Bargaining Update - May 6, 2021

Delaware Department Of Health and Special Services

CWA Local 13101 members who work for Delaware's Department of Health and Special Services in the Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities have reached a tentative agreement on a three-year contract providing guaranteed wage increases.

This victory is a direct result of intense political action by CWA Local 13101 and the Delaware State AFL-CIO in successfully urging the Delaware State Legislature to pass landmark legislation, SB 8, which strengthened collective bargaining rights for public sector workers.

Prior to the passage of SB 8, these Senior Social Workers/Case Managers were considered Merit Employees, meaning that they were barred from negotiating for wages. The last wage adjustment by the Legislature was a paltry $500 lump sum in 2019 and zero base wage increase.

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Frontier Communications

More than a year after a small unit of Frontier Communications workers on the Navajo Nation in Arizona and New Mexico voted to join CWA in the face of an aggressive, expensive union busting campaign from the company, they are still stuck at the bargaining table with Frontier trying to come to an agreement on a first contract.

In its recent proposals, Frontier Communications has offered the 33 workers, all Navajo or Hopi, almost $2 per hour less than what workers in surrounding states have received in recent contracts, and is refusing to guarantee a full 40-hour work week.

In a joint letter sent this week from the Arizona Corporation Commission's Sandra Kennedy and Ann Tovar, the two commissioners expressed concerns that other nearby Frontier employees have guarantees of full-time employment in their contracts and that workers on the Navajo Nation were "being treated differently than their counterparts across Arizona." Twelve Arizona state representatives also sent a letter of support for these workers.

"There are no other service providers competing to build out and expand access on the Navajo Nation,” said Ron Fagan, President of CWA Local 7019 in Show Low. “Frontier should be investing in the region, not trying to nickel and dime these workers or send them home without pay if they think there's no work. There's always work to be done. Our union stands with them and they deserve the same wages that other technicians across Arizona and New Mexico make."