News

  • CWA Endorses Joe Biden for President
    Washington, D.C. -- The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has endorsed Joe Biden for President. In a letter to the union’s Executive Board recommending the endorsement, CWA President Chris Shelton said that Biden is “someone who will walk the walk when it comes to fighting for workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.” “Joe understands labor’s mantra: ‘Which side are you on’,” wrote Shelton. “He knows who built America and who built the middle class. When we need him, Joe and his White House will be there for us, ready to help. It’s about time the President of the United States was an ally and promoter of organized labor, not an enemy.” Shelton cited Biden’s support for the PRO Act, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and the fact that his broadband plan includes language requiring companies receiving funds to remain neutral on workers’ organizing efforts as evidence of Biden’s commitment to workers’ rights. In his letter, Shelton said that Donald Trump’s treatment of working people as expendable disqualified him from the union’s endorsement. “The past three years – and indeed just the past three months – have proven that the 2016 election was the most damaging election of our lifetimes,” wrote Shelton. “Donald Trump’s victory that year will tear at the fabric of our society and the health of our communities for years to come and will worsen if he is re-elected.” As part of its endorsement process, CWA sent candidates a comprehensive questionnaire about issues important to working people and asked them to submit a short video explaining what they will do in the first 100 days as President to pass the PRO Act, Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act and expand workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. Biden’s answers and video are online at cwapolitical.org/biden2020. Trump did not respond. CWA is planning an extensive member education and voter turnout effort in Presidential battleground states, and CWA activists began engaging members in key Senate states earlier this year. CWA’s members represent a cross-section of America’s workers, working in industries spanning telecommunications, airlines, media and broadcast journalism, health care, public service, education and manufacturing ### — May 22
  • Heroes Act Would Protect and Compensate Essential Workers, but Republicans Are Going to Block It
    The Heroes Act, a COVID-19 relief bill, introduced by Congressional Democrats and passed by the House last week, would provide compensation and critical health and safety protections for workers. But Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are likely to block it and not even put it up for a vote in the Senate. "Donald Trump quickly declared he would veto the bill, alarmed that it closes loopholes that provide tax breaks to the super-rich. He needs to get his priorities straight and stop acting like the best way to recover from this pandemic is to pretend like it doesn't exist," said CWA President Chris Shelton. The bill contains provisions that would support employment for CWA members and allow them to continue to serve their communities, including funding for state and local public services, internet access for schools and families, access for local news outlets to the Paycheck Protection Program, premium pay for essential workers, improved access to paid leave for millions of workers, new payments to individuals to offset lost pay, and would extend unemployment insurance and help prevent foreclosures and evictions. Read more here: https://www.newsweek.com/nancy-pelosi-heroes-act-trump-republicans-1505628. — May 21
  • CWA/NETT Training Scholarships for CWA Members
    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, CWA/NETT Academy is funding more than $50,000 in training scholarships for CWA members. CWA recognizes the need to assist members in a variety of ways, including in their personal and professional development. Each award will permit the member to participate in an online course from our catalog of courses. To qualify, you must be a CWA member in good standing or currently furloughed. You must enroll in a class within one month of receiving notification of your scholarship award and complete the course. Each course is 6 weeks in length. Apply online anytime between now and July 31, 2020, at cwa.org/cwanett-scholarships. — May 21
  • New York CWAers Call for Corporations and Elected Officials to #ProtectAllWorkers
    Members of CWA Local 1102 in New York participated in a car procession this week alongside workers and members of the community to demand corporations and elected officials #ProtectALLWorkers regardless of citizenship status, and deliver the message that everyone deserves safety, sufficient pay, paid family and sick leave, and adequate safety nets if they have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. — May 21
  • NewsGuild Launches "Save The News" Campaign
    On Monday, the NewsGuild-CWA launched a new advocacy campaign called Save The News to make the case that local newsrooms must be included in future federal recovery efforts to support essential industries. Although journalists are covering the biggest story of their lives, the news industry is fighting for survival. Local news outlets have been damaged for years by tech giants that have siphoned away advertising revenue and by private equity owners that have hollowed out the industry with extreme cost-cutting measures. Since 2004, the U.S. has lost approximately 1,800 newspapers, many of them small papers outside of major cities. Each of these losses hurts communities deeply, taking away the important functions local news plays in residents' lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the devastation. Advertising revenue has dried up as businesses shuttered to combat the virus. This has led to layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts for tens of thousands of journalists. At the same time, readers are turning to local news outlets in record numbers in search of accurate, up-to-the-minute information about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their communities. The Save The News campaign calls for recovery measures that will keep reporters on the streets, ad representatives working the phones, digital production staff posting online, press operators churning out papers, and drivers delivering them to readers' doors. "I am humbled to see so many members of our industry unite under one cause: protecting local journalism," said NewsGuild President Jon Schleuss. "Americans need access to information about their local communities more than ever, and yet layoffs and furloughs are only increasing as this pandemic continues. Congress needs to act to save the news before it's too late." Read more at SaveTheNews.org. — May 21