The CWA Executive Board released a statement this week condemning the racism that has been plaguing our communities across the country.

"The CWA Executive Board is committed to moving beyond an endless string of reaction statements and demonstrating our continued commitment to justice for Black people through our organizing, representation, political, and movement building work," the Board wrote. "We commit to creating dedicated spaces for open dialogue on race for our members and leaders to determine outcomes and clear steps the union must take to fight racism in the union, within the industries we represent, and the community at-large.

"There is no in-between. There is no neutral option. The only real way to dismantle racism and build the working-class power we seek is for every worker to take on the struggle for justice for Black people in this country as their own and to embrace the actions that 'an injury to one is an injury to all' demands of us."

Read the full statement here.

Watch this powerful video of CWA members demanding justice.

In the wake of the pandemic, IUE-CWA members have found themselves on the frontlines of this crisis, keeping our economy moving and providing essential supplies and services. Many IUE-CWA locals have started campaigns to demand pay that rewards their work during the pandemic:

• The presidents of IUE-CWA Locals 86821, 82160, 84913, and 81495 jointly drafted a letter requesting essential worker pay at Hubbell Inc. for their members. Thanks to strong pressure from local presidents and members, the union won wage increases for the whole 2nd quarter of 2020.
• IUE-CWA Local 84848 in Evansville, Ind., put pressure on Escalade Sports to get them to implement a two week paid shut down to make safety changes, and workers were awarded essential worker pay when they returned to the shop.
  
• Joining forces with other ABB unions, including UE and UAW, IUE-CWA Local 83799 and every other ABB local issued a joint letter to ABB's national management demanding essential worker pay.
  
• At IUE-CWA Local 84725 in Sidney, Ohio, members at Emerson Climate Controls have demanded hazard pay by submitting a written petition to their employer. They submitted over 700 signatures – getting nearly 100% participation in the petition from their membership!

Through organizing around essential worker pay, IUE-CWA members across the country are building workplace power. The best way to build power and to win is to organize! For ideas on how to organize around important issues in your workplace, visit the Mobilization Toolbox at www.iue-cwa.org/covid19.

In an op-ed published in The Hill this week, CWA President Chris Shelton, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and SEIU President Mary Kay Henry wrote about the need for Congress to prioritize universal broadband access in the COVID-19 response.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made something clear that the members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have known for a long time: millions of families in the United States do not have access to affordable, reliable broadband internet connections," the union presidents wrote. "The frontline workers that our unions represent have done a heroic job responding to this crisis. Every day they are out there keeping people connected, teaching our children, and providing health care and essential public services.

"But technicians can't install high-speed internet service for households without fiber optic cable in their neighborhoods. Teachers can't keep children who cannot access online materials engaged and learning. Health care workers can't provide telemedicine services to patients who lack broadband or can't get a reliable cell phone connection. Any plan for reopening our society and keeping it functional as we navigate life in a post-COVID-19 world will require increased connectivity for students, working people and first responders alike.

"We are calling on Congress to support these workers, their families, and our communities by making affordable, universal access to high-speed broadband a priority in our response to this pandemic."

Read the full op-ed here.