General Electric

Nearly 200 General Electric (GE) Aviation workers in Auburn, Ala., have launched an historic new union organizing campaign with IUE-CWA, becoming the first GE workers to organize a union in nearly a decade. With strong majority support, the workers, who use cutting-edge technology to build the next-generation of aircraft engines, submitted union cards to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) this week. The workers announced their organizing campaign at a rally with support from national and state leaders, including Alabama AFL-CIO President Bren Riley and leaders from Alabama Jobs With Justice and Alabama Interfaith Power and Light.

The workers have faced a wide range of union-busting tactics intended to intimidate them since they began organizing. They report being subjected to mandatory anti-union captive audience meetings, misleading management flyers, unannounced pop-up drug testing, new security cameras to monitor their work, and unlawful threats from managers that their factory will shut down if workers form a union. Despite this, support for the union continues to grow stronger every week.

CWA-Endorsed Candidates Win Big in Florida and New York Primaries

Florida and New York held primary elections this week for national, state, and local offices.

In Florida, the CWA-endorsed candidate for Florida’s 10th Congressional District, Maxwell Frost, won his primary election against several prominent Democratic candidates, including two former members of Congress. After a careful review of the candidates’ records, CWA was one of the first major unions to endorse Frost, a young Afro-Cuban leader, community organizer, and longtime advocate of the working class. He has stood with CWA members and other union members on picket lines, protests, rallies, and has demonstrated his commitment to keep fighting for working people in Congress. CWA activists across the state who were highly engaged in garnering support for Frost played an instrumental role in his victory.

CWA members in Florida mobilized to build support for Maxwell Frost, who won the Democratic primary for Florida’s 10th Congressional District.

CWA-endorsed candidates Charlie Crist, who is running for Governor; Val Demings, who is running for U.S. Senate; and Annette Taddeo, who is running for Congress from Florida’s 27th Congressional District, also won their Democratic Primary races. Taddeo has been a longtime supporter of CWA and played a crucial role in defeating one of the most anti-union pieces of legislation in the state legislature. CWA members actively supported these campaigns and are committed to continuing to support these champions for working people through the general election.

In the race for Congress in Florida's 28th District, CWA-endorsed candidate Robert Asencio won the Democratic primary. Asencio is a former state representative who helped introduce the CWA-supported Call Center legislation and has repeatedly supported CWA members on picket lines and beyond. Other CWA-endorsed candidates, including candidate for state Senate Lauren Book and candidate for state House Juan Fernandez Barquin, also won their primaries.

CWA members mobilized to build support for Pat Ryan, who won the special election in N.Y.’s 19th Congressional District.

In New York, Ulster County executive and CWA-endorsed candidate for Congress Pat Ryan won a special election in New York’s 19th District. Throughout the campaign, Ryan consistently championed the rights of all working families and reiterated his commitment to defending them in Congress. In addition, 21 out of the 22 candidates endorsed by CWA District 1 in New York won their primaries this week. This includes CWA-endorsed congressional candidates Laura Gillen, running in the 4th District; Sean Patrick Maloney, running in the 17th District; and Josh Riley, running in the 19th District. CWA members across the state mobilized to build support for all of the endorsed candidates, helping most of them fight off tough primaries.

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North Carolina CWAers Meet with Legislators

CWA members from various locals in North Carolina, including Locals 3611 and 3640, met with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democratic State Senator and CWA-endorsed Congressional candidate Wiley Nickel, and State Representative Rosa Gill to discuss key CWA legislative priorities as pro-worker legislators in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh continue the push for lowering cost of living and raising wages for working people.

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IUE-CWA Members Supporting Pro-Worker Candidates

Members and retirees from IUE-CWA Local 81201 participated in a canvass by going door to door to talk to voters and build support for state House candidate Terri Tauro. Tauro, who serves as the President of IUE-CWA Local 81776, is running for State Representative in the 8th Essex District, Mass. If elected, she would be the second IUE-CWA member in the Massachusetts State House.

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Jaime Harrison, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Charles Booker, candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, who is endorsed by CWA District 3 and IUE-CWA, participated in a labor roundtable discussion with IUE-CWA members including Kindre Batliner, President of IUE-CWA Local 83761, and IUE-CWA Campaign Lead Ashley Snider. The members highlighted key union priorities and discussed other critical issues affecting working people in the state.

This year’s Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh featured a keynote session with AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson and a CODE-CWA hosted panel entitled “Beat the Boss: Lessons from Worker Organizers in Tech & Games.”

Nelson joined filmmaker Abigail Disney and former Disney theme park custodian Artemis Bell for the keynote. The group discussed Disney’s new film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” and Nelson stressed the importance of widespread union organizing to hold corporations accountable and to ensure that profits are directed toward workers and not to Wall Street. “We have to take on Amazon, Starbucks, Disney, Delta Air Lines – we have to take on these companies together. Because if they're allowed to get away with undermining anyone, they're going to do it everywhere,” Nelson said.

The CODE-CWA panel, moderated by Motherboard reporter Edward Ongweso, included Kara Fannon, a founding member of the Activision Blizzard King Worker Committee Against Sex & Gender Discrimination; former Activision Blizzard worker Jessica Gonzalez; CODE-CWA campaign lead Emma Kinema; and Alphabet Workers Union Executive Chair Parul Koul. The group discussed their experiences organizing and the tactics companies use to prevent workers from having a voice.

Members of CODE-CWA discussed organizing at the Netroots Nation conference.
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Below: AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson (right) joined filmmaker Abigail Disney and former Disney theme park custodian Artemis Bell for a Netroots Nation keynote panel on “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.”

Western Region At-Large Executive Board Member and CWA Local 9412 President Keith Gibbs received the Legacy Award for his hard work and commitment to labor and the working class at a dinner and awards ceremony hosted by the Alameda Central Labor Council in Oakland, Calif.