News

  • Guilty Verdict in Chauvin Trial is a Step Toward Justice, But It Is Not Enough
    Today’s verdict finding Derek Chauvin guilty of the murder of George Floyd is a step toward justice for Floyd, his family members, and all those who have been affected by his brutal murder. But it is not enough. As we have seen in the past few weeks, the threat of police violence continues to be a constant presence in the lives of Black and Brown people in our country. We’ve heard all the pretexts and excuses and promises to do better, but the fact remains that there has been no reduction in the racial disparity in fatal police shootings over the past five years. Our union is committed to educating, organizing and mobilizing for racial justice. That work begins with fighting racism within CWA and extends into our workplaces and our communities. As we said last year after George Floyd was murdered, “It is not enough to punish the perpetrators who have taken these Black lives. It is not enough to simply identify a "few bad apples" to fire or prosecute - a course of action which our deeply flawed legal system makes difficult to pursue. We must also do the hard, transformational work of rooting out racism in America's consciousness and the institutions that uphold it.” The lives of our Black and Brown brothers, sisters and siblings depend upon it. — Apr 20
  • Senator Joe Manchin's Co-Sponsorship of the PRO Act is Great News for All Working Americans
    During an event today with UMWA President Cecil Roberts, Senator Joe Manchin announced that he is co-sponsoring the PRO Act. CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney issued the following statement: Senator Joe Manchin's co-sponsorship of the PRO Act is great news for the people of West Virginia and for all working Americans. As Senator Manchin recognized in his remarks today, as our country makes the transition to a cleaner energy future and new technologies, we must ensure that these industries provide opportunities for good jobs in the communities that need them. The best way to do that is by passing the PRO Act so that those jobs can be union jobs. I want to thank our CWA members in West Virginia and the West Virginia AFL-CIO for their leadership and advocacy for the PRO Act. Their active engagement with Senator Manchin was essential to securing his co-sponsorship of the bill. — Apr 19
  • CWA Launches State Broadband Oversight Initiatives
    CWA recently launched initiatives in state legislatures across the country aimed at greater public oversight of broadband providers. The goal is to ensure public safety and network resilience while protecting consumers and closing the digital divide. CWA's efforts complement the Biden administration's American Jobs Plan, which includes $100 billion for expanding broadband coverage and creating good jobs in the industry. "President Biden has made a powerful case for recognizing that broadband is a critical part of America's 21st-century infrastructure and for considering its effect on the lives of working people," said CWA President Chris Shelton at an event marking the new initiative. "Working people need robust telecommunications services that support good jobs and full access to health care resources, public services, and educational opportunities. Instead, we have been left with deteriorating telephone networks and a failure to deliver next generation services to rural and low income areas." CWA District 7 Vice President Brenda Roberts added, "Telecom industry executives said deregulation was necessary for competition and that competition would magically fix everything. It hasn't, and the public needs watch dogs we can work with to ensure this essential service is there for our communities today and into the future. Without regulation, the goal of universal broadband service is just a nice dream." The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how critical broadband is to the nation's health and education systems, and how underserved many rural and urban communities are. CWA Local 7777 Executive Board Member Sandra Parker Murray, who has been working with the Coloradans for Better Internet Coalition, explained, "As school buildings closed during the pandemic, students who didn't have reliable broadband were cut off from their education entirely ... Hot spots have helped some families get by, but they are not a sustainable solution." Natural disasters have also alerted the public to the need for more oversight. CWA Local 9408 member Stan Santos, who serves as legislative chair of CWA's Coastal Valley Council, said, "California's wildfires have shown how the companies have cut corners leaving communications networks vulnerable when they are most needed—when disaster strikes." Check out more information about the initiative and CWA's model legislation, known as the Broadband Resiliency, Public Safety and Quality Act here. — Apr 15
  • High Speed Internet Is Infrastructure
    President Joe Biden has five words for Republicans who say that his American Jobs Plan should be scaled back to focus on "traditional" infrastructure like roads and bridges: "High speed internet is infrastructure." In remarks about his plan, President Biden said, "We need to start seeing infrastructure through its effect on the lives of working people in America. What is the foundation today that they need to carve out their place in the middle class? ... That's what infrastructure means in the 21st Century. It still depends on roads and bridges, ports and airports, rail and mass transit. But it also depends on having reliable high-speed internet in every home. Because today's high speed internet is infrastructure." As part of the plan, Biden specifically calls on Congress to pass the PRO Act so workers who are helping rebuild our country are able join unions and bargain strong contracts. Projects funded through the plan using taxpayer dollars will pay prevailing wages, require employer neutrality in union organizing, and follow strong labor standards, ensuring that bottom-feeding contractors cannot undercut union workers. Watch President Biden's remarks here. — Apr 15
  • CWA Next Generation Hosts Virtual Workshop on the PRO Act
    On April 11, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens joined NewsGuild-CWA activists and more than 35 members of CWA Next Generation to talk about reforming U.S. labor law by passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act (PSFNA). Secretary-Treasurer Steffens shared the pride and power she felt organizing with co-workers as a young reporter at the Contra Costa Times in California and joining the NewsGuild-CWA. Only two weeks after the union vote she was fired for her leadership in the campaign, which only intensified her commitment to the labor movement. Leah Waters, a multiplatform editor for The Dallas Morning News and Dallas NewsGuild unit chair, described relentless one-on-one and captive audience meetings in which management claimed the newspaper would go out of business if the workers voted in favor of the union. Ultimately, those tactics backfired and strengthened support for the union, leading to an overwhelming 75% vote in favor. Annie Shields, engagement editor at The Nation magazine is on the Executive Committee of the NewsGuild of New York, TNG-CWA Local 31003. Shields organizes new members in the publishing industry, which has seen a recent surge in union activity. She talked about challenges workers face as they bargain for their first contracts after battling hostile employers. Workshop organizers and CWA Next Gen Lead Activists Amanda Bratcher (District 3), Carissa Hahn (District 7), and Maddie Pettine (PHEW) explained how the PRO Act and PSFNA would make it easier for all workers to organize, to bargain, and to strike, and would create real, enforceable penalties for companies that violate labor law. Secretary-Treasurer Steffens and CWA Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton, who directs the CWA Next Generation program, encouraged everyone to get involved in the fight to pass the PRO Act and the PSFNA. According to Hahn, "The fight to reform our broken labor law system is just gearing up." For updates from CWA Next Generation, including information about upcoming workshops and opportunities to get involved in the fight for labor law reform, click here. — Apr 15