Category: Communications Workers of America

Source: Communications Workers of America

New union contract secures guardrails on use of artificial intelligence in the workplace

Washington, D.C. — A strong majority of workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA Local 2336), overwhelmingly voted to ratify a first union contract at MissionWired after more than two years of bargaining. MissionWired is a digital marketing and fundraising agency for nonprofit organizations and Democratic campaigns based in D.C. with approximately 136 members in the unit.

“When we started organizing, we wanted a real voice in the decisions that shape our work and our lives. This contract gives us that voice to make sure the tools that we work with every day enhance our jobs rather than replace them,” said CWA Local 2336 member Kelsey Evans, a Data Engineer at MissionWired. “We’re super proud of what we were able to build into the workplace with a first contract.”

Highlights of the three-year contract include:

• Guaranteed annual wage increases and raised salary bands for the duration of the contract;
• Guardrails and protections on artificial intelligence (AI) usage in the workplace;
• Remote work arrangements and compensatory time for holiday and weekend work.

“This contract is a testament to what workers can win when they stand together,” said Melissa Smith-Kupihea, President of CWA Local 2336. “After more than two years at the bargaining table, MissionWired workers secured real, enforceable protections on wages, on the use of AI in the workplace, and on the flexibility they need to do their best work. CWA Local 2336 is incredibly proud of this unit. They organized, they bargained, and they delivered a first contract that raises the standard for the entire digital campaign industry.”

The ratification marks the latest milestone in a wave of worker-organizing across the digital and tech industries led by CWA’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA). Since launching in 2020, CODE-CWA has helped thousands of workers organize new unions at digital agencies, nonprofit fundraisers, advocacy organizations, video game studios, and tech companies, bringing collective bargaining protections to industries that have historically operated without them.

“We’re so thrilled to have reached this moment with our employees,” said Kate Kline, CEO of MissionWired. “Our employees are uniquely talented and dedicated, and so much of our innovation and excellence is a credit to them. This is only going to make us better partners to the campaigns and causes that rely on us, as well as future partners.”

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About CODE-CWA

The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.

About CWA

The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union issued the following statement in response to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s decision to veto historic legislation that would have allowed public service workers to collectively bargain for fair wages, benefits, and working conditions:

Governor Spanberger has broken faith with working people across the Commonwealth, turning her back on 500,000 Virginians working in public service. Spanberger campaigned on a promise to address the affordability crisis and give public service workers the same right to negotiate collectively for a better life as private sector workers. But this veto aligns the Governor with her predecessor, Glenn Youngkin, rather than the working people who gave her their trust.

For six years, this bill was debated fully by the General Assembly, with all sides having the chance to weigh in. This year, when universities successfully lobbied to remove higher education faculty, we called on the Governor to restore their rights. She instead cut more workers and sent down a version that would take away the ability of workers to have an equal and fair footing in negotiations. With this action, Spanberger has shown that she was never truly on our side.

Since 2020, CWA has worked tirelessly and invested our members’ resources to win these fundamental rights for public service workers, from state services to our university campuses. These workers include correctional officers who have fought for decades for the right to address longstanding concerns over their safety and staffing. Campus workers across the Commonwealth have been organizing to bargain over stable jobs, predictable course loads, and academic freedom. Instead of keeping her promise to make their lives better by granting this fundamental labor right, the Governor chose to veto historic legislation that would empower hundreds of thousands of workers. It is stunning that any Democratic Governor, who ran on easing the cost burden of the working class, would say no to an opportunity to make such a big difference in so many Virginians’ lives.

We will continue to fight for the working people who serve the common good until every worker in Virginia has the right to bargain for the living wages, affordable benefits, and safe workplaces.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

In a public petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), telecommunications workers demand the agency update its oversight rules for the 21st century.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — As carriers phase out traditional phone service over copper wires, Americans risk losing public oversight of voice service altogether. To ensure reliable service for all and protect good, union jobs, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) submitted a public petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) urging the agency to classify Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) as a “common carrier” telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act. The petition was signed by over 3,500 people across the country, including nearly 1,700 telecommunications workers who are members of CWA.

While a majority of phone calls are now completed over the internet as opposed to traditional copper wire, the federal government still exercises oversight of those calls under legacy rules. As legacy networks are phased out, the federal government is set to lose this oversight authority and will be unable to require large providers to ensure service quality or to interconnect with other providers. The end result could be large gaps in vital services, including emergency 911 calls.

“There have been many changes since I first started working in the telecommunications industry decades ago. But what hasn’t changed in over two decades is how the FCC regulates phone service over the internet,” said Claude Cummings Jr., President of the Communications Workers of America. “CWA is dedicated to reversing decades of deregulation and achieving democratic oversight of the communications networks of the 21st century. Classifying VoIP as a common carrier is a key part of that strategy.”

