Last week, CWA members met in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the CWA District 4 Annual Education Conference. CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton led the conference, which focused on its theme, “Power in Unity.” CWA Local 4400 President Jason Ballman, on behalf of local members, retirees, staff, and volunteers, welcomed visiting CWA members to Cincinnati.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered the keynote address, highlighting the accomplishments of CWA District 4 members and retirees, made possible by their continued unity and support for one another. Said Cummings, “Together we are more powerful than an executive order. More powerful than the billionaires. We the people understand that power. We’ve used it again and again to fight, and win, on the side of justice. Our unity gave us the weekend. It gave us child labor laws. It gave us protections on the job against racist staffing policies and a foot in the door to opportunities that never would have been there had ‘we the people’ not demanded them. It is time for us to demand more.”

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam addressed the gathering, as well as several members of CWA’s Executive Board, including CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase; Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton; and Central Region At-Large Diversity Executive Board Member Reggie Small.

CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton (left) and CWA District 4 Staff Representative Diane Bailey (right) presented CWA Local 4009 Unit Vice President Chris Hardy with the first-ever Linda L. Hinton Human Rights Excellence in Humanity Award for his exemplary leadership and dedication to his community and the advancement of human rights within the labor movement.

Members received detailed reports from various groups, including the Defense Fund Oversight Committee, the Retired Members Council, Next Generation, the Human Rights Committee, and CWA District 4 Organizing. In preparation for bargaining, applicable members also selected the bargaining teams for AT&T Mobility and AT&T Midwest.

Members, retirees, and staff at the CWA District 4 Annual Education Conference showed their support for union siblings at Frontier Communications as they battle for a fair contract in California. Attendees included (front row, left to right): Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton, CWA District 4 Assistant to the Vice President Curt Hess, CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton, and CWA District 4 Administrative Directors Frank Mathews and Mike Handley.

Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Ed Blazina addresses the Allegheny County Council following the body’s proclamation recognizing the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh for its resilience in maintaining a strike nearing its third anniversary. Strikers pictured are Natalie Duleba, Zack Tanner, Randy Stoernell, Andrew Goldstein (partially obscured), Rick Nowlin and John Santa. (Photo credit: Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

On October 18th, members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061) marked three years on strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG). Between actions across the city, speaking at the Pittsburgh No Kings rally, participating in a banner drop from Downtown Pittsburgh's Roberto Clemente Bridge, and being honored for their solidarity by the Allegheny County Council, strikers reflected on their strike journey.

“Three years ago, I would have dropped anything and everything in my life for work,” shared striking photojournalist Alexandra Wimley. “I was very much a “yes man.” Cancel plans to pick up a Saturday morning shift? Yes. Run out to cover breaking news at 11 p.m. on my night off? Yes. And, honestly, I was happy to do it because I love the work. But the day we went on strike was the first time I ever really said no to my boss.”

Courts at multiple levels have found that the Post-Gazette has acted illegally, but because of this country’s stymied and weakened enforcement of labor laws, newspaper ownership has been able to evade most meaningful consequences for years. Currently, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals is deliberating on a case that would enforce the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling ordering the PG to undo its illegal changes to the journalists’ working conditions, which has long been our core strike demand.

Wimley looks to her solidarity with journalists across the industry for inspiration to keep fighting, saying, “At the end of the day, what the strike is all about for me is I don’t want the next generation of journalists to think they have to accept scraps and just scrape by in life to succeed in their career.”

To support striking workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, you can donate to their strike fund and, with a donation of $20 or more, order a strike solidarity t-shirt.

Earlier this month, CWA members and retirees across the country joined millions of others at No Kings events to protest attacks on our jobs and our freedom to bargain contracts.

Billionaires who have bought and bribed their way to power in Washington are working to dismantle our collective bargaining agreements and gut laws that protect our safety at work and workers’ ability to form unions.

