Check out the trailer for "The Democracy Rebellion," which airs on PBS stations this month, featuring CWA President Chris Shelton.

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-TNG-CWA Local 38061 has won a grievance protesting the Post-Gazette's failure to pay for healthcare premium increases for the past two years, the local announced Dec. 30.

An arbitrator ruled that the company's failure to maintain the benefits violated the parties' collective bargaining agreement and instructed management to pay the amount necessary to maintain the benefit levels outlined in the contract and to compensate employees for any out-of-pocket expenses they incurred as a result of the company's refusal to pay the premiums.

Management's failure to maintain employees' health insurance benefits was one of the issues that gave rise to recent protests by the local, including a month-long byline strike, a staff vote of "no confidence" in the executive editor, and staff leafleting about disputes with management outside public events.

The arbitrator's ruling in the health care case "shows in no uncertain terms that our position was right all along," said Pittsburgh Local President Michael A. Fuoco. "If the company wasn't paying millions for bad legal advice from a union-busting attorney – as evidenced by this ruling and a recent federal court ruling regarding the Teamsters – we would have had fair and equitable contracts long ago."

He urged the Block family, which owns the paper, to negotiate in good faith. "The future of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is at stake and we want to save it," he said.

This week, CWA released a new report called Fissuring in Flight, by labor economist Dr. Brian Callaci. The report analyzes government data to show how major airline carriers have used outsourcing, restructuring, and consolidation to suppress wages and erode the quality of jobs in the airline industry.

Callaci will testify at a January 15 U.S. House Subcommittee on Aviation hearing, "Oversight of Working Conditions for Airline Ground Workers," along with Piedmont Airlines passenger service agent Donielle Prophete, Vice President of CWA Local 3645, who will call on American Airlines to address serious safety issues for passenger service agents at the company's subsidiaries including Piedmont. Prophete has first-hand experience of the tragic consequences when safety hazards go unaddressed. She works at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where CWA member Kendrick Hudson was killed in August when the vehicle he was driving flipped over after hitting a piece of baggage he could not see that had fallen out of a luggage cart.

The report highlights the impact of a merger wave across the U.S. domestic airline industry that has resulted in control of the market by three legacy airlines – America, Delta, and United – with limited competition from other airlines. Those three large domestic airlines are outsourcing ground and passenger service work to third-party contractors, and relying on regional airlines they've acquired or contracted for an increasing share of routes to do the same work as direct employees but for lower wages.

These changes undermine the collective bargaining power of union-represented workers in the industry. The congressional hearing will bring much-needed attention to the issue as airline workers fight to raise standards across the industry and protect the gains we have won through collective bargaining.

We'll be posting updates from the hearing on CWA's Facebook page, and the hearing will be livestreamed beginning at 10 am EST on January 15 at https://transportation.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/oversight-of-working-conditions-for-airline-ground-workers.

GoJet

AFA-CWA GoJet Flight Attendants reached a tentative agreement with the airline for a first contract. The five year agreement, reached with the assistance of the National Mediation Board, provides immediate pay increases and establishes defined schedule and work rules for 366 GoJet Flight Attendants.

"With the approval of GoJet Flight Attendants, we will have the protection of a union contract. This is no small achievement and I am proud of the efforts of my flying partners who stood together to get what the vast majority of workers in America want. This provides GoJet Flight Attendants with a solid foundation for our future," said Joanne Churchill, AFA-CWA GoJet Airlines President.