Category Archives: President’s Message

CWA Joe Beirne Foundation’s Scholarship

Sixteen partial college scholarships of $4,000 each are being offered for the 2019-2020 school year. Final deadline for the 2019-2020 school year is April 30, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. For more information and to complete and submit the application, click here.


Origin
The CWA Joe Beirne Foundation was established in October 1974 by the Communications Workers of America Executive Board to honor the name and memory of the founding President of CWA, who served for more than 30 years. In his capacity as the first CWA President, Joe Beirne took gre

at pride in the roles he played in the fields of education and learning and other areas of social concern. 

 

Eligibility
CWA members, their spouses, children and grandchildren (including dependents of laid-off, retired or deceased CWA members) may apply. Applicants must be high school graduates or at least high school students who will graduate during the year in which they apply. Undergraduate and graduate students returning to schooling may also apply. Prior winners may not reapply.

For more information and to complete and submit the application, click here.

Update on Retroactive Checks Due from July 1, 2015-June 30, 2019 Contract

CWA Members, ACTIVE workers on Centralized Payroll regarding retroactive money due from the July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2019 contract:

1. Retroactive checks for back increments and the August 1, 2017 2% across-the-board increase will be distributed on October 26, 2018. These will be separate paper checks, and because there could be several increments owed and the pension withdrawal was different for each year of the retroactive increases, there will be several checks. In fact, if you had many personnel actions over the three years of retroactive money, including promotions, you could be receiving as many as 3 to 10 separate checks. You will have to review the pay stubs of each check so that you understand what they are for. CWA has asked for a spreadsheet of everyone’s retroactive checks. All of the checks will have withholding from them, except that you will not be charged retroactive healthcare deductions.

2. $650 bonuses for people at max have been distributed, however, we are having a dispute with the State about some people who were not provided with these bonuses even though they did not receive increments. CWA has filed a grievance on behalf of everyone who didn’t receive an increment and should have gotten a $650 bonus but didn’t. If you should have received the bonus and didn’t, but you didn’t file a grievance, that is okay– we filed it on your behalf already.

3. When the retroactive checks are received and you have had a chance to review them, we will distribute a process for asking payroll to review any mistakes if you think one has been made. Please do not guess at how to get that addressed. This has been a complicated and difficult process of running the time clock back to get the calculations right we just need to get money in hand and work through each difficulty as it comes up.