Communications Workers of America, District 1 Newsletter
| Tuesday, February 3, 2026Read on the web: From the Desk of the Vice President of CWA District 1“The hard work is just starting, but nurses are good at hard work”: Cayuga Medical Center Nurses Vote to Join CWA!Largest Nurses Strike in NYC History: CWA Stands with NYSNA!First Union Contract for Library Workers in Gloucester County, NJ!Solidarity Fair Welcomes New MembersCWA Urges NY Legislature to Prioritize Union Jobs, Safety Standards in Broadband Work Following Changes to Federal RequirementsCWAers Mobilize in Droves for AT&T Orange Mobility BargainingSpecial Elections in New York and New Jersey in February From the Desk of the Vice President of CWA District 1 .jpg) On January 23rd the first General Strike in the United States in more than 80 years was held across Minnesota, endorsed by many labor unions, including CWA Local 7250. The next day, we were confronted with devastating news that ICE agents in Minneapolis killed a peaceful protester, an act captured on video. The victim, Alex Pretti, was a VA nurse and a union member of AFGE Local 3669. He was serving as a legal observer, filming ICE agents—an activity that is fully protected under the Constitution and one that some of our own members in District 1 have carried out.This is a tense and frightening time, and such events understandably provoke strong and differing opinions within our diverse membership. Some may ask why our union should speak out at all. I respect the wide range of personal beliefs among us. At the same time, I firmly believe that our fight for workers—in the workplace, at the bargaining table, and as a labor movement—is inseparable from the fight for safe, healthy communities where people can live, work, raise families, and exercise their constitutional rights without fear, especially from government agencies. As a union, we believe in and fight for a strong democracy. As healthcare costs rise, winter storms intensify, nurses continue to strike for safe staffing, and public dollars increasingly fund ICE operations, two Americans have now lost their lives while exercising their First Amendment rights—the same rights that make our collective action possible. We may disagree on many issues, but we can agree that any loss of life is a tragedy. When a union sibling is killed while exercising protected rights, it hits close to home. I call on all of us to move forward in solidarity, grounded in compassion and shared purpose. When one of us is under attack, all of us are under attack—and together, we must stand up for one another. “The hard work is just starting, but nurses are good at hard work”: Cayuga Medical Center Nurses Vote to Join CWA!  On January 15th, after two days of voting, Registered Nurses at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, NY voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining CWA Local 1111.The 350 Cayuga nurses faced down a tough anti-union campaign launched by hospital management and voted 82% in favor of unionizing, joining the roughly 15,000 healthcare workers already represented by CWA throughout New York and New Jersey.“The overwhelming victory by CMC nurses is a shining example of what healthcare professionals can achieve when they join together with a collective voice,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “CMC nurses have repeatedly voiced their urgent desire for a union contract, and it is time for management to join us at the bargaining table and get to work improving conditions for nurses and their patients.”  .png)  Cayuga nurses, recognizing many of the same issues in their hospital that healthcare workers have increasingly sounded the alarm on over the past several years, began organizing in order to better fight for improvements. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses and other healthcare workers have seen increasing short staffing that can leave them caring for an unsustainable number of patients, compromising patient care and worker safety.“The hard work is just starting, but nurses are good at hard work,” said Shane Snyder, In-Patient Wound RN. “We’ve been delivering quality patient care for years while feeling unsupported and burnt out, and I’m excited to see what we can do with our union behind us. We are tenacious, we are strong, and we are ready to start bargaining our contract.”“My career as a nurse is something that I’ve always taken such pride in. Now, I have another part of the job to be so proud of,” said Morgan Downing, Cardiac Catheterization RN. “We are laying the groundwork for the generations of nurses to come after us, and we’re already hearing from other medical professionals inspired to join us. I am so excited to have my seat at the table alongside my fellow nurses to start bargaining for our first contract. We are united and ready to continue to advocate for ourselves, our patients, and our community.” Last week, 37 nurses in the Hematology and Oncology (CHOA) and Surgicare units at CMC also won voluntary recognition from the hospital!  Largest Nurses Strike in NYC History: CWA Stands with NYSNA!   On January 12, after months of tough bargaining, 15,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) made the difficult decision to go out on strike at three of the biggest, wealthiest hospital systems in New York City.The workers are on strike at several Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork Presbyterian facilities in the Bronx and Manhattan over patient safety, safe staffing, workplace violence, and healthcare for the workers.CWA members from Locals 1101, 1104, 1109, 1180, and others have been out in force to walk the picket lines alongside NYSNA members over the past week, and we will continue to support our NYSNA family until they win every single contract they—and our communities who rely on their care—deserve! On January 30th Billy Gallagher, CWA District 1 Assistant to the Vice President, spoke at a joint labor press conference at Columbia Presbyterian alongside leaders from the NYC Central Labor Council, 1199SEIU, Transit Workers Union, and many other of the city’s unions, to call on NewYork Presbyterian and the other hospital systems to settle these contracts NOW. +(1).png) “I know firsthand that this isn’t easy for you. I KNOW that you all wouldn’t be out here unless you had to be. And SHAME on the hospitals – some of the wealthiest hospitals in the country – for not doing every single thing they can to reach a