CWA Next Gen Activists Mobilize in DC

CWA's Next Generation's newest activists arrived in Washington, DC, last weekend for a crash course in democracy.

CWA Next Gen activists on Capitol Hill.

Seven district, division and sector leads, along with 14 new state and local leads from around the country, spent three intensive days learning political and internal organizing skills and developing work plans for this year.

When they weren't strategizing about how to mobilize more young CWA members, they were protesting on the streets of Washington with thousands of CWA and other activists as part of the Democracy Awakening. Next Gen District 4 Lead Kelli Williams was arrested on the steps of the U.S. Capitol along with CWA President Chris Shelton and hundreds of others.

Next Gen activists also spent an afternoon picketing with striking Verizon workers.

Kia Carroll, an AFA-CWA member at Frontier Airlines, said, "My time in DC was intense and showed me why the younger generation should get more involved. I can't wait to plan more wonderful Next Generation events and campaigns with my new Next Gen team members."

Through the Next Gen program, CWA is connecting members aged 35 and under with seasoned member-mentors over the age of 35 to form a network of committed union activists across the country. They're fighting for organizing and bargaining rights, voting rights, getting money out of politics, income and racial equality, fair trade policies, immigration reform, and LGBTQ rights.

The second Next Gen Summit will meet in Detroit, MI, from July 19-21. For more information, visit CWANextGen.org and follow us at Facebook.com/CWANextGen.