Brothers and Sisters — as we have spoken with you about the Tentative Agreement in workplace meetings this week, we have been asked some great questions about the process and what happens if the TA is not ratified.  So, some quick facts as you consider the Tentative Agreement:

A NO vote is not symbolic. We don’t just go back to the bargaining table, and we don’t keep bargaining from where we are today.  If the TA is rejected, the current framework disappears and negotiations restart from scratch.

That means the parameters that guided these talks go away. The aggressive and hostile demands the company has kept off the table during this process come back in full negotiations.

Many members have also asked about the lump sum payment. It is a fact — it would absolutely be in jeopardy if this agreement is rejected.

Other members have asked how this agreement compares to the agreement after the 2016 strike.  By any metric, this agreement is BETTER than what we accepted after the 2016 strike.  This TA provides higher yearly wage increases, medical increases which are lower, and we do not lose any additional bargaining unit work, as we did in 2016. 

A NO vote also significantly increases the likelihood of a strike. A NO vote authorizes the CWA Executive Board to call a strike.  Strikes are sometimes necessary, but they come with real consequences — weeks or months without full pay, financial stress, and uncertainty for families.

In addition to No givebacks the agreement in front of us includes:

• 17.6% compounded wage growth
• Lump Sum Continuation
• Work From Home agreements Continue
• Pension band increases every year
• Guaranteed CPS minimums
• Additional retirement contributions for newer members
• Over 1,150 hiring commitments
• Work brought back in-house
• Wages increasing far faster than medical premium costs

No contract is perfect. But this agreement protects what we have, grows wages, brings work back, and does it without concessions.

If anyone is asking you to vote NO, the honest questions should be:

What improves if we start over?
What new leverage appears?
What demands does the company bring back that are currently off the table?
How long would a strike last?

It’s always easy to say we should have gotten more when you’re looking at the finished product. Starting over from scratch is a very different reality.

Study the agreement.
Ask questions.
Look at the math.

Vote YES

In solidarity,

CWA’s Local 1103 Executive Board