News | CWA Airline Council

As Negotiations Begin at AT&T Southeast, CWA Members Urge the Company to Share Record-Breaking Profits with its Employees
As contract bargaining opened today with AT&T Southeast covering about 22,000 members, the CWA bargaining team emphasized the need for AT&T to share its record-breaking profits with the people who make it all possible – its employees, CWA members. Last year, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson pledged to invest $1 billion and create 7,000 new middle-class jobs if Congress passed the corporate tax cut plan. The reality has been much different. The company received a $21 billion windfall from the tax bill and is projecting $3 billion in annual tax savings going forward, but an analysis by CWA based on AT&T’s own quarterly reports shows that AT&T has cut over 23,000 jobs since the tax cut passed. Just before Fathers’ Day weekend, AT&T announced job cuts for nearly 2,000 workers, including 911 in the Southeast. “If you were to visit any work center or call center across District 3, you would discover that your employees, our members, are not treated with the respect they have earned and deserve,” said CWA Vice President of District 3 Richard Honeycutt in opening remarks to the company. “As far as mutual responsibility, this has unfortunately become a one-way street.” Though the company claims that these recent job cuts are a result of a lack of work to be done, AT&T has increasingly turned to contractors to perform CWA members’ work in call centers and in the field. “We start this bargaining session demanding AT&T to show our hard-working members the respect and loyalty they deserve. This can be done through better wages, benefits, improved work rules, and job security. Give work to your employees – CWA members – not the employees of other companies.” The current contract for CWA members at AT&T Southeast expires on August 3, 2019. — Jun 25
CWA Reaches Tentative Agreement with Envoy Air During Mediation for Initial Passenger Service Agent Contract
IRVING, Texas – Passenger Service Agents represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), reached a tentative agreement with Envoy Air Inc., the largest wholly owned regional airline subsidiary of American Airlines Group (AAG) on their first collective bargaining agreement. Representatives from CWA and Envoy have negotiated a six and a half year agreement that raises wages, establishes work rules, improves benefits, and job security for nearly 5,000 Envoy Passenger Service Agents in approximately 100 cities across the United States. The agreement also includes a ratification and retention bonus based on each Agent’s years of service in recognition of the time spent in negotiations and to encourage retention. “For more than two years, CWA members at Envoy have stood strong in their fight for a contract with fair, family-sustaining wages and a contract that treats them with the respect they deserve,” said CWA President Chris Shelton. “Thanks to the dedication of our members, we now have a strong agreement that gives Envoy agents increased wages, improvements on numerous benefits, and better opportunities for agents moving forward as they continue to make Envoy successful.” CWA will share details of the agreement with union members soon, along with procedures for voting. Envoy’s President and CEO, Pedro Fábregas, thanked both negotiating teams for their continued efforts, noting that this agreement will provide new opportunities for agents while positioning Envoy for growth. “I would like to express our appreciation to the commitment of both negotiating teams and Mike Tosi, National Mediation Board’s mediator, to resolve the outstanding issues and reach this agreement for our agents,” said Fábregas. “I look forward to the union sharing details of the deal with the membership and a successful outcome. There has been much effort and discussion behind this agreement to satisfy all parties and establish a solid framework for a more collaborative working relationship for years to come.” — Jun 21
New York Assembly Passes Call Center Jobs Act!
After years of hard work, the New York Call Center Jobs Act, sponsored by Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, has passed in the New York Assembly by a count of 93-19, and will head to the Governor to be signed! CWA members spent months of campaigning to help pro-worker Democrats take over the State Senate last year and months more of lobbying, calling, and writing postcards to legislators, rallying, and holding press conferences to finally get the legislation over the finish line. The bill contains strong protections for call center jobs in New York. It ends tax breaks for companies that ship at least 30% of their workforce out of state and requires state agencies to ensure that all business-related call center work is performed by companies located in New York. CWA members worked hard to pass the New York call center bill, including lobbying, calling, and writing postcards to legislators, rallying, and holding press conferences to get the legislation over the finish line. — Jun 20
BuzzFeed News Employees Walk Out, Demand Union Recognition
Employees at BuzzFeed News walked out of the newsroom on June 17 and rallied outside the publication's New York office to demand union recognition. Four months ago, BuzzFeed Editor in Chief Ben Smith claimed management looked forward to meeting with organizers "to discuss a way toward voluntarily recognizing their union." Instead, management has refused to recognize the bargaining unit that employees have proposed, and is pushing for a far narrower scope of eligibility for the union. BuzzFeed employees were joined at the rally by NewsGuild members at the New York Times, New Republic, Reuters, Law360, Ziff Davis Creators Guild and others, as well as Scabby, the inflatable rat that is a fixture at labor rallies in and around the city. Walkouts were also held at BuzzFeed's offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Employees at BuzzFeed News walked out of the newsroom on June 17 and rallied outside the publication's New York office to demand union recognition. — Jun 20
Public Sector Workers are Ready to Go on the Offense
At the 2019 Public Sector Conference in Memphis this week, CWAers heard from CWA President Chris Shelton and CWA Public Sector Vice President Brooks Sunkett about how public workers can fight back against vicious anti-union attacks at the state level and nationally. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens also attended the conference. "Powerful, reactionary forces are now targeting public sector unions as the next battleground in their class war," said Shelton. "Despite their attacks, we are growing CWA Stronger. The entire union rallied for the public sector during the Janus attack to protect our members. We have to keep our focus on moving our working family agenda forward to provide a better life for all workers. We cannot let anyone divide us using the color of our skin or the land of our forefathers. We must unite and fight for a bigger piece of the economic pie – not fight among ourselves for crumbs!" Shelton recognized the efforts of CWAers in Texas who are organizing despite not having collective bargaining rights and who successfully stopped the anti-union effort to eliminate payroll deduction, as well as TSEU's organizing blitz during which they signed up more than 300 new members with the help of CWA Locals 1038 and 1040. Shelton also highlighted members of UPTE-CWA Local 9119 as they fight for a fair contract and build their membership; CWAers in Iowa who, because of anti-union laws, have to vote annually to retain their union; members of CWA Locals 3180, 3181, and 3170 who boosted membership in the face of anti-union attacks; United Campus Workers for growing and spreading energy throughout the South; and more. The conference attendees also held a Fight for $15 rally at the University of Memphis to support raising the minimum wage. At the 2019 Public Sector Conference in Memphis this week, CWAers heard from CWA President Chris Shelton and CWA Public Sector Vice President Brooks Sunkett (left) about how public workers can fight back against vicious anti-union attacks at the state level and nationally. — Jun 20