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Earlier this month, members of The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003) joined allies from the New York State AFL-CIO, Writers Guild of America East (WGAE), Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) at a press conference inside the New York State Capitol in Albany. The coalition is urging state lawmakers to pass the New York Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Requirements in News Act (the NY FAIR News Act).

The proposed bipartisan legislation would establish critical protections for journalists, media professionals, and the broader public against misuse of artificial intelligence. It would require news media companies to fully disclose to workers when and how AI is used in the workplace to create content and require clear disclaimers for the public whenever AI is used for any published news content.

Transparency, job protections, and human-in-the-loop requirements in this legislation specifically align with our demands as a union. You can read more about them on our campaign website, News Not Slop.

From May 3 to May 5, members, staff, and retirees from CWA District 7 gathered in Park City, Utah, for their annual conference. Attendees celebrated victories, shared skills, and strategized for the upcoming year. The meeting also included workshops and breakout sessions dedicated to such topics as telecom organizing, environmental justice, and fighting oligarchy.

During the opening session, attendees heard from several speakers, including CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.; CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister; Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; Summit County Council Member Megan McKenna; and Central Utah Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO President Brandon Dew.

President Cummings spoke passionately about the work happening within our union, saying, “We are waging battles over BEAD funding and broadband buildouts. We are winning strong language on artificial intelligence to protect our workers in industries from tech to journalism to video gaming. We are winning protections for our healthcare workers so they have the staffing levels and security they need to do their jobs and get home safely after their shift is over. But, more than this, we are defending our shared values of equality, fairness, and justice. And we are fighting for what matters most to us.”

Attendees also heard directly from CWA Local 7250 officers about their Local’s fight against the illegal occupation of Minnesota communities by federal troops.

“We all need to ramp up our efforts to defend elections from interference and be prepared to fight,” said Vice President McAllister, “just as every day Minnesotans have done—with everything at our disposal. Our union needs to unlock the resources we have in order to fight back—not just defending ourselves from attack, but also building the world and workplaces we want to see.”

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