Earlier this month, CWA Local 7076 members working at the New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) in Albuquerque, N.M., escalated their fight for a safe working environment with a letter to Cabinet Secretary Gina DeBlassie. In early May, a dozen workers reported a gas smell to NMDOH management; however, no action was taken to investigate the source of the smell or secure the safety of the 250 workers who staff the facility. Instead, employees were told that a gas leak was “impossible.”

Frustrated by NMDOH management ignoring the gas smell, an anonymous union member made a call to the New Mexico Gas Company. On the morning of May 8, NMDOH was forced to shut down the building when gas company inspectors found that 6 of the 10 building furnaces were leaking gas.

Despite common knowledge about the gas leaks, management insisted that the building closure, which lasted four days, was for “rooftop repairs” and continued to deny a hazard to workers.

Weeks before the first gas leak, workers rang alarm bells when they breathed in toxic chemicals from a maintenance mishap. More than a dozen employees experienced symptoms such as vomiting or nausea. NMDOH said it would look into its safety procedures and then immediately ignored the same workers when they started reporting the smell of gas in the building. The agency reported to OSHA on this matter but presented a one-sided and biased report, which was filed without speaking to a single injured employee.

CWA members are awaiting a response from Cabinet Secretary DeBlassie. In a letter published in the Los Alamos Reporter, CWA Local 7076 President Megan Green says that members hope the Cabinet Secretary will take accountability for the situation and present a plan to move NMDOH toward a more safety-focused work environment.

CWA District 1 members won a stunning pair of victories at the bargaining table over the last month.

Camden County Board of Social Services
After more than a year of bargaining and massive mobilization efforts that included multiple worksite rallies and powerful testimony before the Camden County Board, CWA Local 1084 members have won a strong new contract retroactive to January 2024.

Highlights include significant wage increases—the highest in 17 years, increased flexibility on union leave, the right to use sick time for circumstances resulting from domestic or sexual violence, expansion of bereavement leave allowances, and the recognition of Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

State University of New York
Graduate workers at the State University of New York, represented by CWA Local 1104-GSEU, won a new contract earlier this month after over a year of tough bargaining and strong mobilization across multiple campuses. Members engaged in several rallies, published op-eds with local news outlets, and delivered a massive petition to the governor’s office.

The contract, which is retroactive to 2023 and expires in 2026, includes significant improvements on both economics and non-economics, with no concessions. Members won salary increases, signing bonuses, increases to salary minimums, expansion of professional development funding, specific assistance to international workers, and improved health and safety standards.

Journalists and other media workers covering protests in Los Angeles last week were deliberately targeted with less-lethal rounds and tear gas by law enforcement. Video from the protests shows a Los Angeles police officer aiming directly at Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi while she was broadcasting live. Several of those targeted while reporting on the protests are members of The NewsGuild-CWA.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., in a public statement, said, “I am grateful to the journalists and other media workers who put themselves in harm's way to bring us the news. The leaders of law enforcement agencies must take steps to protect [our members’] safety and investigate any actions that interfere with their ability to do their jobs.”

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss also issued a powerful statement condemning the attacks: “When law enforcement targets reporters, it’s not just an attack on individuals—it’s an attack on every American’s right to a free press.”

The statement continues, “Police cannot target journalists for doing their jobs. Every worker has the right to leave work at the end of the day healthy and uninjured.”

The Los Angeles Press Club has filed a lawsuit in order to protect journalists’ First Amendment rights and The NewsGuild-CWA is demanding immediate investigations and accountability from law enforcement.

CWA has a long history as a “fighting union,” and we will continue to defend the health and safety of all of our members.

Earlier this month, CWA members in Massachusetts took to the streets in outrage over President Trump’s plan to end the Job Corps program, the nation’s largest residential career training venture.

Hundreds of members at IUE-CWA Local 81206 and CWA Local 9413 who work directly for Job Corps face mass terminations if Trump’s plan is allowed to move forward. Members work as residential counselors, instructors, drivers, academic advisors, and mentors to the youth matriculating through the program.

In Chicopee, Mass., home of IUE-CWA Local 81206, students, members, and allies rallied in opposition to the closures. Local 81206 President Lance Green spoke to MassLive about the cuts, saying, “It’s my belief that it’s purposeful, designed to hurt working men and women and the working poor.” He added, “This attack is meant to disrupt and disenfranchise the next generation of union workers.”

A federal judge in Manhattan temporarily blocked the shutdown of the program.

Introduced in 1964, Job Corps provides low-income students with education and housing in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and has served over 2 million students since its inception. Approximately 4,500 previously unhoused youth rely on Job Corps for shelter and face a loss of housing if the program is disbanded.

CWA members and Job Corps trainees remain in limbo until a final determination is reached but are proactively speaking to legislators in Congress to preserve funding—which was not included in Trump’s 2026 budget proposal—for the program. Activists have also secured a bipartisan congressional letter calling on Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeReemer to halt cuts to Job Corps.

