Jobs, Inequality, and the Role of Government

CWA co-sponsored a conference on our nation's capacity for innovation focussing on two key issues: job creation and inequality and the role of the public sector in innovation.

Find out more, watch the proceedings

Communications Workers of America President, Larry Cohen, Abby Joseph Cohen and Jason Furman, National Economic Council at the Conference

At CWA, our number one priority is jobs – standing up for our members and creating good jobs for all. Americans want good quality jobs that provide for them and their family.  The time is now for each of us to take strong action to help restore job security and opportunity and to reaffirm the American dream.

One of the biggest threats to American working families is the continued outsourcing of our good paying jobs. Shipping jobs overseas has become just another corporate business decision without regard for the impact on workers and communities across our country.  CWA is fighting back, and holding legislators accountable in their promises to stand up for American families by fighting for fair trade agreements, creating incentives to companies for domestic production, and investing in the critical jobs important for our future – in the green economy and telecommunications infrastructure.

We must support companies that have good business practices, creating jobs here in the United States, and Members of Congress that support policies that encourage such business practices.  CWA remains committed to fighting in Washington DC for policies that create more job opportunities for our members, protect the jobs that we have, and ensure those jobs are high quality.  Middle class Americans deserve a chance to provide a stable future for them and their families.

Here are some of the legislative initiatives we are fighting for:

  • Call Center Legislation: Call center and telecommunications workers make up a large number of brothers and sisters in our union, and standing up for these folks has been one of CWA’s top concerns. Working together across the nation, we are urging Congress to introduce specific initiatives that help keep call center jobs in this country. 
  • Reverse Morris Trust: CWA is working to take down this Wall Street-created tax loophole, which is not beneficial to employees, communities, or consumers.
  • Broadband Build Out: We must bring America into the digital age, because communities all over the nation need broadband to survive CWA is building a new economy and this is where it starts. Help make our dream of a truly connected world - where nobody gets left behind - a reality.

May 15, 2012

American Airlines Agents Press NMB to Move Forward on Union Election

More than 23,000 agents and supporters sign petition calling on the NMB to enforce the law. Read More

May 3, 2012

RNC Attacks President Obama on Unemployment… from Overseas Call Center

CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins: “Hard to imagine anything more hypocritical than the RNC making calls about U.S. unemployment from a Verizon foreign call center.” Read More

May 3, 2012

CWA: American Airlines Tries an End Run Around the Law

Washington, D.C. -- Following is a statement by Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, on the continued effort by American Airlines to stop workers’ from having a fair vote on union representation: “Just when working people thought they’d seen it all, American Airlines makes an even more outrageous play. The latest outrage is a lawsuit the company filed May 2, in which American Airlines seeks to rewrite aviation legislation and substitute its own agenda for that of Congress, so it can stop nearly 10,000 passenger service agents from having a union voice. Read More

Apr 20, 2012

CWAers Join Nationwide Protest Against Corporate Tax Dodgers

On April 17, Tax Day, across the country, activists from CWA and other unions, the AFL-CIO, Move On and other members of the 99% Spring coalition called on corporations and the 1% to pay their fair share in taxes. Read More

Apr 12, 2012

99 Percent Spring/Challenging Corporate Power Kicks Off Teach-Ins

This week, 99 Percent Spring/Challenging Corporate Power — a large coalition of progressive organizations, from Greenpeace to Occupiers to CWA — began training 100,000 people across the country to tell the story of how America's economy collapsed and the history of non-violent direct action. These teach-ins will give participants the tools to launch their own progressive actions and campaigns for change. Read More