On Tuesday, in a rare move for S&P 500 companies, GE shareholders rejected a $47 million bonus package for CEO Larry Culp. The action came after IUE-CWA members drew attention to the bonus last week at an online webinar co-hosted with Change to Win Investment Group and staged protests urging the "no" vote. On the morning of the shareholders vote, union activists held signs outside GE headquarters in Boston that read, "No reward for outsourcing U.S. jobs."

While Culp was recently recognized by the New York Times as the sixth highest paid U.S. CEO, workers at GE facilities across the country have faced layoffs and offshoring. Union members and community activists in Lynn, Mass., have been waging a campaign to fight GE's recent announcements to farm out more of their military jet engine work to Romania, as well as other off-shoring announcements at IUE-CWA union facilities.

"No one is more committed to the success of General Electric than GE workers. We will be as productive and efficient as possible, but we need a commitment from GE to invest in the U.S. industrial base," said IUE-CWA Local 81201 President Adam Kaszynski.

On the day of the shareholders' vote, union activists held signs outside GE headquarters in Boston that read, "No reward for outsourcing U.S. jobs."

With the end of the legislative session last week, Florida CWAers succeeded in fighting off some of the most vicious attacks we've ever seen on working people. A pair union busting bills, SB 78 and SB 1014, threatened hundreds of thousands of public sector workers' union representation, including more than 3,000 CWAers.

This vile anti-worker legislation had the support of big money anti-union think tanks. To fight back, CWA members sent hundreds of letters, placed newspaper ads and put up billboards opposing the legislation, placed an op-ed in the Palm Beach Post, made hundreds of calls to their legislators, and held rallies on the ground to make it clear that CWA members won't tolerate these kinds of attacks on workers, now or ever.

CWA member Robert Arnold spoke at a press conference in Tallahassee (left), and union members held rallies on the ground to make it clear that we won't tolerate these kinds of attacks on workers, now or ever.

CWA Local 6143 put feet to pavement, canvassing for Phyllis Viagran in San Antonio's District 3.

In local elections held this week for San Antonio's ten city council districts and four San Antonio Independent School District board seats, CWA Local 6143's endorsed candidates won big! The local put feet to pavement, canvassing for Phyllis Viagran in San Antonio's District 3, making phone calls to fellow union members, and getting out the vote. In the end, 9 of 10 CWA-endorsed city council candidates won, and a CWA-endorsed candidate unseated a long-standing incumbent in the school district races.

Political activists from CWA Local 6201 canvassed and phonebanked for CWA-endorsed Fort Worth Mayoral Candidate Deborah Peoples, who is now in a runoff election to become the first African American mayor of the city.

Delaware Department Of Health and Special Services

CWA Local 13101 members who work for Delaware's Department of Health and Special Services in the Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract providing guaranteed wage increases.

This victory is a direct result of intense political action by CWA Local 13101 and the Delaware State AFL-CIO in successfully urging the Delaware State Legislature to pass landmark legislation, SB 8, which strengthened collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Prior to the passage of SB 8, these Senior Social Workers/Case Managers were considered Merit Employees, meaning that they were barred from negotiating for wages. The last wage adjustment by the Legislature was a paltry $500 lump sum in 2019 and zero base wage increase.

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Frontier Communications

More than a year after a small unit of Frontier Communications workers on the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico voted to join CWA in the face of an aggressive, expensive union busting campaign from the company, they are still stuck at the bargaining table with Frontier trying to come to an agreement on a first contract.

In its recent proposals, Frontier Communications has offered the 33 workers, all Navajo or Hopi, almost $2 per hour less than what workers in surrounding states have received in recent contracts, and is refusing to guarantee a full 40-hour work week.

In a joint letter sent this week from the Arizona Corporation Commission's Sandra Kennedy and Ann Tovar, the two commissioners expressed concerns that other nearby Frontier employees have guarantees of full-time employment in their contracts and that workers on the Navajo Nation were "being treated differently than their counterparts across Arizona." Twelve Arizona state representatives also sent a letter of support for these workers.

"There are no other service providers competing to build out and expand access on the Navajo Nation,” said Ron Fagan, President of CWA Local 7019 in Show Low. “Frontier should be investing in the region, not trying to nickel and dime these workers or send them home without pay if they think there's no work. There's always work to be done. Our union stands with them and they deserve the same wages that other technicians across Arizona and New Mexico make."