News

  • Bargaining Update
    NBC Universal The NABET-CWA Network Negotiating Committee reached a tentative agreement this week with NBC Universal on a new contract to replace the Master Agreement, which expired on March 31, 2018. The new contract includes wage and benefit improvements and covers all NABET-CWA members at NBCU, including nearly 3,000 staff and daily hire employees working as broadcast technicians in the studios, and in the field for NBC News, NBC Sports, and NBC Entertainment as well as other employees at company network and TV station operations in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.   NABET-CWA Locals 11 (New York), 52031 (Washington, D.C.), 54041 (Chicago) and 59053 (Los Angeles) will be conducting membership meetings and providing further information on this contract package, and will conduct ratification voting over the next few weeks. — Feb 14
  • Organizing Update
    BuzzFeed News Editorial staffers of BuzzFeed News announced this week that they are forming a union with the NewsGuild of New York-CWA Local 31003 and are requesting voluntary recognition from their employer. More than 90% of eligible editorial employees signed on to the union effort. The efforts to organize to have a voice on the job follow several tumultuous weeks in which nearly 15% of the Buzzfeed staff were laid off company-wide. "I love working at BuzzFeed News," said Albert Samaha, Investigative Reporter, in a press statement. "I care deeply about the future of this place, and I believe a union will bring stability to our workforce, grant us a crucial voice in company decisions, and make BuzzFeed stronger in the long run. My colleagues overwhelmingly support this effort, and I'm proud to stand with them." Canadian staff at BuzzFeed also officially filed for union certification this week to join the Canadian Media Guild-CWA Local 30213. "We are striving to improve transparency, equity, diversity, and working conditions across the company," Buzzfeed Canada staff said in a statement. ### Hartford Courant Journalists at the Hartford Courant have taken a major step toward joining the NewsGuild-CWA. Members of the newly-formed Hartford Courant Guild filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board Monday and requested voluntary recognition from Tribune Publishing, the paper's parent company. The Hartford Courant Guild will cover approximately 60 reporters, editors, and photographers. In a statement, employees wrote that accomplishing their mission "has grown harder with each passing day." Declining revenues and decisions by corporate managers who have little regard for or knowledge of their communities and the work Courant employees do to serve them have led to deepening cuts to their resources and standards, they said. ### Parking Production Assistants Parking Production Assistants (PPAs) employed by Netflix, Possible Productions, and Big Indie The Hunt won voluntary recognition to join CWA Local 1101. These three employers signed on to the Master Agreement CWA negotiated recently with the employer group AMPTP (Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers). Although PPAs work as freelancers, at any one time, Netflix employs about 25 PPAs, while Possible Production employs about 50 PPAs, and Big Indie The Hunt employs about 10. — Feb 14
  • House Hearing Reveals Weakness of T-Mobile and Sprint's Merger Claims
    CWA President Chris Shelton testified in front of Congress on Wednesday at a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. At the hearing, Shelton warned that the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger will harm thousands of workers and consumers. "Thirty thousand fewer jobs," said Shelton. "Lower wages by as much as $3,000 per year. Disproportionate harm to low-income communities. Higher prices for all consumers. All to help a state-owned German company and a Japanese billionaire make more money. Members of the Committee, that is not in the public interest." At the hearing, witnesses who raised concerns about the proposed merger offered detailed and extensive documentation and analysis, while merger supporters relied on vague and unsubstantiated claims. "Without binding and enforceable commitments – and I mean commitments that have no loopholes – such promises are just cheap sales talk and are easily broken," Shelton said. "Trusting Sprint and T-Mobile with American jobs is like trusting a vampire at a blood bank. These are two of the worst companies in the United States when it comes to labor law and the treatment of workers. In recent years, T-Mobile has been charged with more labor law violations per worker than even Walmart." Shelton highlighted T-Mobile's track record of buying companies and then cutting jobs, noting the aftermath and harm of T-Mobile's 2018 acquisition of Iowa Wireless (the subject of a CWA report, Disrupting Rural Wireless, released this week). As Shelton noted, "After it acquired Iowa Wireless in 2018, it closed all iWireless call centers and more than 90 percent of its retail locations. It closed every single store in rural Iowa." Members of Congress also expressed skepticism about the companies' claims during the hearing, pressing T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure on jobs, consumer prices, rural buildout, and their commitment to the federal Lifeline program that helps low-income consumers access critical telecommunications services. Meanwhile, CWA's concerns about potential job loss in the merger have drawn attention at the state level. Earlier this week, CWA expressed disappointment at the New York Public Service Commission's decision to approve the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, but noted that the union's concerns were taken into account by the PSC's requirement that the number of workers directly employed by the companies be preserved at the same level for at least three years after the merger. At a U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing, CWA President Chris Shelton told Congress that the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger will harm thousands of workers and consumers. — Feb 14
  • USIC Workers Overwhelmingly Vote to Keep Their Union!
    USIC workers, members of CWA Local 1101, who mark the New York City and Long Island streets for Con Ed and National Grid before they dig, voted overwhelmingly to keep their union last week. The employer launched a vicious anti-union campaign aimed at intimidating workers leading up to the vote. CWA has successfully lobbied in New York City to include these members under "prevailing wage" laws, which would mean a significant wage increase. Although the Comptroller agrees with CWA and has ordered USIC to pay prevailing wage, the company has appealed the decision. Councilman Brad Lander has now promised to introduce legislation to mandate that USIC pay the prevailing wage. Many other elected leaders backed these workers as they fought to keep their union despite USIC's threats and coercive tactics, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York State Senator and Labor Chair Jessica Ramos. USIC workers, members of CWA Local 1101, voted overwhelmingly to keep their union! — Feb 14
  • CWAers Across the Country Make Progress on Passing Legislation to Protect Call Center Jobs
    CWAers across the country are making major strides on passing legislation to protect call center jobs from offshoring! This week, the New York Call Center Jobs Act passed through the New York Senate Labor Committee. It's a big step forward to getting the bill enacted. Check out this great story in The Daily News about the committee vote. New York CWAers flooded the New York State Capitol with red this week to urge legislators to pass the New York Call Center Jobs Act. In Virginia, a call center bill focused on state agencies passed the House of Delegates this week with a 60-34 vote. It's next up in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee. In Washington, the House and Workplace Standard Committee has a hearing on a call center bill today, while in Maine, the Labor and House Committee is holding a hearing for a call center bill next week. In Tennessee, a call center bill was introduced this week in the House and Senate with bipartisan support. New Jersey, Texas, Georgia, West Virginia, and Arizona have already introduced call center bills, while Connecticut, Florida, Alabama, Minnesota, Colorado, and Nevada are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. — Feb 14