Last week, Lumen Technologies (formerly CenturyLink) announced its intention to sell its residential fiber network to AT&T. Lumen would continue to own the copper network that CWA members built and still maintain. The more profitable fiber network, also built and maintained by CWA members, would be transferred to a new subsidiary that AT&T is calling “NetworkCo.” The subsidiary will then be partially sold to an as yet unnamed private equity partner. The structure of this transaction raises serious concerns for Lumen’s workers and customers.

“We are taking a close look at AT&T’s plans for Lumen’s home fiber business to assess the impact on our members and communities,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “Our union’s leadership will work with both companies to ensure that our members are respected and protected so that they can continue providing the high-quality service that customers deserve.”

CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister stated, “Our members care deeply about the customers and communities we serve. We have fought to ensure that fiber buildout is done right, with high-quality networks built by experienced union technicians. AT&T’s stated plans for Lumen’s home fiber business put that at risk. CWA members are going to make sure that regulators and elected officials understand and address our concerns as this process moves forward.”

CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt also addressed the issue, saying, “AT&T should be putting its customers and workers first, not its shareholders. Lumen’s customers deserve a first-class fiber network, and that’s what CWA members deliver. Before this transaction is approved, AT&T and Lumen must commit to maintaining a well-trained, directly hired union workforce and make sure that customers who depend on Lumen’s copper network are not left behind.”

Earlier this month, 292 research assistants at the State University of New York (SUNY)-Binghamton’s Research Foundation won their union election by a landslide. They will join CWA Local 1104, which represents 4,700 graduate student workers and 1,062 research assistants at SUNY campuses.

The majority of these workers are international students conducting scientific research, prime targets for President Trump’s mass deportation and research defunding schemes. Despite the inherent danger of organizing and the added danger of incarceration or deportation, these brave workers courageously accepted those risks to help protect one another.

“I’m pro-union because international students are more vulnerable, particularly today,” said Turan, a Binghamton History Department research assistant. “Building the union is about securing protections for international workers as well as ensuring that all RAs have the pay and benefits we need. We can get that through a union contract.”

CWA Local 1104 President Mike Ippoliti played a key role in supporting these workers, as did organizers from CWA Locals 1104,1123, and 1180. “We’re happy to welcome these workers into the CWA family,” said Ippoliti. “Despite considerable time constraints, we pulled together in an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ effort over the last few months. This win would not have been possible without everyone involved. We are looking forward to bargaining a first contract in the coming months.”

Congratulations to the SUNY-Binghamton workers for their courageous pursuit of a voice on the job.

CWA Local 1104 President Mike Ippoliti (fourth from left) joined research assistants and organizers from CWA Locals 1104, 1123, and 1180 to celebrate an organizing win for graduate workers at SUNY-Binghamton.

Last week, CWA representatives joined other industry experts and labor organizations at the Ramp Worker Safety Forum in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Agenda topics included approaches to ramp worker safety, engine ingestion and jet blast hazards, training challenges, and best practices. This forum was the result of CWA’s successful campaign to include a mandated review of ramp worker safety in the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Bill.

Forum participants, including CWA Local 3645 Shop Steward and Piedmont Airlines Ramp Agent Joy Goings and AFA-CWA Safety Chair for PSA Airlines Robin Coombs, identified areas for improvement, including better ramp task scheduling, reassessing staffing needs, and increasing appropriate training opportunities. CWA Deputy Director of Health and Safety Micki Siegel de Hernandez, along with representatives from IAM and TWU, led the morning labor presentation about ramp hazards. The FAA will now evaluate feedback from the meeting to help craft a report to Congress and procedures to “minimize or eliminate ingestion zone and jet blast zone accidents.”

While at the Capitol, CWA Deputy Director of Health and Safety Micki Siegel de Hernandez joined Goings for a meeting with the staff of Rep. Alma Adams (N.C.) to discuss the realities of ramp work and support for improved safety regulations and training.

In 2019, CWA Local 3645 member Kendrick Hudson died on the job at Charlotte Douglas International Airport when the vehicle he was driving flipped over after hitting a piece of baggage left on the tarmac. In 2023, Courtney Edwards, a CWA Local 3645 member working at the Montgomery Regional Airport in Alabama, also died in a tragic and preventable engine ingestion accident. Both members were employed by Piedmont Airlines.

