Gov pushed on diversity
2015, covering about 165,000 employees, he said, and with this deal it has no more open contracts.
The CWA spent 11 months hammering out the terms with AT&T after its prior contract expired in February.
In May, CWA members walked off their jobs in a threeday strike, forcing AT&T to close hundreds of retail stores across the country.
The CWA, which has been aggressive in targeting outsourcing among major U.S. businesses, called this month on American companies employing its members to commit to a $4,000 pay increase if President Trump’s plan to lower corporate tax rates becomes law.
The $4,000 is the amount Trump has said will trickle down to workers through the
tax overhaul, which promises massive breaks to corporations and the wealthy.
Last year, the CWA secured a contract for nearly 40,000 Verizon workers who went on strike for 45 days.
That contract added 1,300 new call center jobs and reversed several outsourcing initiatives, the CWA said. A STRING OF A-list writers hoping to demonstrate the power of the pen wrote to Gov. Cuomo on Thursday to urge the signing of a diversity hiring bill before a midnight Monday deadline.
Tina Fey, of “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” fame; Samantha Bee, host of her eponymous late-night show; Robin Thede of “The Rundown With Robin Thede”; and David Simon of “The Wire” and “The Deuce” are among the more than two dozen members of Writers Guild of America East to write to Cuomo.
At stake is a bill passed by the Legislature that would provide $5 million in annual tax credits for projects that hire female and minority TV writers and directors.
In the writers’ letter, Cuomo was told that “now more than ever” his leadership was needed.
“Study after study proves the vast disparities between the diversity of our state’s population and the percentage of TV writers and directors who are women or people of color. Recent scandals only underscore the risk of allowing the profound lack of diversity in the industry to persist.”
The legislation was sponsored by two city Democrats, state Sen. Marisol Alcantara and Assemblyman Marcos Crespos.
A spokeswoman for Cuomo said “the bill is under review.”