Volume 76, Issue #1 | Spring 2016

Spring 2016

NJ Governor Vetoes Leah's Law

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed “Leah’s Law,” endangering thousands of child welfare workers who are engaged in some of the most dangerous work in the state.

The bipartisan legislation was named for CWA Local 1038 member Leah Coleman who was stabbed more than 20 times by a deranged client in November 2014. The brutal attack, which nearly cost Leah her life, occurred just days after the Christie administration made the cost-cutting decision to pull all police officers out of New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) offices. Without security or metal detectors, the client walked into the building with a nine-inch kitchen knife in broad daylight. Thankfully, two CWA caseworkers were able to tackle and subdue the assailant, while three HPAE nurses treated Leah’s wounds until the ambulance arrived.

Fighting Back: CWA Activists and Allies Are Taking on Wall Street and the 1 Percent

About 10,000 CWAers and allies joined the kickoff of CWA’s national campaign, Take on Wall Street. On a telephone town hall call in February, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Labor Secretary Robert Reich and CWA President Chris Shelton talked about how we will stop Wall Street abuses and the “too big to fail” banks.

Taking on Wall Street

Working people are angry. Wall Street and the big banks are devouring this country’s wealth – feasting on our jobs, our benefits and our pensions. We see it at the bargaining table, in bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, in attacks on workers’ rights and in the corrupt campaign finance system that ensures that only the voices of the billionaire class are heard in our democracy.

Mourn for the Dead, Fight for the Living

CWA Members Die On the Job

Over the past year, there were several CWA members who were killed on the job. CWA safety and health activists in every CWA district and sector “work to prevent such tragedies by eliminating or at least minimizing members’ exposure to hazardous working conditions and potentially related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities,” said CWA Occupational Safety and Health Director Dave LeGrande.

CWA President Shelton at Capitol Hill news conference.

CWA, Members of Congress, Allies Keep up the Fight Against the TPP

“We’ll lose hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs to the TPP; we can’t let that happen,” said President Shelton. “We can’t compete with countries where almost slavery is allowed.”

Senator Sanders Pledges That as President, He Will Refuse to Sign the TPP

“As president, I will not sign this disastrous trade agreement if passed by Congress.” That’s the word from Senator Bernie Sanders, who says “trade has got to be fair. And the TPP is anything but fair.”

We’re Holding Members of Congress Accountable for Their Votes on TPP

Activists warned members of Congress that voting to “Fast Track” the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would have consequences in election year 2016. Now, because of their votes, Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Ami Bera (D-CA), for starters are feeling the sting of being denied endorsements this election cycle.