Apr 2, 2026 - CWA Members Ratify Verizon Contracts

Learn More About a CWA Sibling Running for Congress

AFA-CWA member Kaela Berg is running for Congress! She describes herself as “a mom, a lifelong Minnesotan, a Flight Attendant, a union leader, and a Minnesota State Representative.” She has fought for working families as a fair trade activist and champion of many pieces of pro-worker legislation. In recent months, she has stepped up to help the immigrant members of her community in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District. All while being an active Flight Attendant and single mom.

Kaela is running in a tough primary for an open seat in Congress.

Read the New York Times profile of Kaela Berg and her inspiring political run.

To get involved or support Kaela’s campaign, visit kaelaforcongress.com.

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Sign Our FCC Petition to Protect Broadband Jobs

CWA members know that without oversight and accountability, the corporations that operate our telecom networks will not prioritize the interests of our communities over profits. That’s why we’re leading the charge to ensure reliable service for all and to protect union broadband jobs.

As carriers accelerate their phase-out of voice service over copper wires, the future of phone service remains unregulated.

Sign this petition to call on the FCC to update its oversight for the internet age and reclassify VoIP as a common carrier and protect good-paying, union jobs.

On March 27, members in CWA District 1 and CWA District 2-13 voted to ratify contract extensions at Verizon, Verizon Wireless Retail, and Verizon Wireless Tech. IBEW New England, IBEW New York, and IBEW New Jersey, who bargain alongside CWA, also overwhelmingly ratified their agreements. The new agreements will cover members until August 3, 2030.

Both contracts deliver wage increases, increases to pension band values, more work for the bargaining unit, a significant number of new CWA-represented jobs, and a continuation of the work-from-home agreement with no givebacks.

“This agreement moves us forward in meaningful ways,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor, “particularly in continuing to tear down the barriers that the company has put up between wireline and wireless and overall bringing more members into our bargaining units. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome CWA members in New York from Frontier Communications into the Verizon bargaining unit. This agreement isn’t the end of our work; it’s a very strong step in the right direction, and as always, we will continue the fight.”

In CWA District 2-13, the contract extension continues gains won in previous bargaining and includes the transition of Frontier Pennsylvania members into the Mid-Atlantic agreement.

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis’s message to members: “On behalf of the CWA Bargaining Committee, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the leadership and members of Locals throughout District 2-13 for their active participation, historic overwhelming yes vote, and unwavering support during this critical process. Together, we are stronger!”

For the second week in a row, AT&T Orange Mobility members from CWA Locals 9421, 9423, 7901, 1122, and 4202 handed out informational flyers to attendees of AT&T-sponsored March Madness tournament games in Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Chicago, Ill., respectively. The flyers call out AT&T for their corporate greed, spending millions of dollars to have their company logo featured all over March Madness promotional materials, yet refusing wage proposals at the bargaining table that reflect the real cost of living.

CWA and AT&T agreed to a contract extension after 95 percent of voting Orange Mobility members voted overwhelmingly to give CWA President Claude Cummings the authority to call a strike, if necessary. The contract extension expires on April 3.

In March, local leaders and activists from across the country met in Memphis, Tenn., for a 2-day organizing training run by the National Organizing Department in collaboration with the CWA Telecommunications and Technology (T&T) sector. Participants learned basic organizing skills, role-played to practice those skills, and made plans for large-scale organizing in accordance with our commitment to organizing telecommunications workers.

All participants left Memphis energized and inspired to identify leads at key companies to grow the union.

 
CWAers from across the country met in Memphis for a joint T&T/Organizing Department training.

SUNY Research Assistants Reach Historic Levels of Representation With CWA 

Last week, 577 research assistants with the Research Foundation at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Buffalo voted 191 to 2 to join CWA. They are the last of the four university centers to join the union—making the representation of graduate assistants at SUNY nearly wall-to-wall. It brings the total of CWA Local 1104-represented research assistants to nearly 2,000, in addition to 4,700 teaching and graduate assistants at SUNY, the highest concentration since organizing began in the 1990s.

Organizers received assistance from CWA District 1 staff and CWA Locals 1104 and 1123. The CWA District 1 Political Department helped make sure SUNY and the Research Foundation took a position of neutrality, allowing workers to organize free from intimidation.

The majority of these workers are international student workers conducting scientific research at a time when their research and presence in this country are under attack. Those who participated in this union election went public and should be commended for their bravery.

Congratulations to our newest members at SUNY-Buffalo!

 
Workers at SUNY-Buffalo’s Research Foundation have voted overwhelmingly to join CWA.

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Mental Health Workers Vote to Join CWA 

Last month, mental health workers at Family and Children’s Services of Ithaca, in Ithaca, N.Y., formed their union with CWA.

A supermajority of workers, including clinicians, nurses, intake clinicians, behavioral healthcare coordinators, facilities workers, outreach workers, and clinic administrative coordinators, are requesting voluntary recognition from the company. They are seeking union representation to address issues common to the healthcare industry like chronic understaffing, low wages, and personal safety.

This campaign is building on momentum across the region after nurses at Cayuga Health won voluntary recognition earlier this year.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. (pictured above, at left) joined a panel last week to discuss the implications of burgeoning artificial intelligence and its threats to workers. The AFL-CIO Tech Institute held the Workers First AI Summit, focused on the impacts of AI on workers. CWA is leading the labor movement with groundbreaking contract protections against abuses of artificial intelligence used for surveillance, discipline, and content generation.

To the question of AI in workers’ everyday lives President Cummings responded, “The same flawed AI that surveils and manages people at work is being used to decide their credit scores or whether they are approved for a mortgage. Unregulated AI is not just a job issue; it's a civil and human rights issue. Without transparency, human oversight, and guardrails, we risk flawed AI being used to shape a person’s everyday life.

“Collective bargaining over AI tools across workplaces, supported by government regulations, is vital for protecting people as individuals and members of communities, not just as employees.”

In honor of National Women’s History Month, the AFL-CIO is celebrating the work of women in the labor movement who are making strides to improve not only their community but also to improve conditions for working people across the country. This year, they have chosen to spotlight CWA Local 1180 Vice President Teesha Foreman.

Foreman has been a civil servant with the New York City Housing Authority since 2000. From shop steward to staff representative, supervisor, executive board member, and now second vice president, Foreman’s journey has been rooted in ensuring that women—especially women of color—have a strong voice at every decision-making table. She serves on the CWA National Human Rights/Civil Rights and Equity Committee and as a trustee for CWA Local 1180’s benefit funds.

Congratulations to Teesha Foreman!

Click here to read more profiles of incredible women making history in the labor movement.