Bargaining Update

Newspaper Guild Members Rally, Win Agreement in Philadelphia

Members of The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, CWA Local 38010, rallied for a fair contract outside the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News last week. Their solidarity paid off with a tentative two-year agreement that has rejected management demands for health care cost shifting and furloughs, and restores "added responsibility" pay for weekend work, provides for increased severance pay and the first-ever wage scale for Philly.com employees.

The workers will vote next week, July 7-8, on the new contract.

Journalists and staff at the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News and Philly.com pushed back hard against demands that could have quadrupled their health care costs and stripped their seniority rights. More than 300 members and allies came out for an informational picket last Thursday ahead of the expiration of their contract.

Joining TNG-CWA members at the rally, Bernie Lunzer, President of the NewsGuild, said, "They promised health care, and you deserve your health care paid for. We're going to fight for that, and we're going to fight the hold back on the seniority, which is a crazy request. It just is extreme."

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney told workers: "There'll be no more givebacks, there'll be a contract that respects worker's rights and respects seniority."

Labor union allies joined Guild members at the picket, which drew up to 400 people. "You are not alone, we will fight and we will fight with you," said Jerry Jordan of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

With just a day until contract expiration, TNG-CWA negotiators, working with a federal mediator, reached a tentative agreement.

Read more here.
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National Red Cross Bargaining

For the first time, unions representing Red Cross workers are bargaining nationally for new contracts covering 5,000 health care workers in 24 states. The American Red Cross Union Coalition includes CWA, American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, Food and Commercial Workers, SEIU, Steelworkers, Teamsters and the UAW.

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Stand Up to Verizon

Verizon members in D1 and D2-13 are mobilizing as contract negotiations continue. Keep up with the latest here.

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AT&T Southeast Bargaining

As negotiations continued, CWA's bargaining team called on CWA AT&T members in D3 to "show our solidarity in order to remind the company that it's our turn."