Bargaining Updates Around CWA - DirecTV, AT&T West, NewsGuild, and more

CWA Members Reach Tentative Agreement with DirecTV

CWA District 9 reached a tentative agreement with DirecTV earlier this week which includes significant improvements in wages, health benefits, holidays, scheduling, and job security. DTV workers will see a 14 percent wage increase over the course of the 4-year contract. Workers can also expect to see their out-of-pocket healthcare costs decline. Changes to the overtime rate of pay will mean all time over 54 hours per week will pay double-time. For those workers continuing their education, tuition aid will now be available.

Contract explanation meetings are being scheduled and the ratification vote will be conducted electronically.

The bargaining team has been awed at the solidarity shown by members across the country and is thankful for all the support. It made a huge difference at the negotiating table to be able to show DirecTV who they were really dealing with—all of CWA.

Check out more photos here.

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CWA Mobilizes Coast-to-Coast in Support of AT&T West Bargaining

Last week, thousands of CWA members joined a National Day of Action to show their support for the AT&T West Bargaining Team. From call centers to factory floors, from classrooms to newsrooms, CWA members showed that they are loud, proud, and united for a fair contract. Members took to the streets and to social media to send AT&T a clear message: the workers are watching.

Despite the slow pace of negotiations the bargaining team is neither backing down nor bowing out.

The team does report some progress on both benefits and wages, but there is more work to do to win the contract AT&T West members deserve. “The company needs to continue to hear you through your actions,” the bargaining team said in an update.. “They need to know that you will not stand for these things. They need to know that our rank and file isn’t looking for CEO money, just fair compensation for the work that we perform.”

Check out more photos here.

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CWA Journalists “Go Dark” During Eclipse

As the total solar eclipse captivated much of the nation on Monday, two local newspapers went dark. Ahead of the eclipse, two Gannett-owned newsrooms—the Austin American-Statesman and the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle—launched strikes, withholding their labor on a historic news day to draw attention to the company’s failure to bargain in good faith and respond to the union’s common-sense proposals. These strikes represent the 27th and 28th strikes by NewsGuild-CWA members in 2024 so far.

Both Austin (TNG-CWA Local 39213) and Rochester (TNG-CWA Local 31003) were in the solar eclipse’s path of totality, and with the news that Gannett dropped the Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman and Democrat & Chronicle readers found little-to-no local coverage of the eclipse on their websites, underscoring the need for strong local journalism and exposing Gannett’s bad faith bargaining.

“We see the eclipse as the exact sort of news event that demands experienced local reporters who know where to be, who know who to speak with, who know what to ask,” said Justin Murphy, Vice Chair of the Newspaper Guild of Rochester and education reporter at the Democrat & Chronicle.

While the Austin NewsGuild ended their four-day strike and returned to work earlier this week, Democrat & Chronicle journalists remain on strike. You can support striking journalists in Rochester by donating to their strike fund and reading their strike publication.

In addition to these actions, members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (NewsGuild-CWA Local 38061, CWA Locals 14827 and 14842,) and Long Beach Journalism Initiative (NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213) remain on the strike lines, fighting for better contracts and job security. You can support these strikers by donating to their respective strike funds: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Long Beach Journalism Initiative.

 
Members of NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213 (left) and members of NewsGuild-CWA Local 31003 participated in strikes during the total solar eclipse earlier this week.

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CWA Local 1036 Bargaining Committee Member Chris Ezzi is excited about the tentative agreement the committee was able to reach with the N.J. Judiciary.

CWA Court Workers Win Big with Tentative Agreement

Court workers represented by CWA Local 1036 in New Jersey are wrapping up negotiations with substantial wins in a new tentative bargaining agreement. Workers with the Professional Non-Court Related Unit of the N.J. Judiciary, including court service officers, attorneys, administrative specialists, and information technology analysts, will see robust wage increases, protections for remote workers, and a new stipend for bilingual workers. If ratified, the new contract will be the first since 2014 to raise the annual progression and will create a new maximum wage for those who have already reached their salary cap.

Committee members were aided in negotiations by CWA Local 1036 President Adam Liebtag, Local 1036 Lead Staff Representative Brian Dilks-Brotman, and legal counsel to Local 1036 David Beckett. For Anastasia Jackson, a first-time Committee Member, the negotiations team truly embodied solidarity: “When the Judiciary provided a response, whether positive or not, our team always provided several scenarios for us to consider when aiding to structure the contract. As a steward representing the membership, I truly felt heard, which was very important to me.” She went on to say that she “gained a whole new appreciation for the hard work our Union does for us as employees, and I’m much more grateful to have CWA Local 1036 in my corner.”

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CWA Childcare Workers Mobilize for Full Staffing

CWA childcare workers picketed late last month outside of La Casa De Don Pedro (LCDP), New Jersey’s largest Latinx-led non-profit organization. Current staff picketed in Newark for fair workloads and full staffing. Teachers have been unable to take their scheduled breaks due to lack of staffing and management has yet to resolve the issue. After the picket, two CWA stewards went to the Newark Board of Education to voice the need for more funding for La Casa to hire additional staff.

CWA Local 1037 Steward and teacher Virginia Atahualpa, in her remarks to the Board said, “We came here directly from a picket line at La Casa to draw attention to this problem and to hold Newark Public Schools accountable for the responsibility to properly staff the classroom both for the safety of the children and the dignity of teachers like me.”

LCDP was founded in 1972 by local activists to address the needs of Newark’s Puerto Rican community. Today, LCDP workers are represented by CWA Local 1037 and work in partnership with New Jersey Communities United to organize the childcare industry in their state.

Workers are fired up and will continue to advocate for full staffing. For more information, follow CWA Local 1037’s website here.

 
CWA Workers at La Casa de Don Pedro picketed at La Casa de Don Pedro before stewards spoke to the Newark Board of Education for funding to hire needed staff.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.