Author: CWA6210

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor and celebrate the rich cultures, histories, resilience, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities.

This year’s theme, “Unidos Somos Más, Together We Are More,” carries a message that resonates deeply within the labor movement.

As union members, we know that there is strength in unity. One voice can create change, but when we join our voices together, we create a movement.

Hispanic and Latino workers have long been an important part of the labor movement, organizing and standing together for fair wages, safer workplaces, dignity, respect, equality, and the fundamental right of every worker to have a voice on the job.

Their struggles and achievements are part of our shared labor history.

Unidos Somos Más reminds us that our differences do not divide us. They strengthen us. Our cultures, languages, traditions, backgrounds, and experiences bring different perspectives to our workplaces, our communities, and our unions.

Hispanic Heritage Month gives us an opportunity not only to celebrate culture and tradition, but also to recognize the workers, organizers, activists, and leaders who came before us, those who continue the work today, and the generations who will carry it forward.

As a labor movement, we must continue creating spaces where every member is valued, every voice is heard, and every worker is treated with dignity and respect.

Because solidarity has always been about understanding that when one of us rises, we all rise.

Unidos Somos Más. Together We Are More.

More powerful when we organize.

More resilient when we stand together.

More effective when every voice is heard.

And stronger when no one is left behind.

This Hispanic Heritage Month, let us celebrate our diversity, honor our shared history, and continue building a labor movement where everyone belongs.

Our heritage strengthens our movement.

Our diversity strengthens our union.

Our solidarity is our power.

¡Unidos Somos Más!

On September 11, 2001, the United States suffered the deadliest terror attacks in our history. This year, marking the 25th remembrance of this tragedy, members of AFA-CWA honored the lives of their colleagues and friends lost during the attack.

Since 2016, Flight Attendants with AFA-CWA have served in an annual Honor Guard to make sure their fallen comrades are not forgotten. Members of the Honor Guard attend services at the Pentagon, the National 9/11 Memorial in New York City, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., in uniform, where they deliver flowers in remembrance​ and read aloud the names of fallen Flight Attendants, Pilots, and Passenger Service Agents.

The toll of the attacks extended beyond just one day. There are currently almost 135,000 responders and survivors enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP). The top five certified health conditions related to WTC exposure are cancer, chronic rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), asthma, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The WTCHP, created by Congress in 2010, was designed to provide medical coverage for those responders and survivors living with the aftereffects of the events of 9/11. President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency made significant cuts to staff who administer this program, impacting the remaining staff’s ability to provide health services to responders and those impacted by the attacks.

Click here to read a statement from AFA-CWA, including a timeline of events and biographies of those union siblings lost during the events of 9/11.

Earlier this month, members of the Industrial Division of CWA (IUE-CWA Local 83761) and GE Appliances, a Haier company, announced a major transformation of Appliance Park in Louisville, Ky., with a $1 billion investment by the company to expand high-output production of laundry products and reinforce its long-term commitment to manufacturing in Kentucky and the U.S. This investment will establish Appliance Park as America’s largest home appliance manufacturing site.

“Investment in American manufacturing is critical to our economy and our communities,” said IUE-CWA Industrial Division President Carl Kennebrew. “Our Union members are proud to manufacture American-made GE appliances in Louisville, and this new investment will ensure that our members keep delivering these high-quality products to American consumers for years to come.”

This investment is expected to provide additional job security for the thousands of IUE-CWA members currently at the plant. Workers have long been concerned about plant layout issues causing bottlenecks that slow production and impact overall competitiveness. This investment will be used to target these issues and improve plant efficiency. “Our members are excited about the investment and positive about what improved efficiency will mean for us at the bargaining table at contract time,” said IUE-CWA Local 83761 President Dino Driskell.

Click here to read the joint IUE-CWA/GE Appliances press release.

Last week, U.S.-based journalists and media workers at Le Monde, the largest national newspaper in France, enacted a one-day unfair labor practice strike. Every worker voted to strike after the Los Angeles-based subsidiary SEM USA Corp. refused to bargain in good faith. They organized as Le Monde Union and are affiliated with the Media Guild of the West (TNG-CWA Local 39213), which also represents journalists at the Los Angeles Times.