The Trump administration has already shredded the union contracts of more than a million federal workers. They have left 17 million people without health care coverage and driven up insurance costs for all of us. They are deploying federal troops to intimidate peaceful protestors.

Their policies are designed to take power from the people and transfer trillions of dollars from programs that benefit working people, retirees, and children into tax cuts for the super-rich and more avenues for corporations to exploit workers.

CWA endorsed the No Kings 2 protest, adding to it our call to boycott T-Mobile for its pervasive union-busting and partnership with Trump ally and anti-union activist Elon Musk and his Starlink service.

CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase fired up a crowd in Austin, Texas, telling them, “Democracy doesn’t come easy. You are going to have to put something on the line.”

Click here to watch excerpts from his speech.

CWA members, staff, retirees, volunteers, and allies participated in peaceful protests against President Donald Trump’s attacks on workers and consolidation of power. Pictured (clockwise from top left) activists from CWA District 1; CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.; members from IUE-CWA; CWA District 7; CWA District 9; along with CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase; and CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton.

Last week, the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) announced the winners of the ILCA Labor Media Contest, the largest competition exclusively for labor journalists and communicators. CWA Local 1180 took home the prestigious Saul Miller Award for their coverage of the ultimately successful two-and-a-half-year bargaining struggle between CWA Local 1180-Bird Union members and National Audubon Society management. The Saul Miller Award recognizes excellence in writing on organizing, collective bargaining, political action, and social justice advocacy. This year’s competition brought in approximately 750 entries from across the United States and Canada.

Click here to read CWA Local 1180’s winning entry.

CWA Local 1180 Communications Director Marci (Rosenblum) Toback wrote the piece, in collaboration with CWA District 1 Staff Representative Luis Benitez-Burgos, who provided legal guidance, and CWA District 1 Private Sector Staff Representative Christopher Thomas, who contributed substantially to the story and is featured prominently in its accompanying photo. The story also would not have been possible without the contributions of organizers and members who made the contract win possible.

Under Toback’s leadership, CWA Local 1180 has taken home several ILCA awards, including the Max Steinbock Award—ILCA’s highest award for journalistic excellence.

Congratulations to CWA Local 1180 and Communications Director Toback!

Earlier this month, AFA-CWA Flight Attendants at Mesa Airlines voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new, two-year contract. The ratified contract is just the first step for the 550 Mesa Flight Attendants who will now negotiate for a joint contract alongside their Teamster Local 135 counterparts at Republic. Mesa Air Group, which owns Mesa Airlines, is currently in the process of merging with Republic Airways Holdings. The combined company will operate under the name Republic Airways once the merger is complete.

“This vote is about more than pay,” said Mesa AFA-CWA President Shannon Harris. “It's about respect, fairness, and equity at the soon-to-be merged airline. This contract provides Mesa Flight Attendants with certainty and guaranteed economic and work rule improvements as we work toward our joint contract.”

The contract provides pay increases, increased per diem, additional holidays, removal of the no-strike clause, and other quality-of-life improvements.

Last week, members of the Avodah Staff Union ratified their first union contract with Avodah, a national Jewish social justice organization. Members formed their union with the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA Local 32035) in March 2023 after receiving voluntary recognition from the company.

“We’re proud of the protections we’ve secured for our unit and the ways we made bargaining work for us in our nonprofit context,” said Lauren Fine, the Alumni Manager at Avodah. “This was a collective effort, with every unit member drafting contract language and many leaders reviewing counters and joining bargaining. We celebrate in deep appreciation for all of the labor that made this possible.”

The four-year contract includes just cause protections, guaranteed three percent cost-of-living adjustments, layoff protections, and monthly stipends for remote work expenses. Click here to read more details of the agreement.

Avodah management also released a joint statement with union members saying, “Together, we celebrate in deep appreciation for all of the labor that made this possible on both sides of the table. This contract is part of our commitment to building a more just and equitable world and promoting a work culture we can all be proud of.”