Apr 30, 2026 - AT&T Orange Mobility Members Reach Tentative Agreement

Help Keep Pittsburgh Press Union Strong!

With a three-year strike barely in the rearview mirror, CWA journalists at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were happy to welcome new owners to town, avoiding the previous owners' spiteful closure. Hopes of a brighter future dimmed, however, when the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism publicly alluded to job losses and remained silent on union rights. More than 1,300 signatures on a petition demanding good-faith bargaining and strong staffing have started to turn the tide, but your support can help tip the balance in favor of these NewsGuild-CWA journalists!

Please sign this petition to fight for union journalism and demand good-faith bargaining for your union siblings in Pittsburgh.

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Magic: The Gathering Arena Developers Launch Union Drive with CWA 

On Monday, nearly 100 game developers behind Magic: The Gathering Arena, a popular digital adaptation published and developed by Wizards of the Coast, formed a union with CWA, expanding the growing union efforts in the tabletop roleplaying games industry.

In a letter sent to management, workers outlined several issues that they hope to address as a union, including protections over layoffs and remote work, guardrails over generative AI usage and mandatory crunch time, and increased transparency and equity in the workplace. They’ve also called on the company to voluntarily recognize their union by International Workers’ Day (May 1).

Click here to sign UWOTC-CWA’s petition to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro.

For more union updates, visit unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/ or follow UWOTC-CWA on Bluesky and Facebook.

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Last Day to Apply for the Joe Beirne Scholarship!

The deadline for the CWA Joe Beirne Scholarship Program is TODAY, April 30, at 11:59 pm ET.

CWA members, including their spouses, children, and grandchildren (as well as dependents of laid-off, retired, or deceased members), may apply. Visit the website for additional information and how to apply.

The CWA Joe Beirne Foundation was established in October 1974 by the CWA Executive Board to honor the name and memory of the founding president of CWA, who served for more than 30 years.

Last week, AT&T Orange Mobility workers reached a tentative agreement for a new contract. If ratified, the new four-year contract will cover 9,000 technicians, customer service representatives, and retail workers across 36 states and the District of Columbia.

Throughout negotiations, workers mobilized to build power and support their bargaining committee, resulting in a tentative contract that sets new standards for members in their respective fields. Highlights of the tentative agreement include a top-tier healthcare benefits package, a wage increase of five percent in the first year, annual wage increases throughout the life of the contract, job security, and other gains.

“This strong tentative agreement is a reflection of our members' dedication to holding AT&T accountable for their corporate greed,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “Whether handing out flyers at AT&T-sponsored March Madness basketball games or holding informational picket signs at busy intersections, CWA members mobilized for higher wages, stronger benefits, job security, and more. This is a tentative agreement that reflects their fight and delivers for both AT&T workers and the customers they serve.”

A ratification vote will be held once members have had an opportunity to review the details of the agreement. A summary of the tentative agreement is available at CWA.org/OrangeTAHighlights.

Last week, members of CWA Canada’s National Representative Council met in Ottawa for their annual conference and to celebrate 20 years of international solidarity as part of the CWA family.

Members honored two media trailblazers. Mary-Ann Barr is a reporter-editor in Alberta and serves as the Secretary of the CWA Canada National Committee. Steven Llewellyn is a reporter in New Brunswick and serves as the Director of the National CWA Canada Executive Committee. Both leaders received the prestigious CWA Canada Award of Excellence.

Click here to learn more about CWA Canada’s history and Autonomy Agreement that recognizes Canada’s distinct labor laws and culture while maintaining valuable bonds of international solidarity within the CWA family.

On Monday, workers at Hachette Book Group (HBG), the third-largest trade publisher in the United States, announced their intent to form a union with the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild (TNG-CWA Local 32035). The move is an effort to ensure better benefits, protections, and rights for workers, as well as increased equity, transparency, and agency in the workplace. Workers with the Hachette Workers Coalition have signed hundreds of cards in support of forming a union at HBG.

With approximately 600 members, the Hachette Workers Coalition (HWC-CWA) will be the largest union in trade publisher history, inclusive of workers in every physical office and remote location, across the United States and Canada. The HWC-CWA demands a livable wage regardless of work location, better working conditions, a cap on workload hours, a clear and neutral grievance process, AI protections, follow-through on DEI policies, and more.

This campaign is a major strategic push for The NewsGuild-CWA and could spell more powerful contracts for future members in the industry.

“Both across the publishing industry and especially at HBG, we have felt the crush of increased workloads while our compensation, career growth, and opportunities have stagnated,” said HBG designer Andy Wang. “Instead, leadership has continued to spin the revolving door with callously handled layoffs and hushed dismissals, and has regressed on common-sense policies such as the right to work from home or to even have your own desk! As united members of the Hachette Workers Coalition, we reject our current industry model, which actively undermines the long-term development of employees’ skills and their ability to support themselves and their families in pursuit of unsustainable profit-driven growth.”

Click here to read more about the Hachette Workers Coalition.

Last week, workers at Common Defense won their union with CWA through voluntary recognition. Management at the national, progressive veterans advocacy organization recognized the employees’ new union after months of discussions with CWA and the worker-led Organizing Committee. According to their website, Common Defense is a grassroots, veteran-led organization empowering former members of the U.S. military to stand up for their communities, and it serves as a home for veterans to organize and champion equitable and representative democracy.

Eighty-six percent of workers, many of whom are veterans themselves, delivered their union mission statement and request for recognition in August 2025. CWA Local 6215 Vice Presidents David Marshall and Alex Doblado, both members of Common Defense, and CWA District 6 staff helped support the prospective members throughout the process.

Congratulations to the new members of CWA at Common Defense!

On April 11, CWA members at the University of Kentucky (UK), represented by the United Campus Workers-CWA (UCW-CWA Local 3821), joined students and local political allies at a rally to demand that University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto abandon plans to outsource facilities jobs and reassign hundreds of workers to the Beyond Blue LLC through the university’s Integrate Blue initiative.

Megan Herdt, a counseling psychology faculty member in the College of Education and UCW-CWA member, said in reaction to these announcements, “These are huge changes that are being proposed that could affect an entire generation of UK workers. We need more voices to be included in these discussions and plans for things to move forward in a healthy way that protects workers, students, and the Commonwealth.”

UK is also looking to outsource custodial, groundskeeping, and maintenance jobs under a 30-year contract through its Enterprise Services Partnership initiative.

UCW-CWA member RK Carter, a custodial worker on campus, spoke out against these changes: “The university keeps saying this word, ‘efficiency.’ We are already skeleton crews doing our best to keep the campus safe and clean. How much more efficient can we get? The truth is that when you privatize, you see efficiency by cutting wages and cutting jobs.”

UK UCW-CWA members need your help! Click here to sign their petition.