A group of CWA veterans from across the country came to Washington, D.C., as part of the CWA Veterans for Social Change program last month to tell their stories to members of Congress and talk about the importance of supporting the PRO Act, historic legislation that will put power in the hands of workers and reverse decades of legislation meant to crush unions. Learn more about CWA Veterans for Social change at cwa.org/veterans.

Last week, CWA filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on behalf of caseworkers in Lawrence, Kan., employed by Maximus, Inc. – a giant government health and human services contractor – alleging that Maximus misclassified them into lower-paying titles that don't reflect their true job duties and skill level. Maximus workers are organizing to join CWA.

Caseworkers serve as troubleshooting experts resolving complicated health insurance cases that require expertise and a high level of skill. Caseworkers' primary duty is to write detailed reports identifying the root causes of snags in the insurance process, and recommending solutions for them – a function not covered by the job classification that Maximus has given them.

Last week, the Topeka Capital-Journal covered the story of a Maximus caseworker, Logan Stinemetz, who says he spent a year trying to obtain a classification appropriate for the work he does. "Several times, I was told that the company 'owned' my job description, so they weren't able to give it to me," Stinemetz said.

Also last week, New York Magazine broke a story about how Maximus has hired a professional union buster to come in and hold captive audience meetings to discourage workers from organizing. The story identified a critical problem at the company: most Maximus workers are paid low wages, and they can't even afford basic health care access, like prescriptions and necessary procedures.

Read more about Maximus' poor track record at https://www.maximusaccountability.org/.

A National Labor Relations Board judge has found that layoffs of NABET-CWA Local 24 President Dianne Chase, Frank Lavergehtta, and Mike Stoffel from radio stations owned by Stephens Media Group (SMG) in Watertown and Massena, N.Y., were unlawful. The judge found that the elimination of the part-time shifts and reduction in hours for several other NABET-CWA members and an interrogation of a NABET-CWA member as to whether he would cross a picket line also violated the National Labor Relations Act.

In addition, the judge found that SMG unlawfully declared an impasse and implemented unilateral changes (including the layoffs and reduction in hours) at the radio stations in Watertown and unlawfully terminated the employment of David Romigh, Local 24 shop steward in Massena, for criticizing management.

The judge ordered SMG to reinstate the workers with back pay and interest and to resume contract bargaining with the union. The order must be reviewed by the NLRB before taking effect.

"This decision is a big victory for the workers at SMG, and shows that when workers fight back against union busting, they win," said NABET-CWA President Charlie Braico.