Mar 19, 2026 - CWA District 4 and Legacy T Members Ratify AT&T Contracts

Tell The New York Times To Let Rich Quan Care for His Father

Rich Quan is a certified caregiver for his father, who is 96 and suffers from advanced Alzheimer’s disease. Rich is also an engineer at The New York Times and a member of the New York Times Tech Guild (TNG-CWA Local 31003). He provides vital daily care for his father while, at the same time, working efficiently out of his home. Despite a provision in the Tech Guild contract providing for remote work for caregiving and Rich’s demonstrated ability to be an efficient remote worker, Times management has directed him to return to the office and unilaterally denied his appeal.

Stand with the Tech Guild and urge management to grant Rich a remote work accommodation.

No worker should be forced to choose between a paycheck and the well-being of their loved ones.

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Join the CWA Women’s History Month Town Hall

The CWA National Women’s Committee and the CWA Human Rights Department invite you to their Women’s History Month virtual town hall, “A Story Untold is a Story Unknown,” on Wednesday, March 25, at 7:00 PM ET.

Please join the conversation on preventing sexual violence in the workplace with the Sexual Violence Prevention Association and hear remarks from CWA Chief of Staff and CLUW President Sylvia J. Ramos.

Learn how union members can stand on the frontlines of sexual violence prevention in their communities and support respectful workplaces for everyone.

Members of the CWA Women’s Committee will explain the critical role CWA has played in addressing this issue, including education and training for members and the union’s commitment to mutual respect on the job.

Please join the CWA National Women’s Committee on Wednesday, March 25, at 7pm ET.

CWA members under the AT&T Orange Mobility contract announced today that they have voted overwhelmingly to give CWA President Claude Cummings the authority to call a strike if negotiations between CWA and the telecom company fail to reach an agreement. The strike authorization vote comes as CWA's contract with AT&T, covering approximately 9,000 Orange Mobility members across five CWA districts, is set to expire at midnight ET on Friday, March 20.

“Mobility workers are on the frontlines for a multibillion-dollar corporation, working on the sales floor, in homes, and out in the field to connect customers to the rest of the world,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “The results of the strike authorization vote send a clear message to AT&T Mobility management—our members know the value of their labor and are united, informed, and prepared to reject corporate greed and do what it takes to win the strong contract they deserve.”

CWA members at AT&T will continue to hold the company accountable on a wide range of issues that directly impact workers, including job security, work-life balance, wages that meet the real cost of living, adequate benefits, and protections on the job. Members, like those at CWA Local 4900 (pictured above), have been mobilizing in support of their bargaining team.

“We bring in a majority of their sales and other services,” Lindsey Wilkerson, CWA District 4 Division 1 Representative, told 14 News in Evansville, Ind. “We deserve fair pay, livable wages, and to not live paycheck to paycheck, and that’s where we’re at right now: paycheck to paycheck. We can barely make it.“

To underscore the reach of AT&T’s corporate greed, Orange Mobility members are planning to hand out informational flyers at March Madness games across the country, sponsored by the company, to inform the public that AT&T seems to have money for everything except paying its workers.

Members will continue to work under their current contract as CWA continues negotiations with AT&T.

Last week, CWA members voted decisively to ratify a tentative agreement with AT&T Midwest. The four-year agreement will take effect on April 12.

The new contract locks in significant improvements, including wage increases, more options for healthcare, annual wellness incentives, and improved working conditions.

"This agreement takes a major step forward in improving the lives of every member it covers,” said CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton. “Just as importantly, it preserves language hard fought through decades of collective bargaining and solidarity including protecting employment security language.

“Thank you for the hard work of our Bargaining Team: CWA District 4 Assistant to the Vice President and Bargaining Co-Chair Curt Hess; CWA District 4 Administrative Director and Bargaining Co-Chair Mike Handley; CWA District 4 Staff Representative Mike Schulte; CWA Local 4034 Executive Vice President Jake Vick; CWA Local 4320 President Jay Walther; CWA Local 4603 President Greg Tennyson; and CWA Local 4900 President Tim Strong.”

Congratulations to CWA District 4 members with AT&T Midwest!

Last week, CWA Telecommunications and Technologies (T&T) Vice President Lisa Bolton announced that Legacy T members with AT&T voted overwhelmingly for contract ratification. The new contract includes pay increases compounding over the life of the contract, improved healthcare options, bereavement leave to include distant relatives and close friends, and the creation of a joint committee to discuss potential impacts of artificial intelligence on members. This contract constitutes the largest wage increase this unit has received in four decades!

