Political Action Updates - April 2023

Local 1036 Leader Invited to White House Forum

On March 29th, Michele Liebtag, Political and Education Director at CWA Local 1036, represented CWA District 1 at a forum at the White House in Washington, DC. 

“Communities in Action: Building a Better New Jersey” is part of a new series that features local elected officials and community leaders working on behalf of their communities to create opportunities and improve people’s everyday lives.  This half-day forum was held in person at the White House and highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s investments and impacts in communities across New Jersey. Members of CWA, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) were invited to participate along with several New Jersey mayors, and representatives from non-profit organizations. 

The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Agenda for New Jersey includes many of CWA’s priorities, such as creating funding sources to prioritize investments in telecom including the expansion of broadband access through Internet for ALL, distributing ARPA relief dollars to support the important services provided by our public sector members, reducing healthcare costs that impact many CWA members, and funding programs that benefit front line and essential CWA public and private sector workers.      

CWA Members Fight for Hospital Funding and Raising the Minimum Wage in NY

The fight for a fair, pro-worker New York State budget is coming down to its final days, and CWA members have continued to speak out for our top priorities to protect workers, including vital funding for our healthcare centers throughout the state. 

On April 17th, dozens of CWA members traveled to the Capital in Albany for a rally alongside 1199SEIU and other healthcare advocates and elected officials to demand a strong injection of funds into our healthcare system so that workers can get the support they need to adequately care for patients.

“Hospital systems across our state are in crisis,” said Maureen Kryszak, a Registered Nurse at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo and member of CWA Local 1133, addressing the massive crowd. “Staffing has never been worse, working conditions are untenable, and patient care is suffering.”

“New York must act now to support hospitals, protect healthcare workers, and ensure the most vulnerable NYers can get the care they need and keep hospitals and healthcare facilities open and serving the community,” said Cori Webb, also a Registered Nurse and member of Local 1133.

One of CWA’s other big priorities for this year’s New York State budget is raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation so that workers don’t get left behind when inflation goes up - a move that could lift up millions of New Yorkers. On April 12th, IUE-CWA Local 81381 President Christina Christman spoke out at a rally in Rochester alongside other labor and community advocates calling for raising the minimum wage to $21.25 per hour. 

“Food is going up, gas is going up, rent is definitely going up,” said Christina. “People cannot afford to live anymore. Our members, by far have to work second jobs or work overtime just in order to stay alive, stay afloat. It’s not acceptable anymore.”

Read more about the minimum wage rally in Rochester here.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Meeting with CWA Leaders in New Jersey

On Wednesday, April 12th, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman toured the Mercer County Airport in West Trenton, NJ. The Mercer County Airport is receiving grant money from the US DOT as part of the Biden-Harris Build Back Better Initiative in NJ. A group of labor and elected officials, including CWA Local 1036’s Michele Liebtag, met with Secretary Buttigieg after the tour.