IUE-CWA members who face mass layoffs at Job Corps locations joined trainees, retirees, and community allies to rally earlier this month in opposition to the Trump Administration’s plan to close down the program.

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis joined members, retirees, and allies on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol Building at the state AFL-CIO Advocacy Day Rally earlier this month. He warned that the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to broadband infrastructure funding would leave Pennsylvanians behind by directing public funds away from reliable, job-creating fiber internet connections toward unreliable, non-union satellite service. The changes would also eliminate labor protections and cause further delays in the buildout program.

In the early morning hours of April 27, Kansas City Fire Department paramedic Graham Hoffman tragically lost his life after being stabbed in the chest. The murder rocked the city’s first responder community, including former firefighter Joe Eddings and his wife, Dawn. The pair operate e2 Embroidery and Screen Printing, a union shop represented by CWA Local 6360.

The couple created a t-shirt in memory of Hoffman as a fundraiser for his grieving family. Orders poured in from around the world, including Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. The couple sold more than 36,000 shirts, raising approximately $381,500 which they have donated to the Hoffman family.

The family expressed their thanks and appreciation for the outpouring of support and, in honor of Hoffman, have created a foundation to provide scholarships for people interested in becoming a paramedic.

 
e2 Embroidery and Screen Printing owners, staff, and family sported their memorial t-shirts at a Kansas City Royals game. Joe Eddings and his wife Dawn (pictured middle row, separated by one of their three daughters) sold the shirts as a fundraiser for the family of slain Kansas City Fire Department paramedic Graham Hoffman. Workers at the print shop are represented by CWA Local 6360.

Former National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo testified last week before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce. Abruzzo, who currently serves as a Senior Advisor to CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., highlighted the impact of President Trump’s unlawful firing of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, which leaves the NLRB without enough members to fully function.

“Who is benefitting from this dysfunction? Not workers, but employers, who may feel emboldened to violate the law with impunity and retaliate against their workers who are unionizing or otherwise acting together to make their work lives better, because there is no functioning Board to hold them accountable for lawbreaking activity. So, at the same time that billionaires and corporations are pushing for more tax cuts at the expense of working families, they are trying to silence their workers. This is a travesty. Corporate billionaires and CEOs are getting rich off the backs of their employees. The ones that should get more money, benefits, protections, and tax breaks are workers and their families.”

Abruzzo elaborated on what having a dysfunctional NLRB means for workers in an exchange with California Rep. Mark Takano that you can view here.

Watch her full testimony here.

Workers at NABET-CWA-represented public radio and television stations face an uncertain future after the House of Representatives voted to claw back previously approved funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The CPB provides critical financial support for vital public media stations in rural and underserved communities. Republican leaders in Congress have been eliminating programs that serve working people in order to fund tax cuts for corporations and billionaires.

“Public media is an essential public service—rooted in communities, staffed by committed workers, and trusted by millions,” said NABET-CWA President Charlie Braico. “If our stations go dark, communities like those impacted by Hurricane Helene lose not just lifesaving updates in an emergency, but also the daily community news and music from local musicians that weave communities together in these divided times.”

"Hundreds of thousands of CWA members would be impacted if the Senate votes to claw back funding for public radio and television," said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. "Hundreds of members' jobs would be at stake, and every CWA member would lose important news in their communities. CWA members need to quickly take two actions: call your senators and tell them to oppose public media cuts and become a sustaining donor to your local PBS and NPR stations."

Public media has broad, bipartisan support because it provides trusted information and reliable services for families across political parties, economic statuses, and zip codes. Communities count on it, not just for access to unbiased local news coverage, but also for emergency weather alerts, educational content, and public outreach services. During power outages or severe weather conditions, it is the local public media stations that are often the only line of communication for those in need of updates. The cuts put the survival of many public media stations in jeopardy.

The future of local public media funding now rests with the Senate. Click here to call your senators to tell them to full fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Earlier this week, Union Plus launched its fifth annual Unions Power America campaign with its Sweepstakes and Hometown Heroes Contest. This year, there will be more time to participate, more winners chosen, more trip giveaways, and over $300,000 in cash prizes.

The Hometown Heroes Contest will run through July 8, while the sweepstakes will begin July 15 and end August 18. The winners will be revealed during an online event on Labor Day along with even more prize giveaways. Check out this video to learn more.

A “Hometown Hero” is anyone who goes the extra mile at work, supports their neighbors through hard times, or does whatever it takes to take care of their family. They are everywhere, and they deserve to be shouted out, nominated, celebrated, and rewarded. You may be a hometown hero yourself!

Click here to enter your name or the name of someone who deserves recognition.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. PURCHASE OR PAYMENT DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. The Union Plus Hometown Heroes Contest is open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S. States & DC & US Territories, 18+, who are current or retired union members in good standing with a union nationally affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Void where prohibited. Promotion ends 7/8/25. Subject to complete Official Rules at https://unionplus.click/unionspoweramerica.