Wells Fargo

A new video from More Perfect Union highlights the challenges that workers at Wells Fargo are facing in the workplace and why they are forming a union with CWA to address them. The video features workers who are organizing as Wells Fargo United, a campaign with the Committee for Better Banks-CWA. “The main four issues to summarize that we see at Wells Fargo are transparency as it relates to pay, safety as it relates to our physical safety or COVID based safety, equal application and adherence to policies and procedures, and then finally, the diversity and inclusion issues that we’ve heard so much about recently in the press,” says Wells Fargo employee Jesse McCool in the video.

Last year, CWA Local 9412 members at Beneficial State Bank successfully won the first union contract in the banking industry in 40 years. The workers at Wells Fargo hope to build on that win and organize to form a union and negotiate a contract that protects their interests as well as the interests of their consumers. They have created a petition to help build support for their campaign and put pressure on Wells Fargo to refrain from union-busting tactics against Wells Fargo workers. Click here to sign the petition.

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United We Dream

Workers at United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country, won voluntary recognition after a majority of eligible staff showed their support for union representation with CWA. “We’re so proud to win our new union today and join CWA. My coworkers and I started organizing because we believe all workers should have a seat at the table. These efforts have been led by and for immigrant workers of all backgrounds. This is a victory not just for us as UWD employees but for the entire labor and immigrant rights movements,” said Anto Chávez, UWD employee and a leader on the union organizing committee. The workers look forward to bargaining their first contract.

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Condé Nast

Workers at Condé Nast scored a major victory last week, as more than five hundred staffers at a dozen publications secured voluntary recognition of Condé Nast Union, part of the NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003). The new company-wide union win means that workers at every Condé Nast publication have union representation. The Condé Nast Union covers full- and part-time editorial, video, and production workers at Allure, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Glamour, GQ, Self, Teen Vogue, them., Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as Condé Nast Entertainment. It also includes more than 100 subcontracted employees who work for a third-party staffing agency. Read more here.

New 2022 Poll: Workers' Rights are a Top Election Issue

A new Senate battleground states poll commissioned by CWA and the Worker Power Coalition, the largest U.S. labor-progressive alliance in the country, shows that 87% of young voters under 40 say that a top issue motivating them to vote is support for workers’ rights. The polling results suggest that candidates could increase participation among young voters by embracing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and focusing on lifting workers’ wages. Support for the PRO Act cuts across party lines even in the tightest toss-up races in the country.

“Now more than ever, young workers see unions as their best shot at higher wages and better working conditions, but until we pass the Protecting the Right To Organize Act, they are up against employers who are retaliating with impunity,” said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens. “If young workers are going to turn out and vote for Democrats, they need evidence beyond just words of support that candidates are on their side. A Senate vote to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act will prove that Democrats mean what they say when it comes to workers' rights.” Read more here.

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CWA Member Raises Concerns About Pension Takeover at Senate Banking Committee Hearing

Colleen Riedel, a Lumen Technologies retiree, submitted testimony to the Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs raising concerns about the recent transition of pension annuities for 22,600 Lumen retirees and beneficiaries from the Lumen Combined Pension Plan to the Athene Annuity and Life Company. The Athene Annuity and Life Company is owned by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that has also entered into a separate agreement with Lumen Technologies to purchase operations in 20 Midwest and Southeast states in a $7.5 billion deal that will impact 1,200 CWA-represented workers.

Riedel described how she started experiencing significant disruptions in the administration of her benefit since the transition, including the loss of protections under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally chartered corporation that preserves pension benefits in the event that the plan cannot make payments. “This issue of a government backstop is especially concerning to me because private equity companies like Apollo Global Management have a track record of prioritizing short-term profits at the expenses of workers and retirees,” she said. She also thanked Committee Chairman Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) for calling attention to risks retirees face from these schemes. “I have been glad to see that Chairman Brown has been a leader on this issue and has pushed for greater transparency and analysis of the increasing role that private equity companies are playing in the administration of life insurance and annuity benefits,” said Riedel.

Last week, new CWA Shop Stewards from CWA Local 9413 in Nevada and CWA Local 9003 in Southern California completed the CWA Stewards Training and are now ready to protect our members’ rights on the job.