refugee community in Idaho hold advanced degrees that they are eager to put to use. Now those workers are among the first 25 apprentices to participate in the training.

 
CWA Local 7603 Steward Jeremiah Clever (seventh from right) at the White House with Biden Administration officials and other Rural Innovators.

Former CWA Central Region At-Large Executive Board member Erika White (third from right) took her oath of office earlier this week as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for the 41st District. White, who was also President of CWA Local 4319, stepped down from her roles in CWA to focus on being a voice for working families and retirees in her district.

In response to our call for stories of charitable giving and community outreach, CWAers sent in so many stories we’ve decided to continue to share the good news. You can read our original story here. If you have a story you’d like to share, please share it here.

District 2-13

CWA District 2-13’s Community Service Committee (CSC) selects worthwhile outreach projects for support across the district. They recently donated $500 to Meals on Wheels, which CWA Local 2106 contributes to every year for Thanksgiving.

The CSC also donated $500 to the Christmas fund for striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Workers at the Post-Gazette have been on strike for 25 months, making it the longest strike in America.

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IUE-CWA Local 84755

Members of IUE-CWA Local 84755 were very busy giving back to the community in 2024. They collected thousands of pounds of peanut butter for the Dayton Foodbank to lead the Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO “Ton in Ten” peanut butter drive. They also collected and donated dozens of winter coats and other clothing to Goodwill. Just before Christmas, members signed up to work 10 shifts at the AFL-CIO Labor Food Pantry.

Members also contributed to the “Backpack for Kids” school supply drive in the Westwood School District, filling and helping distribute backpacks to children. Multiple teams of members took part in “Beds to Kids Days” events, delivering beds, frames, blankets, pillows, and teddy bears to kids without beds.

Finally, the members of IUE-CWA Local 84775 worked with local high schools to help students gain full-time and part-time jobs in IUE-CWA-represented shops through manufacturing MMSC, IMT, and mentorship programs.

For its 34th year, the Union Plus Scholarship Program is gearing up to review thousands of applications from inspiring current and prospective college, university, and technical or trade school students. The program has awarded over $5.6 million in educational funding to more than 4,000 students from union families since 1991. Last year, the Union Plus Scholarship Program awarded $200,000 in scholarships to 209 students representing 41 unions.

The deadline to apply for a 2025 Union Plus Scholarship is January 31. Visit unionplus.org/scholarship to learn more and access the application.

CWA members and their spouses, children, and grandchildren, including those of retired or deceased members, may also apply for the Joe Beirne Scholarship (deadline April 30, 2025).

The Roundup

Over the last two months, workers also joined CWA at:

Lincoln Technical Institute (CWA Local 1106)
Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (CWA Local 3866)
Street Roots (CWA Local 7901)
Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center (CWA Local 9413)
Berkeley Humane Society (CWA Local 9415)
Momentive Technologies (IUE-CWA)
International Sound Corporation (NABET-CWA)
WEHT-TV (Nexstar) (NABET-CWA)
WLNE-TV (Standard General) (NABET-CWA Local 51018)
Elevate (TNG-CWA Local 32035)
NASTAD (TNG-CWA Local 32035)
Metro Caring (TNG-CWA Local 37074)
Workers United New York/New Jersey Joint Board (TNG-CWA Local 38010)
Autistic Self Advocacy Union (TNG-CWA Local 39521)