CWA has reached tentative agreements with AT&T for 13,000 workers in the Midwest and another 5, 700 workers handling corporate accounts. Contract details are being withheld until CWA is able to present them to members, but the union says they include wage increases and other improvements. Settling the Midwest contract was the last official business CWA District 4 VP Seth Rosen was working on before his drowning death Friday. Another CWA vice president, Ralph Maly, said Rosen would say of the tentative contract that “we achieved our goal of a net gain when considering pay, health care and employment security.” Photo: Rosen at an informational picket in the fight for a fair contract at AT&T.
CWA President Larry Cohen writes a letter to members about the life and untimely death of District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen, and what we can learn from him. Photo: A tireless activist, Rosen works an election phone bank.
CWA is mourning the loss of District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen, who drowned Friday while vacationing on the outer banks of North Carolina. "His commitment to every aspect of our union life cannot be matched. To honor his memory, we will complete and carry on that work, and never give up,” CWA President Larry Cohen said. Rosen, 55, was from Cleveland; see the Plain Dealer's coverage here. A memorial site has been set up on Facebook.
Labor unions are down, but not out, and Porter writes that "history offers some clues about how the labor movement — once again on the mat, pummeled into insignificance by economic forces beyond its control — might recover its relevance to American workers and society."
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA has been elected to represent 1,800 flight attendants at the new Pinnacle Airlines, which recently merged with Mesaba and Colgan airlines. Nearly 1,300 of the flight attendants are new members of AFA-CWA, which previously represented about 500 members at Mesaba.
Despite conservative spin, the big money in politics comes from big business and conservative groups, which outspend labor unions many times over, Salon reports. Further, unions are subject to strict annual disclosure rules that require them to detail all political activities and lobbying -- far more comprehensive reports than are required of corporations and super PACs.
What better way to spend July 4 than barbecuing and hosting a cookout that’s actually Made in America? The AFL-CIO makes it easy for you by compiling a holiday shopping list from Union Plus, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM), the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor's LA Labor 411's website and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) for all your union-made products.
With a 94 percent "yes" vote, fleet and passenger service agents at Piedmont Airlines have overwhelmingly ratified their first contract. The agreement covers 3,700 CWA-represented employees at 79 locations and provides raises and bonuses totaling as much as 38 percent over the next 54 months. Photo: Piedmont agents in Philadelphia celebrate in May, when a tentative contract was reached more than a year and a half after the agents organized.
The Supreme Court’s ruling this week in Knox v. Service Employees International Union is one of the most brazen of the Roberts court. It shows how defiantly the five justices act in advancing the aggressive conservatism of their majority on the court, the New York Times editorial board writes.
Join CWA members from across the country at 7:30 p.m. EDT tonight for the union's latest Town Hall phone call, featuring updates on campaigns including AT&T bargaining, organizing at General Electric in Burlington, Iowa, the national day of action Friday (June 22) in support of Verizon and Verizon Wireless workers, the 2012 election kickoff and more. Featured guests include members of the German union ver.di who joined T-Mobile workers at the bargaining table in Connecticut last week. Photo: Verizon workers protest outside FCC to oppose a job-killing cable monoply deal.
