Aug 27, 2026 - Personal Data Auction Prompts Pushback from AFA-CWA

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Earlier this month, CWA human rights activists hosted the 2026 CWA National Human Rights Conference in Atlanta, Ga. They were joined by allies from several unions, including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Activists from the International Women’s Alliance (IWA), Fwd.US, Rise United, and the Georgia AFL-CIO also attended the conference.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered remarks to the gathering along with CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt, District 9 Vice President Frank Arce, IUE-CWA Industrial Division President Carl Kennebrew, AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson, and CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam. CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis; District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister; CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; and CWA Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton also attended the conference.

President Cummings spoke about the current fight for worker rights, saying, “We are fighting for what matters most. We want to see workers protected, not used as pawns. We want to improve Social Security and Medicare so they will be there when we are ready to retire. We want better, cheaper healthcare. We want to fix our tax system so that the obscenely rich pay what they owe and corporations aren’t rewarded for sending jobs overseas. We want to be free to join unions and bargain for the wages and benefits that we deserve.”

Other guest speakers included Stacey Abrams, Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Tennessee Representative Justin J. Pearson, and the U.S. Senator from Georgia Jon Ossoff, who all had participants on their feet and fired up. Alliance for Retired Americans' Robert Roach shared what every working American needs to know about retirement. And SEIU-United Service Workers West President David Huerta shared the story of his heart-wrenching arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

 
From left: Stacey Abrams, Tennessee Representative Justin J. Pearson, and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff galvanized the crowd at this year’s Human Rights conference.

National AFL-CIO Human Rights Director Alex Rias gave an informative discussion on the role of human rights within the labor movement. CWA Human Rights Campaign Lead Mikeya Jones hosted a compelling panel on building young workers into leaders, and Sandra L. Williams, President of the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council, hosted a panel discussion on the challenges faced by African American women in the Trump era.

The Human Rights Committee continued their tradition of hosting the Interactive Activist Mall, where members wrote postcards, filmed videos, provided voice clips for the Human Rights Radio Show, signed petitions, and learned how to make effective signs for marches and rallies.

CWA Northeastern Region At-Large Diversity Executive Board Member Gloria Middleton received the prestigious Human Rights Mary Mays-Carroll Award for exemplary dedication and commitment to the labor movement. CWA Local 3204 member Rita Scott also received the CWA National Human Rights Women’s Committee Woman of Excellence Award for outstanding contributions to women’s empowerment in human rights and labor.

The CWA Minority Caucus honored Vice President Honeycutt; CWA District 9 Administrative Director Maurice Washington; and CWA Director of Human Rights, Education and Health & Safety Angie Wells with Lifetime Achievement Awards for outstanding dedication and service.

 
CWA members gathered in Atlanta, Ga., for the 2026 CWA National Human Rights Conference.

Earlier this month, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) members and staff discovered, buried in the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy filing, a plan to auction off nearly 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, and data from aircraft operations, human resources, and customer-service workflows. Google won the auction with a $10 million bid, beating the next bid by artificial intelligence company Mercor.io by $2.5 million. Google representatives have stated that the data will be used to train their AI models.

The finalization of the sale has been postponed to September 9, however, thanks to a complaint filed by AFA-CWA.

In a press statement, AFA-CWA contends that despite promises to “deidentify” the records, no contract language exists pertaining to whether the contents of the records are confidential. The sale agreement with Google specifies that the deidentification process must preserve “referential integrity across the data set,” leading to widespread member concerns over the possibility that “information about identifiable individuals or small identifiable groups can still be reconstructed and determined.”

Click here to read the full AFA-CWA press release.

"Spirit Flight Attendants still haven’t been paid their accrued vacation and sick leave, along with other compensation they are due,” said AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson. “Attempting to now sell their data is adding insult to injury. It’s outrageous. Spirit failed to meet its commitment to these workers, and Flight Attendants certainly shouldn’t be subject to further exploitation. Our data simply is not for sale. We did not and do not consent."

Click here to listen to AFA-CWA President Nelson in an interview on CNN.

