Earlier this month, IUE-CWA members at the GE/Haier Appliance Park site in Louisville, Ky., won a major victory with the announcement by the company of a historic investment of $3 billion. This investment will help increase job security and opportunities for workers across several states. The Louisville site is expected to receive $490 million and create hundreds of new jobs.

This is a remarkable turnaround for the Appliance Park location, which at one point had been slated for closure. The facility began to expand after the company agreed to participate in IUE-CWA’s LEAN manufacturing program. Unlike corporate-side LEAN programs, IUE-CWA’s approach protects and grows employment at manufacturing sites by increasing efficiency and reducing waste without sacrificing health, safety, or jobs. IUE-CWA’s LEAN program is supported by CWA’s Strategic Industry Fund. You can hear members discuss the program in this video.

On the win, IUE-CWA GE Conference Board Chair Jerry Carney said, “It was a huge deal for us to be able to win the investments. Haier has made it clear over the years they like their appliances, such as washers and dryers, to be manufactured in the same location. Had we not received the investment, we would have lost the 1000+ jobs that are currently there. Through our LEAN initiatives, we were able to secure this away from several anti-union states.”

Striking members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, CWA Convention Delegates, and local supporters rally outside of the home of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette publisher and co-owner John Block on the evening of Tuesday, August 12. [Photo credit: Alexandra Wimley, member of TNG-CWA Local 38061, Pittsburgh Union Progress.]

CWA members across the country are coming together in a show of solidarity to support the strikers on America’s longest-running picket line. This month, CWAers raised more than $30,000 for striking Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061) members during the 80th CWA Convention in Pittsburgh. CWA members then showed the true meaning of solidarity when more than 150 CWA members and retirees, including CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis, CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt, and NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss, picketed the house of the newspaper’s owner, standing shoulder to shoulder with strikers.

CWA solidarity stretched all the way to the west coast, where Seattle Times Guild (TNG-CWA Local 37082) members took action to support Post-Gazette strikers. A board member and heiress of Block Communications Inc.—the struck Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s parent company—lives in Seattle. So Guild members covered her neighborhood with 100 “Wanted” posters with her face on them.

You can share your support for striking workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by buying a new strike solidarity t-shirt.

IUE-CWA Local 83600 members, led by local steward Heather Howard, have taken significant steps to support working mothers by establishing a secure lactation room for expressing breast milk at the KMG plant in Shepherdsville, Ky. This initiative was prompted by concerns from several employees about the lack of privacy and security when pumping milk in the locker room and first aid room, where interruptions were common. Workers at the facility, which is owned by New Flyer, fabricate high-tech parts for buses.

One mother was criticized by her supervisor for taking too long to pump, highlighting the need for a more understanding workplace culture. In response, Howard and a group of mothers approached management to advocate for better facilities and educate them on the legal rights of breastfeeding employees.

Since then, the company has converted an office into a dedicated lactation room equipped with a mini-fridge, cabinets, and shelves. Plans are also in place to explore the addition of lactation pods on the production floor in the future.

This initiative marks a positive change for working mothers at KMG, ensuring they have the time and space to express milk while balancing their work responsibilities.

IUE-CWA members at the KMG plant in Shepherdsville, Ky., fought for, and won, a dedicated lactation space for working mothers. Pictured left to right: IUE-CWA Local 83600 member Hope Kelley, Local 83600 steward Heather Howard, and Local 83600 member Holly Kirker.

With over 90% approval, Flight Attendants (FAs) with GoJet Airlines voted to ratify a new contract earlier this month. FAs won double-digit pay increases, an increased per diem, minimum pay protections, and greater schedule flexibility.

“While GoJet Flight Attendants continue to work flights branded as United Airlines, we deserve to solidify significant pay increases, boarding pay, and benefits that our mainline counterparts across the industry are seeing,” said Melissa Higgins, AFA-CWA Local 26031 GoJet President. “This new tentative agreement ensures aviation’s first responders at GoJet are receiving the benefits we deserve and lifting up standards for regional Flight Attendants.”

CWA remembers the inspirational life of CWA Local 1103 Chief Steward Gerry Horgan, who was killed while fighting for his union siblings on the picket line during the 1989 strike against NYNEX. Horgan passed away after he was struck by a scab worker who drove through the picket line. On the day of his funeral, CWA members dressed in red lined the streets for a mile leading to the church.

Today, decades later, CWAers still wear red on Thursdays to show our solidarity and to honor the sacrifice Gerry Horgan made, giving everything in defense of his fellow workers.