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D1 Newsletter August 2

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Look out for the CWA District 1 Newsletter the first and third Tuesdays of each month for the latest on what's happening around the District.

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WHAT CWAERS ARE FIGHTING FOR


CWAers are always busy fighting for justice and winning big for working people! Check out some of the campaigns your fellow CWA D1 members have been involved in lately.

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BREAKING! JUSTICE FOR BIANCA CUNNINGHAM

 

The NLRB has just issued a sweeping decision in CWA's Unfair Labor Practice charge against Verizon Wireless and ordered that Bianca Cunningham, Verizon Wireless worker from Brooklyn, NY who was fired for her union activism, be returned to work and be made whole. Congratulations to all who worked so hard on this great victory and to Bianca Cunningham for staying strong in this fight for justice at Verizon Wireless!

LAW360 EDITORIAL STAFF ORGANIZES WITH THE NY NEWSGUILD

 


An overwhelming majority of the roughly 130 reporters, editors, news assistants and apprentices at Law360 across the United States have signed on to the drive for Guild representation. They called on management to voluntarily recognize their union.

 

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OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS STAFF VOTE TO UNIONIZE WITH CWA LOCAL 1180


OSF workers in New York celebrate after their win.

Congratulations to 209 administrative and programmatic staff at the Open Society Foundations in New York, NY and Baltimore, MD who voted to join CWA Local 1180!

We want to pave the way and uplift this effort in solidarity with other workers organizing across the United States and the world," said Karina Claudio Betancourt, OSF Program Officer.

"Thursday was a great victory for the workers at Open Society Foundations (OSF). We are excited to have OSF join us at CWA 1180. These individuals will now have a seat at the table to bargain with management and have a greater say in organizational decisions that affect their jobs and lives. We look forward to having a collaborative relationship with OSF," said Arthur Cheliotes, CWA Local 1180 President.

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CWAERS ATTEND D1 LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN ATLANTIC CITY, NJ

CWA members and leadership from Locals across the District attended the D1 Leadership Conference in Atlantic City, NJ last month to celebrate members' accomplishments, attend workshops, and chart a way forward for upcoming fights.

Check out photos from the conference here.

 


CWAers attending the Leadership Conference walk the picket line with workers on strike at the Trump Taj Mahal.

 

 

AT&T MOBILITY WORKERS TO MANAGEMENT: "WE WANT CHANGE"


Over 1,000 AT&T Mobility retail workers in District 1 have signed a petition and worn pins demanding changes from the company in regards to sick days and pay cuts.

It’s time for AT&T to end its demands for health care cuts at Mobility. CWA’s AT&T Mobility bargaining team is working to negotiate a new national bargained benefit plan covering 45,000 AT&T Mobility workers. CWA members voted down an earlier tentative agreement, and CWA negotiators are meeting with the company team to bargain improvements to the last proposal. The national benefits agreement covers health care, life insurance, tuition assistance, adoption assistance and other benefits. Wages and working conditions are bargained separately at four units

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FORMER CWA PRESIDENT LARRY COHEN NAMED TO COMMISSION TO REFORM DNC NOMINATING PROCESS

The Rules Committee of the Democratic National Convention has established a unity reform commission to look at ways to make the nominating process fairer.

Former CWA President Larry Cohen was named vice chair of the commission by Senator Bernie Sanders. The group will develop rules to reduce the number of superdelegates by about two-thirds, and will recommend reforms to make the Democratic Party even more responsive to grassroots voters.

CWAERS AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION


CWA New Jersey delegates with CWA District 1 VP Dennis Trainor at the Democratic National Convention.

About 38 CWAers were delegates to the DNC last week in Philadelphia, PA. "No TPP" was heard loud and clear. During a TPP Forum at the Convention, CWA President Chris Shelton told the crowd, "Our mission now is to get the officials of the Democratic Party to take their implicit rejection of the TPP and make it an explicit rejection. I urge all of you to take action. Hold your members of Congress accountable." He brought the crowd to its feet, asking, "Are you ready to stand up and fight back?" Watch Shelton's remarks here. Joining Shelton was Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.); Gustavo Torres, executive director of Casa in Action; Lori Wallach, director of Global Trade Watch; former CWA President Larry Cohen, and other speakers pushing delegates to raise the issue at their state meetings and put the 41 senators and representatives who voted for Fast Track on notice: "The TPP has got to go!" At the opening night of the convention, delegates waved signs and chanted "No TPP, No TPP, No TPP."

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA BARGAINING UPDATE


In nationally coordinated bargaining, NewsGuild leaders at 12 newspaper bargaining units reached a tentative agreement with Digital First Media covering 870 workers.

The tentative agreement will be presented to members with separate ratification votes held in each of these bargaining units: The Denver Post, The Mercury News, East Bay Times, Monterey Herald, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Macomb Daily and The Daily Tribune, Kingston Daily Freeman, Pottstown Mercury, Norristown Times-Herald, The Delaware County Times, and The Trentonian.

The tentative three-year contract provides for a 3 percent pay increase for all bargaining unit members in the first year of the agreement, among other gains.

DFM owner Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund group, has been squeezing revenues at the newspapers and pushing for job cuts. Earlier this year, TNG-CWA activists launched a national campaign to demand investor transparency by Alden, known as a vulture fund, for its action that were affecting local and community coverage and newsroom and editorial diversity.

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