“As a worker in the telecommunications industry, I’ve seen firsthand how the lack of federal oversight on VoIP impacts my community, for example, the increased risk of outages,” said CWA Maryland State Broadband Lead Marcus Chambers. “My neighbors don’t understand the risks when their phone service over VoIP is not regulated like a traditional connection. They just expect that their phone will work if they need to call 911 or make another vital call. It’s time for the FCC to take action so that phone calls over the internet are regulated in the same way as phone calls placed over traditional copper wire.”

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

The following statement is from the CWA Civil Rights & Equity Committee:

CWA condemns the killing of 19 people by the Armed Forces of the Philippines on April 19 in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Those killed included community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma; Filipino-American advocates Kai Dana-Rene Sorem and Lyle Prijoles; and student activist Maureen Keil Santuyo, who organized alongside BIEN, CWA’s longtime partner supporting call center workers’ rights.

The killings follow a pattern of state-backed repression of union organizers and human rights defenders. Despite this record of human rights abuses, the U.S. government continues to provide billions of dollars in military aid to the Philippines. CWA supports the Philippine Human Rights Act to cut off military funding until the government ends its violent and repressive practices against its own people.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

The following statement is from CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.:

Sixty-one years ago, working people in the South first tasted the promise of a truly representative democracy for all peoples when we achieved the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This week, the Supreme Court has set the righteous cause of democracy back with the gutting of the VRA’s enforcement powers and a perversion of the very notion of representative democracy by giving politicians the power to choose their voters based on party affiliation.

For working people—and Black and minority workers in particular—our voice in our democracy is inseparable from our ability to fight for fair wages, safe workplaces, and dignity on the job. Our union has always understood that economic rights and civil rights are two sides of the same coin. The Court’s decision to weaken the voting power of Black communities is an attack on working people everywhere.

We are a fighting union, and we will not sit back and watch politicians and their billionaire backers gerrymander working people out of their voting rights. We will make our voices heard at the ballot box and demand the restoration of our voting rights.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

ITHACA, N.Y. – Yesterday, clinicians and support staff at Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca (F&CS) overwhelmingly voted to authorize their union in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), joining a movement of healthcare workers across Tompkins County who are choosing union representation with CWA.

Workers across healthcare industries are organizing for the right to negotiate union contracts that create working conditions and organizational cultures essential to both client and worker well-being. Staff at mental health clinics are tasked with meeting the increasing demand for mental health services in our communities. At F&CS, workers have seen an increase in the number of clients and increasing acuity of many clients’ concerns. Without adequate support and protections, these growing demands can put F&CS workers at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue, as well as reduce quality of care. Union members at Family and Children’s Service look forward to negotiating a union contract that ensures sustainable and dignified working conditions as they work to meet the needs of the community.

“I’m very proud of the hard work we have done in organizing our union, and I’m excited to move forward with bargaining our first contract as equal partners with management,” said Calyx Steiner, a clinician with Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca. “I believe we will be able to develop innovative policies together, which will offer us respectful, dignified, and trauma-informed working conditions. For me, organizing is a powerful and liberatory act which brings me hope, joy, and a sense of community in our current political landscape.”

“Unionizing means there will be a formal process for workers’ needs and perspectives to be represented in the policies that affect our working conditions,” said Naomi Sommers Bewley, a clinician with Family and Children’s Service of Ithaca. “There’s a mutual benefit towards long-term sustainability for workers and the organization, allowing us to continue filling a crucial role in mental health services for our community.”

Represented workers include clinicians, nurses, intake clinicians, behavioral health care coordinators, facilities workers, outreach workers, and clinic administrative coordinators. The workers provide mental health care and social services to the Ithaca community.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

Workers behind Magic: The Gathering Arena seek voluntary recognition by Hasbro subsidiary after a supermajority signed cards in favor of union representation 

Renton, Wash. – Ahead of International Workers’ Day, a supermajority of game developers behind the popular digital game Magic: The Gathering Arena has announced their intent to form a union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), also marking the first unionization effort at Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, a popular digital and tabletop studio based in Washington State, most known for developing Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

“At Wizards, we’re organizing for a say in layoffs, accountability that runs up and down the chain, and a living wage that actually lets people build a life. I’m hopeful about what we can build here and being clear-eyed about why it’s necessary,” said UWOTC-CWA member Damien Wilson, a Senior Software Development Engineer for Magic: The Gathering Arena. “This isn’t just something that affects Wizards of the Coast; it’s how most American workplaces are set up: investor profit above all, even if it hurts those behind the products we all know and love. Unions are the missing counterweight to protect our craft.”

