Seeking strong representation, 90 employees at Hamilton (County) Hospital in Webster City, Iowa have voted to join CWA. The nurses, therapists, technicians and other direct patient care workers were formerly affiliated with the Iowa Nurses Association but said they'd received little support from INA, especially at the bargaining table.

Progress and challenges were the twin focus of the 2010 CWA Civil Rights and Equity Conference, which drew more than 200 members and leaders to New Orleans last week.

The National Civil Rights and Equity Committee spent months planning the conference.

Despite their best efforts, Senate Republicans and three Democrats-in-name-only couldn't block new National Mediation Board rules that will finally bring democracy to union elections for flight attendants, passenger service agents and other airline and rail workers.

Ohio Senate candidate and Lt. Governor Lee Fisher joined CWA leaders Wednesday to condemn Senate Republicans for blocking a bill that would end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

"Job creation is not a political game," Fisher said, describing how Republicans have abused the Senate rules to derail legislation that would help American workers and their families. "What was once a well intentioned rule to protect the minority party has become a partisan weapon of mass destruction."

A health care bill for Ground Zero workers that House Republicans blocked in July was passed 268-160 on Wednesday, when 13 Republicans joined Democrats to support it.

The 9/11 Health and Compensation Act would provide federal funds for medical monitoring and treatment for first responders, recovery crews and other workers exposed to Ground Zero toxins, including about 1,500 CWA members in telecom, the public sector, newspapers and broadcasting.

CWAers had a great day on Oct 2 at the One Nation Working Together March in Washington. CWA red was the dominant color --it was everywhere.

After years of delays and all too often inaction on workers' complaints, the National Labor Relation Board is again standing up for workers' rights. Dish Network managers in Texas repeatedly threatened workers and fired at least one union supporter during an organizing drive for CWA representation, according to an NLRB complaint issued last week. A hearing on a long list of unfair labor practice charges is scheduled Jan. 18 in Fort Worth.

CWA members across the country are spreading the word about how important it is to elect candidates in the Nov. 2 elections who will fight for working families.

A network of anti-worker, anti-union organizations is getting bigger and more aggressive as it spends hundreds of millions of dollars to steamroll America's working families, a new report from American Rights at Work.

Good news for TNG-CWA on three legal fronts: A precedent-setting win against the Chinese Daily News, an NLRB ruling in Puerto Rico and a judge's ruling on retiree health benefits in St. Louis.