Broadband Workers Win Tough Organizing Fight

John Santa, a member of NewsGuild-CWA Local 38061, discusses the ongoing strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Labor journalist Kim Kelly displays a T-shirt with the logo of the online strike newspaper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, during a presentation at Mt. Lebanon Public Library on Monday. (Photo credit: Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Union Progress, member of NewsGuild-CWA.)

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is facing the prospect of daily, compounding fines over its refusal to comply with a court order to restore the health insurance plan that it illegally took away from NewsGuild-CWA members in 2020. Last week, the federal labor board requested that the Post-Gazette be held in civil contempt after refusing to comply with an injunction by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The fines could quickly outpace the costs of restoring the contract with NewsGuild-CWA and ending the strike.

“While NewsGuild workers pile up win after win, the Post-Gazette is continuing to defy federal law and play games with the court rather than give us what they owe us,” said NewsGuild-CWA Local 38061 President Zack Tanner. “Our demands to the company have been the same for years: restore our contract, including our health care, and stop breaking the law. The Blocks and their company could have avoided this mess entirely, and now they’re going to be forced to pay the price of their wrongdoing.”

NewsGuild-CWA editorial workers have been on strike since October 18, 2022, demanding that the Post-Gazette restore the terms of the union contract it illegally discarded in July of 2020. The terms include paid time off, short-term disability, and wage scales, in addition to health care.

In the third year of America’s longest-running strike, the striking editorial workers continue to demand dignified health care and the restoration of their union contract.

To support striking workers and families, you can do any of these three things today:

1. Donate to the strike fund that’s used to pay for rent, utility bills, car repairs, groceries, and to keep their pets alive and well.
   
2. Order a T-shirt repping their strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress. All proceeds go to the same strike fund.
   
3. Subscribe to the Pittsburgh Union Progress for free news on the strike, the lives of working people in Western PA and beyond, and more.

A group of workers at California broadband provider unWired voted overwhelmingly to join CWA Local 9333 last week despite the company’s intense anti-union campaign. After workers announced their union in April, the company embarked on a campaign of intimidation, which included holding captive audience meetings in direct violation of California S.B. 399, which took effect on January 1. Management also fired multiple workers in an effort to silence organizing.

The workers, including tower climbers, installation technicians, safety technicians, field construction assistants, and more, cited numerous instances of inadequate safety equipment and protocols, unjust firings, and blatant favoritism as their reasons for seeking to join CWA. They rallied support from local elected officials and community members in preparation for the union election.

CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce is focused on growing CWA’s telecom membership, and locals have responded by training new organizers and increasing their outreach to workers in the industry.

CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce (pictured front row, in red) celebrates with workers at unWired who won their union election to join CWA Local 9333.

Last week, after a testy exchange between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt (Daily News Union/TNG-CWA Local 31003), Mayor Adams banned Sommerfeldt from attending future mayoral press conferences. This move came after weeks of the mayor ignoring questions from Sommerfeldt.

NewsGuild of New York President Susan DeCarava sent Adams an email, saying, “Our members have a right to ask you questions, and New Yorkers deserve to have answers to those questions. Frankly, your response raises even more questions about why the mayor of New York City would be so fearful of a journalist doing his job.”

After members of the Daily News Union issued a formal statement on the matter, groups across the city, including PEN America and the New York Press Club, declared their support for the union.

The Daily News Union also finds itself embroiled in a bargaining battle with management and the notorious hedge fund Alden Global Capital to recognize the current staff’s value and agree to a fair contract.

A group of more than 130 former Daily News journalists signed a petition expressing their full support for the union’s contract fight. Among signers are some of New York City’s most prominent journalists, including former columnists Denis Hamill, Michael Daly, and Juan Gonzalez, as well as former editor-in-chief Jim Rich.

“This new generation of Daily News staffers is now part of a skeleton crew fighting to cover the nation’s largest city—all while battling Alden’s wealthy owners for three years to achieve a fair contract,” the petition reads. “What the Union wants is pretty simple: livable wages, job protection, and benefits that recognize the value these journalists bring to The News. Yet Alden’s reps at the bargaining table fight them at every turn.”

You can show your support for press workers at the Daily News by signing this petition.

Earlier this month, the New York State Senate and State Assembly passed significant legislation requiring safety standards and transparency in the climbing industry. Though extremely dangerous, the work tower climbers do is integral to the availability of cell services, internet, emergency services, and other critical systems that rely on transmission towers. This legislation, championed by State Senator Rachel May and Assembly Member Dana Levenberg, is an important step toward ensuring tower climber safety is taken seriously.

Another factor impacting worker safety is that the industry’s multi-layered contracting structure lacks transparency. This leaves workers largely removed from the profitable wireless carriers and tower owners weakening employer accountability for ensuring safe conditions. In addition to requiring certain tower services contracts to include certified safety trainings for tower climbers, the legislation would require tower companies to share details about the contractors and subcontractors that employ tower climbers, including wages and any previous violations of labor law.

Members of CWA’s Tower Climbers United and activists in CWA District 1 have lobbied and educated lawmakers on the dangers of their profession and the need for enhanced safety protocols. Their work resulted in this groundbreaking legislation, which will now go before Governor Hochul to be signed into law.

CWA members working for Frontier Communications in Pennsylvania ratified a contract with the company earlier this month. Contract negotiations began in November, with a mutually agreed break for the holidays. CWA Local 13571 President Bernie Yashkus led the bargaining, with support from District 2-13 staff, and won improved wages while refusing to sacrifice work conditions.

Workers secured a two-year contract extension, ending in November 2026. The updated contract includes baseline wage increases, cost-of-living increases over the course of the contract, recognition of Veterans Day as a work holiday, and improved vacation language.