Financial Reports: Keeping CWA Strong and Effective

Adopting the recommendations of the Defense Fund Oversight Committee, delegates strengthened CWA’s ability to fight for economic justice and to play offense in organizing, bargaining and other campaigns.

• Delegates approved recommendations to roll the defense fund into the strategic industry fund and created two new silos – for public workers who don’t have the right to strike and for AFA-CWA. SIF silos already exist for telecom, media, manufacturing, passenger service agents and public workers.

• Delegates also voted to use one-half of the annual investment earnings from the MRF to create the CWA Growth Fund under the Strategic Industry Fund, which will support CWA’s movement building, organizing, leadership development, research, industry analysis and fight for economic justice. DFOC responsibilities will be expanded to include participation in the approval and evaluation of Growth Fund campaigns.

The DFOC report stressed that, “the world has changed since we took collective action to establish the Members’ Relief Fund in 1991. Today we face a new and different set of challenges that require us, once again, to take bold and decisive actions to keep our union strong.”

The balance in the MRF, as of March 31, 2013, was $444,787,000.

Delegates also reviewed and adopted the report of the Finance Committee, which included some specific recommendations on meeting budget goals in these challenging times.