CWA-represented Piedmont Airlines passenger service and ramp agents have been bargaining for a new contract for over 18 months. Click here to send a message to CEO Eric Morgan to show you stand with them in their fight for a fair contract.

AFA-CWA Flight Attendants at PSA, ATI, Air Wisconsin, GoJet, Omni Air, Mesa, Horizon, Avelo, Breeze, and Frontier are fighting for new contracts that reflect their value as aviation’s First Responders. Learn more on the AFA-CWA website.

CWA Deputy Director of Health & Safety Micki Siegel de Hernandez (middle) and CWA Local 3645 Shop Steward Joy Goings (right) met with staff for Rep. Alma Adams (N.C.) while in Washington, D.C., for the FAA’s Ramp Worker Safety Forum. AFA-CWA Safety Chair for PSA Airlines Robin Coombs (not pictured) also attended the forum.

Representative Chris Deluzio stands with striking CWA members on their picket line at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

When working people risk everything to hold employers accountable through the power of the strike, unscrupulous corporations resort to strike-breaking tactics like threatening to cancel families’ health insurance.

Last week, Representatives Chris Deluzio and Sarah McBride took action to level the playing field by reintroducing the Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act. The bill would make it an unfair labor practice to cut or alter workers’ health insurance while they are on strike or locked out and hold employers accountable with increasing civil monetary penalties.

"CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and all across the country know all too well the power of corporations that hold our healthcare hostage. It is totally unconscionable for a company to cut off workers' healthcare—putting the health of workers and their families in jeopardy—in retaliation for them standing up to protect their rights and dignity on the job. CWA is proud to support the Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act and thanks Representatives Deluzio and McBride for their fearless leadership in standing up to protect workers' healthcare and rights," said CWA Director of Government Affairs Dan Mauer.

“No company should be able to hold a worker’s health—or the well-being of their family—hostage during a labor dispute,” said Representative Deluzio. “We need a level playing field, and this bill puts the act of ripping health insurance away from striking workers out of bounds.”

“No worker should be forced to choose between exercising their right to strike and protecting their family’s health,” said Representative McBride. “When employers cut off health care during a strike or lockout, they aren’t negotiating. Workers deserve a voice at the table without having their lives or livelihoods held hostage.”

Washington Post Tech Guild

Last week, tech workers at the Washington Post (WAPO) and Arc XP, a digital content management system created by WAPO tech workers, won their union election. Both groups of workers are now part of the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild (TNG-CWA Local 32035).

This marks a significant milestone for nearly 300 technology workers across engineering, product design, and data roles at The Washington Post. After weeks of aggressive union-busting tactics from Washington Post management, tech workers at The Post persevered and have been recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. This is the first successful organizing effort to take place at The Post under Jeff Bezos’ ownership.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of the growing wave of tech workers exercising our right to unionize,” said product manager Sara Carothers. “We care deeply about our work here, and organizing together has already given us a stronger sense of community among our teams. Now we’ll get to use that collective power to achieve lasting improvements at the Post.”

Tech workers at the Bezos-owned Washington Post and Arc XP successfully formed their unions with the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild (TNG-CWA Local 32035) despite intense anti-union pressure from management.

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Hearst Connecticut Media Group

Also last week, media workers at Hearst Connecticut Media Group (HCMG) voted decisively to join the NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003). The reporters, photographers, editors, and digital producers working for Connecticut’s largest print/digital news organization have united with TNG-CWA-represented newsrooms across the country to have a say in their workplace.

“Good unions make for good journalism, and good journalism is a foundation of a free and open society,” said Ethan Fry, a breaking news reporter. “I’m so thrilled that my colleagues and I affirmed our commitment to forming a union—the first one I am fortunate enough to be a member of after more than 20 years in the profession. I look forward to meeting management to bargain for a fair contract that ensures good local journalism in Connecticut for years to come.”

Workers cited stagnant wages, shifting job responsibilities, and a mandate to report to offices far from the communities they cover as reasons for forming their union.

Hear from the workers on why they fought for this win.

Media Workers at Hearst Connecticut Media Group successfully formed their union, part of the NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003).

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. (center) provided the keynote address at the Biennial Convention of CWA Local 30213, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG). CMG President Annick Forest (left) hosted the event. She, President Cummings, and CWA-SCA Canada President Carmel Smyth (right) celebrated the significant victory of CMG's National Campaign. This campaign solidified the future of CMG members who work for the Canadian public broadcaster, by obtaining a promise from the new government to increase its financing.