Calling all CWA Health & Safety Activists for the 2024 HSE Conference

A message from CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.

Dear Union Family:

I want to invite all CWA Health and Safety Activists to join CWA’s delegation at the 2024 USW Health, Safety and Environment Conference (HSE) which will be held on August 19 – 23, 2024 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and Westin Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The conference is designed for participation by local union health, safety, and environmental activists, including leadership from local unions, Districts and Sectors. We strongly encourage you to consider sending both ‘seasoned’ health and safety activists/reps, as well as members with less experience who have a strong interest in being involved in the fight for health and safety.

The national conference will emphasize:

• Increasing participant knowledge and skills about a wide range of health, safety, and environmental topics;
• Developing strategies to fight for and improve day-to-day member working conditions; and
• Sharing knowledge and experience among members.

The first day of the HSE Conference on Monday, August 19th is an all-day, union-only event with both plenary and workshop sessions. On Monday, after the scheduled union-only workshops, there will be a special CWA meeting for all CWA attendees facilitated by CWA’s National Deputy Director of Occupational Safety and Health. On Thursday, August 22, there will be a CWA-Only Workshop for all CWA attendees facilitated by CWA’s National Deputy Director of Occupational Safety and Health and CWA District/Sector Staff.

From Tuesday through Friday all plenary sessions and workshops may also be attended by some management health and safety representatives from USW-represented employers per collective bargaining agreements between the USW and represented employers. The conference will adjourn Friday by noon.

There is something for everyone at this conference! Special workshop sessions on the union-only day will focus on topics such as Work Stress and Long Hours, Stopping Behavior-based Blame-the-Worker Programs, Investigating Health and Safety Issues, Strategizing to Solve Health and Safety Problems, and many more. The Tuesday-Friday sessions will target a wide range of topics such as Occupational Diseases, Effective Health and Safety Committees, Industrial Hygiene, Prevention of Heat-related Illnesses, Active Shooter Preparedness, Disaster Preparedness, Process Safety Management. Prevention of Workplace Violence, Health and Safety Rights, and more. The full agenda is currently under development and will not be available until closer to the conference.

There will be a special Health Care track on Wednesday, 8/21 with workshop topics and panel presentations geared specifically for health care members.

The registration instructions and hotel information are available here. Please note, all CWA participants should choose “CWA” as the registration type when completing the registration.

In accordance with our established policy, the CWA International Union will not be responsible for the cost of delegate(s) participation. Your local union must bear any expenses for attendance, including the registration fee, airfare, hotel, and lost work time wages where applicable. Inquiries about whether a particular SIF or Growth Fund might be used to offset some of the costs must be made directly to the SIF or Growth Fund Project Director to obtain permission in advance.

Occupational and environmental health and safety remains key concerns for our members and the HSE Conference will help to expand our opportunities to improve the Union’s health and safety programs and ability to fight for safe workplaces and win needed protections.