In a letter sent to management this morning, workers have outlined several issues that they hope to address as a union, including protections over layoffs and remote work, guardrails over generative AI usage and mandatory crunch time, and increased transparency and equity in the workplace. “We know the workers who make the game can and should be treated better, and our aim is to show that to the world through our union efforts,” the letter reads. 

Workers have given management until the end of the week to voluntarily recognize their union. To ensure a timely certification process, workers have also filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

“To me, a union means community. It means recognizing that we’re all in this together and making sure we all have a voice. It means that when we succeed, we succeed together,” said UWOTC-CWA member Xib Vaine, a Producer for Magic: The Gathering Arena. “It means that we all believe a better world is possible, and we are all going to work together to bring it forth so we can all live and work in that better world together.”

“Since moving to the United States after spending most of my working life in other countries, at-will employment has always felt like a dark cloud hanging over me and my colleagues in the industry,” said UWOTC-CWA member Neil White, a Senior Software Development Engineer for Magic: The Gathering Arena. “Unions are the tool we have as workers to push back on our employers to demand fair treatment. They’re how we protect against choices that impact our coworkers and friends and the product we all work on and love.”

This announcement expands the growing union efforts specifically in the tabletop roleplaying games industry. In June 2023, CWA-represented workers at popular tabletop publisher Paizo (United Paizo Workers-CWA Local 7800) ratified their first contract with their employer, securing wage increases, expanded benefits, and enhanced protections for workers. Over 4,000 workers have organized across the gaming industry to expand game worker solidarity as part of CWA’s Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA), spanning from AAA studios in Microsoft’s gaming division to indie publishers like Heart Machine, which voluntarily recognized their union last month.

“Today’s union announcement is a milestone not just for these workers but for the games industry as a whole. Whether someone is designing digital worlds or crafting tabletop experiences, every worker deserves job security, fair compensation, and a seat at the table,” said CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister. “Together, we will ensure that the people who bring these games to life are treated with the dignity and respect that they’ve always deserved. CWA District 7 is honored to stand with these members as they take this historic step toward union representation.”

Workers who either have been affected by the industry’s volatile layoffs or are freelance have also been joining the fight under CWA’s direct-join formation, United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 (UVW-CWA), which officially launched in 2025. UVW-CWA now has nearly 600 members across the United States and Canada and will be hosting their inaugural Game Workers Conference virtually on May 22 and 23.

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About CODE-CWA

The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

Highlights of the tentative agreement include an improved benefits package, industry-leading wage increases, and more.

NATIONWIDE – AT&T Orange Mobility workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract that covers 9,000 workers across 37 states.

The new proposed four-year contract includes a top-tier healthcare benefits package, a wage increase of 5 percent in the first year, yearly wage increases throughout the life of the contract, job security, and more.

Throughout negotiations, workers mobilized to build power and supported their bargaining committee, resulting in a tentative contract that sets new standards for workers in customer service, retail, technical support, and other positions. On March 19, over 95 percent of AT&T workers covered by the Orange Mobility contract voted to give CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. the authority to call a strike if negotiations between CWA and the telecom company failed to reach a fair agreement.

“This strong tentative agreement is a reflection of our members’ dedication to holding AT&T accountable for their corporate greed,” said Dennis Trainor, Vice President, CWA District 1. “Whether handing out flyers at AT&T-sponsored March Madness [basketball] games or holding informational picket signs at busy intersections, CWA members mobilized for higher wages, stronger benefits, job security, and more. This is a tentative agreement that reflects their fight and delivers for both AT&T workers and the customers they serve.”

Details of the tentative agreement contract are being provided to Local leadership, and a ratification vote will be held once the members have an opportunity to review the details of the agreement.

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Source: Communications Workers of America

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union issued the following statement in response to the order by Chief Judge Troy Nunley of the Eastern U.S. District Court of California in the antitrust case against Nexstar Media Group’s acquisition of Tegna:

CWA applauds the decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley to order a preliminary injunction blocking Nexstar from acquiring TEGNA while the antitrust case against the transaction proceeds.

The federal cap on the number of stations a single company can own is a necessary protection for a free and fair democracy. In defense of our democracy and the interests of the American people, eight state attorneys general initiated the litigation, joined by DIRECTV, to prevent Nexstar from acquiring TEGNA because of the deal’s anticompetitive harms. CWA has expressed its support for this litigation, which seeks to protect local journalism from corporate greed.

Our democracy cannot afford to compromise on media consolidation. Our democracy cannot survive the destruction of local journalism, the people who hold power to account. Today’s injunction is the first step in reclaiming our free, local press from corporate greed.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Source: Communications Workers of America

A unionized workforce would ensure quality interpretation services to nearly 1.79 million New Yorkers with limited English proficiency.