fair agreement. But YOU are the ones who are brave enough and strong enough to take a stand not just for yourselves, but for this community and this city.”Watch Billy’s speech here.With our own 15,000+ membership working in healthcare, we know firsthand the immense pressure frontline healthcare workers face while caring for patients under increasingly difficult and dangerous conditions—and no one knows better than our members in Buffalo, NY, who struck for forty days in 2021, just how difficult it is to go on strike to fight for patient care. Nurses and other healthcare workers throughout the Northeast are working through one of the worst flu surges in recent history while facing real threats of workplace violence—including recent horrific incidents at Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian. As NYSNA members put their own safety on the line to care for their patients, hospital management has responded by threatening job loss, surveilling union members, attempting to silence those speaking out, and stalling negotiations–all while pouring millions into temporary travel nurses instead of investing in their permanent staff.New York City’s largest private hospital systems are among the wealthiest private healthcare systems in New York, yet they claim they cannot afford a fair contract. These hospitals cannot claim poverty while threatening workers and stockpiling resources to fight their own workforce.      First Union Contract for Library Workers in Gloucester County, NJ!Huge congrats to our newest CWA Local 1085 members at the the Monroe Public Library in Gloucester County, NJ who voted unanimously on January 23rd to ratify their first union contract! The new contract includes significant salary increases and more affordable quality health benefits.+(2).png) Solidarity Fair Welcomes New MembersCWA Local 1032 kicked off 2026 by bringing workers together and welcoming several new members!On January 7th, Local 1032 Stewards at the NJ Department of Community Affairs held a Member Solidarity Resource Fair to get the year started by building an even stronger union family, speaking to coworkers about the importance of staying organized and resources available through our union, as well as signing up new dues-paying members. +(3).png) CWA Urges NY Legislature to Prioritize Union Jobs, Safety Standards in Broadband Work Following Changes to Federal Requirements“Twenty years ago, CWA members constructed the first fiber optic network in the Northeast in a town called Syosset in Nassau County. I can confidently say that those twenty-year-old cables have yet to reach their capacity. According to Starlink’s own website, their satellites perform what they call a ‘controlled re-orbit’ after five years, so without further investment to launch more satellites into orbit, the 25% of locations awarded to satellite will be left with nothing.”On January 8th, Nick Hoh, CWA Local 1104 Legislative & Political Action Team Coordinator, testified in Albany, NY before the Assembly Standing Committee On Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions about the dire impact of BEAD program changes that have been made by Washington.The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) Program, promised $42 billion in public funding to build out broadband across the country to connect unserved and underserved communities to the internet. CWA members worked hard to make sure projects that will build reliable, durable fiber connections and create good, union jobs were at the top of the list. But in late 2025, the federal National Telecommunication Infrastructure Administration (NTIA) completely rigged the rules removing the fiber preference and labor standards, and requiring States to just go with the lowest-cost bidder.“As experts in our field, we know that fiber technology is the best investment, as it offers the most reliable service and fastest speeds,” Nick testified. “Additionally, we know firsthand the importance of utilizing a directly and locally employed and highly trained workforce. Unfortunately, changes made by the NTIA forced New York to adjust its scoring mechanism and put cost above all, resulting in 25% of BEAD funds provisionally awarded to Elon Musk’s satellite company Starlink and 44% provisionally awarded to fixed wireless companies.” With Washington changing the rules to give federal funding preference to non-union companies, CWA is fighting this year on the State-level in New York for:NYS oversight of broadbandInvestment in fiber technologyStrong enforcement of safety standards +(4).png) You can read Nick’s full testimony here and watch video of his testimony here. CWAers Mobilize in Droves for AT&T Orange Mobility Bargaining   AT&T Orange Mobility bargaining began on January 12, and already CWA members are demonstrating that we’re fired up and all in for a strong contract!Over the past several weeks, members of Locals 1000, 1101, 1170, 1298, and others throughout the country have been sharing solidarity photos to show that we’re ready to do what it takes to win higher wages and more in the next contract!     Special Elections in New York and New Jersey in FebruaryWith several key legislative offices vacated following the 2025 elections, CWA has made endorsements in the races to fill those seats. Special Elections are being held in several districts in New York and New Jersey this week:NEW YORK: February 3 Special Elections + CWA EndorsementsAssembly District 36 (Astoria): Diana Moreno – won!Assembly District 74 (Lower East Side / East Village): Keith Powers – won!Senate District 47 (West Side Manhattan): Erik Bottcher – won! NEW JERSEY: February 5 Special Election Primary + CWA EndorsementCongressional District 11 (Essex, Morris, Passaic Counties): Analilia Mejía On January 19th, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, CWA members joined a rally at William Paterson University Analilia Mejía and Senator Bernie Sanders to demand a government that works for all working families instead of just for billionaires.  On January 24th and 25th, dozens of members of CWA Locals 1037 and 1040 took shifts throughout the day to make phonecalls to voters in Congressional District 11 to help get out the vote. For the last weekend before Primary Election Day, members of CWA Local 1037 braved the cold to hit the streets on January 31 to knock on doors in South Orange and Maplewood and talk to voters about Analilia Mejía. |
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