News

  • United Campus Workers Win in Tennessee, Fight for a Liveable Wage in Mississippi
    Last Thursday, in a win for members of United Campus Workers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UCW-CWA Local 3865), the University of Tennessee announced graduate student workers will no longer have to pay student fees. This move will save graduate assistants – those who work teaching or performing research – nearly $2,000 a year. For the last three years, the members of UCW-CWA Local 3865 have been fighting to eliminate these burdensome fees that add to the financial hardships the workers are already facing as the cost of living continues to rise. This win follows the successful efforts of the members of United Campus Workers-Georgia (CWA Local 3265) to remove the "Special Institutional Fee" across all public universities in Georgia. In Mississippi, part-time and full-time staff, faculty, and student workers from the University of Southern Mississippi, members of United Campus Workers of Mississippi (UCW-CWA Local 3565) held a rally last Thursday to call on the university to raise the school’s minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour. The university advertises its role as an economic driver for the community, generating an annual economic impact of over $600 million. Yet, the lowest paid university workers receive an annual salary of only $21,000 (roughly $10.50/hr) – a sub-poverty wage for those with families. The rally ended with the delivery of more than 300 employee signatures to University President Rodney Bennett pressing for the establishment of a living wage for all employees. Members of United Campus Workers of Mississippi (UCW-CWA Local 3565) and supporters held a rally to call for the establishment of a living wage for all employees. — May 12
  • CWA Ski Patrollers Building Worker Power
    Last Wednesday, CWA ski patrollers from Colorado, Utah, and Washington, members of United Professional Ski Patrols of America/CWA 7781, convened in Buena Vista, Colo., for their annual end of season meeting. They discussed their efforts to build their union and raise working standards in the winter sports industry. The leaders also celebrated historic pay victories for patrollers at Vail Resorts in Colorado, as well as the successful recent organizing campaign at Purgatory Resort in Durango, Colo. — May 12
  • Auto and Home Insurance for CWA Members
    CWA members can get special access to the Farmers Insurance Choice platform to compare auto and home insurance quotes from top companies — all in one place with UnionPlus. Learn more here. — May 12
  • Biden Administration’s Leadership on Broadband Will Bring High Speed Internet to Millions of Households and Create Good Jobs
    Today’s announcement that 20 internet service providers have committed to lowering the cost of plans for households that are eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program is good news for the millions of Americans who cannot afford high speed, high quality broadband connections. Securing these commitments continues the Biden Administration’s strong leadership on not only building out broadband but making sure it is affordable. In addition to promoting the Affordable Connectivity Program in their communities, members of CWA’s Broadband Brigade have been working to ensure that grants provided to states by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for broadband buildout go to high road employers and help create good, union jobs. While affordability and accessibility are important, they are not enough. Internet service providers must be held accountable for the services they provide. Unfortunately, many of the same providers who have agreed to lower prices have been trying to derail the Senate confirmation of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission. Without a full slate of Commissioners, the FCC cannot provide the oversight and enforceable protections necessary for truly affordable, accessible broadband. ### — May 9
  • CWA Member Discusses Grassroots Organizing Efforts with President Biden, Vice President Harris and Labor Secretary Walsh at White House Event
    Washington, D.C - Today, Alex Speidel, one of the lead organizers from United Paizo Workers/CWA, met with President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, and other worker organizers at the White House to discuss how he and his co-workers at Paizo won voluntary recognition for their union. Workers at Paizo help produce the popular award-winning Pathfinder and Starfinder tabletop game series. Speidel and his co-workers formed United Paizo Workers/CWA in the fall of 2021 in response to the departure of several long-term employees amid allegations of managerial impropriety. In addition, the workers raised concerns about a pattern of inconsistent hiring practices, pay inequity across the company, allegations of verbal abuse from executives and management, and allegations of harassment ignored or covered up by those at the top. During the meeting, Speidel told the group that freelancers who worked for Paizo began to refuse assignments from the company in solidarity with the workers’ request for voluntary recognition of their union. He said that this action strengthened the workers’ position and likely contributed to Paizo’s decision to grant voluntary recognition. When a majority of workers have signed cards indicating that they support forming a union, they often ask their employer to voluntarily recognize and bargain with the union. Under current law, employers are not required to agree. Instead, even when overwhelming majorities of workers provide written support for the union, many employers force them to undergo a lengthy process to hold a National Labor Relations Board-supervised election. That current process offers many opportunities for the employer to exploit the law to delay the election, allowing them more time to wage an anti-union campaign. “It was very exciting to meet with President Biden, Vice President Harris and Secretary of Labor Walsh today. Being able to discuss CWA’s campaign to organize game and tech workers, and to share the incredible work being done by the United Paizo Workers and our team of freelance writers, was truly an honor, and I’m so glad to have been invited. It is my hope that the administration continues their support of workers who are organizing to join unions in all industries, and that we are able to take this momentum back to CWA to continue the CODE-CWA campaign. Every worker deserves a union!" CWA’s CODE-CWA project supports workers in the tech and game industries who are organizing for change at their workplaces. CODE-CWA workers at Activision’s Raven Software studio are currently voting in their union election. Apple retail workers organizing with CODE-CWA’s support will begin voting in the first-ever union recognition election at Apple on June 2. President Biden has put working people front and center in his policies. Vice President Harris and Secretary Walsh serve as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively, of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The Task Force’s mission is to identify actions the Executive Branch can take to support worker power, worker organizing, and collective bargaining. ### — May 5