The company is accused of committing several unfair labor practices during the course of bargaining, including failing to provide counterproposals for months during bargaining sessions, setting arbitrary deadlines to conclude negotiations, and proposing changes to tentative agreements.

Members are protesting significant disparities in treatment between workers under French contracts and those with U.S. contracts, despite the fact that they all work in the same office and perform similar roles. Notably, employees on French contracts receive twice as much vacation time and housing allowances as their U.S. counterparts, among other benefits.

Le Monde Union calls on management to negotiate in good faith and take its proposals seriously, particularly regarding wages and just cause and the disparities in treatment between French and local contracts.

Click here to read more about the disparities these media workers face and their fight for a fair contract.

Earlier this month, workers at the National Braille Press (NBP) received confirmation from management that they would voluntarily recognize the workers’ union with the Industrial Division of CWA (IUE-CWA Local 81201).

Members are calling for a stronger voice on the job and improvements that they believe will help sustain both the workforce and NBP’s mission. NBP, in operation for over a century, is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that produces braille books, educational materials, and other resources to help expand access to information for blind and visually impaired people. Workers have formed a wall-to-wall union, including production workers, press operators, transcribers, proofreaders, sales and development staff, administrative workers, and others.

On August 31, workers, joined by IUE-CWA Local 81201 President Adam Kaszynski, Massachusetts State Senator Lydia Edwards, and Boston City Council At-Large Member Ruthzee Louijeune, marched together to NBP leadership to announce their organizing campaign and call on the organization to voluntarily recognize their union. A week later, on September 7, the NBP union participated in Boston’s Labor Day parade, with two organizing committee members addressing the crowd.

Community members, union siblings, educators, librarians, publishing professionals, disability advocates, readers, and other supporters stood in solidarity with NBP workers by signing an open letter in support of their union.

The new IUE-CWA Local 81201 members at NBP are excited to have achieved recognition and remain focused on fighting to include every worker in their unit and to win a strong first union contract.

Congratulations to our newest IUE-CWA Local 81201 members!

Earlier this week, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. met with other labor leaders and members of Congress to discuss the role of labor unions in defending our right to vote. Senator Alex Padilla (CA) hosted the roundtable discussion, part of a series of discussions with community, religious, and labor leaders to discuss ways to protect voting rights for Americans.

The current administration, which has worked to undermine confidence in the voter system, declared widespread voter fraud, despite considerable evidence to the contrary, seized ballots from the 2020 election, encouraged rampant gerrymandering, pushed for legislation that would impose financial burdens for voting, and has attacked vote-by-mail, which millions of Americans depend on to have their voices heard.

The panel included Executive Director of National Nurses United, Puneet Maharaj; President of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten; President of the National Education Association, Princess Moss; President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Patrick Moran; Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union, Joseph Bryant; AFL-CIO Director of Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights, Alex Rias; and President of the American Postal Workers Union, Jonathan Smith.

Said President Cummings, “We will use every tool at our disposal. Whether it’s in the halls of the legislature, in the courts, or in the streets—we will do everything in our power to defend the right of working people to make their voices heard. Because protecting democracy is not separate from the work of the labor movement. It is the work.

“Working people built this country. They keep it running every day. And they deserve to have an equal voice in the democracy that governs their lives.”

Click here to watch President Cummings’ Congressional testimony.

In August, Legislative Workers of Denver received voluntary recognition of their union by the Denver City Council and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. They are a public sector unit represented by the Denver Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA Local 37074).

Legislative Workers of Denver is a collective of part-time and full-time staff who provide specialized, professional-level work to support Denver’s 13 elected city council members. They formed their union over concerns about job protections and stability.

The workers are heartened by the cooperative approach of the mayor and city council and expect to see their partnership continue through a fair and timely bargaining process.

“We are seeking this bargaining unit as an extension of our commitment to Denverites and the elected officials we support,” workers wrote in a letter to the city council. “We believe that a workforce imbued with bargaining rights and negotiated outcomes is a more resilient and effective workforce. We believe this unit and the outcomes of a formal negotiation will raise the retention rates among staffers, improve living conditions for our members, protect institutional knowledge of the legislative branch, and enhance the impacts we can make together for Denverites.”

This win for Denver legislative workers follows a similar victory for Denver public library workers earlier this month.

Click here to learn more about Legislative Workers of Denver and here to follow them on Instagram.