Category: CWA

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

Press Contact

CWA Communications

(202) 434-1168

comms@cwa-union.org

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

Press Contact

CWA Communications

(202) 434-1168

comms@cwa-union.org