(NEW YORK, N.Y.) — As interpreters continue to fight for a union at LanguageLine Solutions (LLS), New York City Council members and New York City Comptroller Mark Levine call on parent company Teleperformance to respect their workers’ right to form a union and improve working conditions. Leaders of powerful council committees overseeing city contracts, workforce development, and labor stood with LLS interpreters at a press conference on the steps of City Hall to announce the formation of a new committee on health and safety and demanded that management meet to address concerns impacting their ability to provide quality interpretation services to New Yorkers.

LanguageLine Solutions serves more than 30,000 clients worldwide, including agencies within the New York City government, which total over $19.3 million in active contracts. LLS interpreters ensure fair language access via telephonic interpretation in situations that impact the health, legal rights, and finances of approximately 1.79 million New Yorkers with limited English proficiency (LEP).

Despite their essential work, interpreters face stressful working conditions, inadequate training, and low pay. According to a survey of LLS employees conducted by CWA, over 80 percent of respondents felt their ability to interpret well is impacted negatively by company policies that pressure interpreters to take calls back-to-back, and a majority of workers report gaps in medical and legal training. These unfair working conditions result in high employee turnover, which places at risk the quality of service they are able to provide to New York City’s immigrant communities.

“As interpreters, we are the voice of New Yorkers in their most important moments—in hospitals and courtrooms, accessing city services, financial services, or even calling 911,” said Yuliia Moshkova, Russian interpreter at LanguageLine Solutions. “Our working conditions are New Yorkers’ service conditions, and we need LLS management to work with us to address health and safety issues on the job that are impacting our ability to provide quality interpretation services.”

“As a New Yorker who grew up relying on interpretation and translation services, I would not be here today without the essential services provided by the interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions,” said Council Member Julie Won. “These workers provide reliable interpretation that bridges the communication gap between patients and doctors, families and services, people and justice. It is heartbreaking to hear from our interpreters today about horrid pay and terrible working conditions. The City has allocated millions to interpretation services, and so there is no other choice but to listen to these workers and support their right to organize.”

“The hundreds of languages spoken across the five boroughs every day are what make New York City such a special place,” said City Comptroller Mark Levine. “Many of these New Yorkers rely on the LanguageLine interpreters, who ensure that no matter what you speak, you can understand the city services available to you. Our interpreters deserve better pay and conditions to carry out this vital civil service, and I am proud to stand with them in this fight.”

“Interpreters at LanguageLine Solutions have reported meager wages, inadequate training, and impossibly short break times,” said Assistant to the Vice President of CWA District 1 Billy Gallagher. “These interpreters are fighting for a union to improve conditions not only for themselves but for everyone who depends on them. CWA will fight alongside these workers every step of the way until LanguageLine Solutions does the right thing and respects these workers’ right to organize.”

“Interpretation service workers are vital for the well-being of our city. When they are overworked with few workplace protections, it makes it harder for them to do their work effectively and harms our communities in turn. I encourage the CEO of LanguageLine Solutions to hear his workers’ demands and create better conditions for all interpreters,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés.

“New Yorkers depend on interpretation services to access essential care, education, and city resources, and those services are only as strong as the workers who provide them,” said Council Member Harvey Epstein. “The reports from LanguageLine interpreters raise serious concerns about the quality and reliability of these critical services: unsustainable workloads, inadequate training, and insufficient pay. LanguageLine Solutions must work collaboratively with its workforce to ensure fair conditions, stability, and dignity on the job. Doing so is not only the right thing for workers, but essential to delivering the high-quality services that millions of New Yorkers rely on every day.”

A subsidiary of French multinational Teleperformance, LLS is party to the Teleperformance-UNI Global Agreement on Social Responsibility, which affords workers the right to organize a union free of management interference and intimidation. While LLS has implemented this agreement in other countries, the company is refusing to fully implement the agreement in the United States. Workers under this agreement are afforded the right to have elected representatives in a Health and Safety Committee that meets with management to address concerns. LanguageLine Solutions workers have formed such a committee and are ready to meet with Teleperformance management to resolve issues affecting their physical and mental health on the job.

With vital services to millions of New Yorkers at stake, the New York City Council is escalating its demands for Teleperformance to improve working conditions and recognize the interpreters’ right to organize a union. Previously, the City Council and former Comptroller Brad Lander sent a letter to Teleperformance leadership. In today’s press conference, members of the Council and other elected officials stood shoulder-to-shoulder with workers to repeat their demands, including Councilmember and Chair of the Workforce Development Committee Julie Won, Councilmember and Chair of the Contracts Committee Lincoln Rester, Councilmember and Chair of the Labor Committee Shirley Aldebol, Councilmember Alexa Avilés, Comptroller Mark Levine, and Brad Lander.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion