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Season 3, Episode 69

Essential union workers in Columbus, Ohio celebrate hero pay win

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Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed a recent win by CWA Local 4502 workers in Columbus, Ohio to receive hero pay and a vaccine reward.

In July 2021, the Columbus City Council unanimously authorized $1,000 per employee for hero pay in July 2021, but the original Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the Mayor’s Office directed half of that amount toward a vaccine reward. The membership of CWA Local 4502 fought for and won the full $1,000 in hero pay to full-time frontline workers, $500 to other full-time employees who worked during the applicable time period and a separate $500 vaccine reward.

The win serves an important recognition of the work essential workers performed during the pandemic, Mathews said. The rewards are funded from money Congress allocated as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Mathews also talked about a recent push from National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo to make captive audience meetings a labor violation. He noted Abruzzo was the Special Counsel for Strategic Initiatives at CWA before being chosen by President Biden to lead the NLRB. Such a move would be a game changer and further proof that elections matter, he added.

Lastly, Mathews discussed the recent successful vote to unionize by Amazon workers at a Fulfillment Center in Staten Island. He celebrated the win and said it would change the lives of Amazon workers for decades. The win represents encouraging progress for workers everywhere, he added.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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