Members showed incredible solidarity and support for their bargaining team through mobilization actions. The team included CWA T&T Assistant to the Vice President and Bargaining Chair Brian Sawyer, CWA T&T Staff Representative Kara Hutchason, CWA Local 4252 President LaNell Piercy, CWA Local 13500 President Cindy Neumeyer, CWA Local 7250 Member Shari Wojtowicz, CWA Local 3250 President Barbara Tolbert, and CWA Local 7750 President Chris Roth.

CWA Legacy T members on the island of Puerto Rico also voted to ratify their contract with AT&T, locking in wage increases, significant healthcare advancements, and improved retirement benefits.

Congratulations to our Legacy T members on their new contracts!

 
Members of the CWA Legacy T Bargaining Team (left to right) with CWA Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton (center): CWA Local 7750 President Chris Roth, CWA T&T Staff Representative Kara Hutchason, CWA Local 3250 President Barbara Tolbert, CWA T&T Assistant to the Vice President and Bargaining Chair Brian Sawyer, CWA Local 4252 President LaNell Piercy, CWA Local 13500 President Cindy Neumeyer, and CWA Local 7250 Member Shari Wojtowicz.

For National Women’s History Month, CWA is celebrating the contributions of women not only to our union but also to the labor movement and our country. Here is one of the many women who make our union strong: Ellen Hansen, photographer/editor/microwave truck operator at KOIN-TV, in Portland, Ore., and retired member of NABET-CWA Local 59051.

On March 5—nearly three months after University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE)-CWA Local 9119 member Alberto Rangel was stabbed and killed on the job by a patient, more than 200 UPTE-CWA members and supporters came together to demand action: the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) must act to ensure this never happens again.

According to UPTE-CWA’s workplace safety survey, 90 percent of UCSF social workers have experienced some type of threat, assault, or intimidation on the job, whether physical, sexual, or verbal. Another 81 percent said they feel unsafe at work at least once a month, and 90 percent reported feeling unsafe at work to management at least once. In at least half of those cases, management retaliated, responded in a retaliatory manner, failed to address the concern, or acted only after what workers considered an unreasonable delay.

UPTE-CWA member Alejandro Alvarez described the traumatic experience of trying to pull the attacker off Alberto, and members shared powerful testimonials about the need for workplace safety improvements.

You can check out and share videos of the rally on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Twitter.

 
UPTE-CWA Local 9119 Executive Vice President and Staff Pharmacist at the University of California, San Francisco Matias Campos led members at a rally for better safety protections for university workers.

Last week, workers at TDS Telecom, LLC (TDS) in Mooresville, N.C., voted overwhelmingly to join CWA. They are joining TDS coworkers based in Utah, Wisconsin, and Kentucky who are already members of CWA. This organizing win is part of a long-standing strategy to help broaden our telecommunications footprint as we call for telecom companies to employ highly trained, local, union-represented technicians rather than low-wage contractors. CWA will also have greater numbers, allowing for more leverage during contract negotiations.

At the CWA 80th Convention last August, members voted to adopt a resolution committing us to organizing our core industry. This is just one more step in fulfilling that commitment.

The organizing drive was relatively quick, with help from Utah TDS members. The TDS CEO and Human Resource directors hosted a series of captive audience meetings to dissuade workers from joining the union. However, the TDS workers demonstrated their solidarity and refused to allow management to monopolize their time.

Congratulations to our newest TDS members!

 
Workers at TDS in Mooresville, N.C., sporting red CWA bracelets, have successfully formed their union with CWA in a strategic win for telecommunications workers across the country.

Earlier this month, the NewsGuild-CWA joined a coalition of 40 civil-society and press-freedom organizations to condemn the abduction and detention of Nashville journalist Estefany Rodriguez by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Rodriguez was detained on March 4, 2026. ICE produced no warrant during her arrest; it was produced only after she was in custody. Rodriguez fled to the United States from her native Colombia in 2021 after facing threats for her coverage of armed militia groups. She arrived on a tourist visa and applied for political asylum in the United States. Rodriguez was on a path to citizenship and had a pending green card application through her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, as well as a pending asylum application.

Rodriguez’s detention is part of a broader erosion of democratic norms and human rights in the United States, in which immigration authorities are increasingly being used to chill free expression and First Amendment rights. This practice must stop.

Click here to read more.

CWA political activists in Philadelphia, Penn., participated in the 2026 CWA Bootcamp last month. Members from CWA Locals 13000 and 13301 learned about national and Pennsylvania legislative priorities and how to mobilize our union family for the fight ahead during the 2026 election cycle.