This case could have far-reaching implications for workers in general if personal information is allowed to be sold after a worker leaves the company.

CWA stands at the forefront of the worker fight against AI abuses and threats.

During the last month, NABET-CWA organizers have notched two decisive wins for broadcast workers.

In Washington, D.C., workers at the outlet DC News Now (WDCW/WDVM) won their union election handily with a vote of 19-5 in favor. This unit will join NABET-CWA Local 52031 and enter the fray against network behemoth Nexstar, poised to control stations reaching 80% of American households with their acquisition of TEGNA Inc. This merger was a major concern for workers in the lead-up to organizing. Workers also cited concerns over staffing levels, burnout, and insufficient compensation for additional responsibilities.

“Many of us lost confidence that raising concerns individually would lead to meaningful change,” said William Hall, an organizing committee member and Feedroom Operator. “We needed a real voice in the decisions affecting our careers, our future. Organizing allows us to advocate collectively for fair pay, meaningful career advancement, adequate staffing, accountability, respect, and a healthier workplace culture."

At Weigel Broadcasting in Chicago, Ill., workers voted overwhelmingly for a union and will now be joining NABET-CWA Local 54041. This 122-person television broadcasting unit is a significant win for NABET-CWA. Major issues motivating the workers included the company cutting remote work options and the decision to run ads for the Department of Homeland Security.

Congratulations to all of our new NABET-CWA members!

 
NABET-CWA organizers grabbed two big wins this month. NABET-CWA Organizing Coordinator Bera Dunau (second from right) is all smiles with NABET-CWA Region 4 Vice President Patrick Keating (second from left) and Weigel Organizing Committee members Cat Royal (left) and Brianna Veal (right).

Last week, 39 automated teller machine (ATM) technicians working for NCR Atleos won their union. The unit covers territory between Chicago, Ill., and Madison, Wis., including Milwaukee, Wis. The vote was 23-4 in favor of joining CWA.

Workers do a variety of jobs, including ATM repairs, updates, upgrades, and installation work. They formed their union because of persistent failure of management to fulfill promises, constantly shifting managerial priorities, inconsistent schedules, and subpar treatment.

NCR Atleos employed several tactics to dissuade workers, including calling “all hands” meetings full of more promises of improvements, distributing gift cards for attendance, and threatening workers with stories of painful and delayed bargaining. Despite their efforts, workers remained unified and determined to establish a voice in their workplace.

"Winning our union vote means a lot more to me than just becoming a union,” said Senior Customer Engineer Gordon Pierce. “In a work environment where management is changing constantly, our union gives us the ability to have a consistent and stable voice as workers, regardless of who is in management at any given time. This victory is about all of us recognizing that we are stronger when we stand together. I'm proud of what we've done so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish as new CWA members. Our 23-4 vote shows how strongly our workers believe in this."

Congratulations to our new members at NCR Atleos!

Earlier this month, 15 public sector organizers from CWA Districts 3 and 7, along with over a dozen member-leaders, visited worksites and made home visits to share union information, sign up new members, and inject energy into organizing campaigns already underway.

In Tennessee, members from CWA Local 3866 signed up 15 new members and engaged in nearly 60 in-depth conversations with workers at 6 different Shelby County Health Department worksites. Members also visited United Campus Workers-Memphis to administer a living wage survey, where they signed up a new University of Memphis member.

The blitz also included visits to CWA members at six branches of the Memphis Public Library and home visits to county workers to rally support for the library worker referendum and the potential benefits of forming unions in their workplaces.

Finally, blitz participants talked to dozens of workers at several Mississippi state employee offices in support of CWA's Mississippi Alliance of State Employees (MASE-CWA Local 3570).

 
Organizers, staff, and volunteers helped reach out to potential and existing members during the CWA District 3/District 7 Organizing Blitz earlier this month. CWA Assistant Organizing Director Gail Tyree (front, left) and CWA District 7 Administrative Director Katie Romich (center, black glasses) joined other activists for the organizing blitz.