CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. Addresses the 79th CWA Convention

Good morning, brothers and sisters!

It's a new day at CWA, simple as that. I am truly, truly honored and humbled for the incredible confidence and trust you have placed in me to serve as president of this great union. No combination of words can express how I feel at this very moment, but I'm going to try anyway.

I have many people to thank. And going through the whole list will probably take a lot more time than I have this morning. But from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you, my entire CWA family, for all that you do for our union and the labor movement.

I also want to recognize the other candidates in this race, former Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens, and former District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney, for their years of dedicated service to our union. Both of you have made this a better campaign and a better union for all of us. Let's give them a round of applause if you would, please.

I want to take a moment to recognize and congratulate our newest Secretary-Treasurer, Ameenah Salaam. Please give her a round of applause. I have worked closely with Ameenah for many years. She is a powerhouse who understands the type of effective leadership our union needs, and has the talent and expertise to meet the moment. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her.

Of course, I also want to give a special thanks to my predecessor again, Chris Shelton, for his outstanding leadership and commitment to CWA as well as his friendship and support, which I will continue to rely on as I embark on this incredible task of leading our great union. Not only has he steadfastly served our union for more than five decades, but he's also graced and honored his role as president. He deserves our heartfelt gratitude. I asked you all again to join me in applauding our former president Chris Shelton, and his lifetime of service to our great union, the labor movement, and all workers. It is with great humility, that I accept the responsibility of walking in his shoes, and all the other great CWA presidents that have come before me. My hope is with your continued support, I can live up to my commitment to strive to be worthy of the examples and standards set by these great leaders.

Before I move on, I want to express my deep appreciation to my family, without whom none of this would have been possible. They are here with me today, making this moment even more joyful than it already is. Would you all stand please? Thank you. My wife, Ruth, thank you so much. Ruth, and I've been married 52 years and have never lived away from each other because we were angry with each other or anything like that. Sometimes I'd start a fight because it was fun making up. Let me put it that way. And where's my assistant campaign manager over there, Mila. Most of you have seen Mila a lot on my Facebook page. That's my great grandbaby Mila that Laura is holding there.

You know, when I began this journey nearly four decades ago, in Houston, Texas, by following in my father's footsteps in CWA, I never dreamed that I would have the chance to be standing here as the first Black president of CWA.  I never thought it. I never thought it. You know, there were times when I would interview and I some folks would say to me, well, Claude, you know, what do you think? What about the way you look and running for president? And I said, well, I got up this morning and I looked in the mirror and I said, well, I didn't like the way I looked either. I looked a lot better 30 years ago, but I couldn't do anything about anything else about me, you know, just that. So it would be a lie to say this journey has been easy. But through it all my commitment to our union and to all of our members has never wavered because CWA is my home. To it, I owe everything, and with every ounce of my being, I will continue to fight to protect and advance the values that make us who we are. Our values of unity and solidarity are the foundation of our strength as a union, which is why at this very moment, we all have to commit to coming together as one union, one family and together fight for what we collectively believe in.

That I am Black may be historic in the eyes of others. But for CWA in District 6 -- and let me give a shout out to District 6, thank you so much for your support over the past 12 years -- District 6 is the most diverse district in our union. This milestone is just a continuation of our legacy of open door opportunity for all, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or other differences that may separate us, but do not divide us. Throughout my career at CWA, and the last few years as co-chair of the CWA Human Rights Department with Carl Kennebrew, I have been at the forefront of championing inclusion and its strengths for CWA. At a time when the country and even our union is fractured, we must focus on what we can accomplish. Together, we can and will build CWA as an even more powerful advocate for workers' rights, and unity is a key.

With my record of proven effective leadership, I am ready, willing, and able to bring this union into a new era of trust and transparency. That is the only way we can productively address growing concerns and challenges without, within, and outside of our union. My fellow CWAers trusted me to lead District 6 as vice president, not as a trophy or tribute to our diversity, but as a fighter with a solid track record of results. To them, I'm just Claude. And I just want all of you to see me as Claude. They know I don't merely talk about the changes we need, but I will fight to make them happen. And that is the spirit and commitment I will bring to my new role.

Both as a member and a CWA leader, I've been in the trenches, from picket lines to politician's offices, from visiting sites of work and injustice to pushing for policies to correct them. I will never -- let me say this again -- I will never back down from a fight. And the door to my  office will always be open. This is our union, and your stake in our success will always be as great as mine.

Throughout my campaign, I've shared much of my personal CWA story, starting with my father's fight many years ago to have union meetings on the same night as others. He succeeded against many odds at that time. And this opened my eyes to what was possible when you cared enough to want to make a difference, and were willing to fight to make it happen. It changed everything for me, for my family, and all of us. We officially became a union family. As a new CWA member myself, and you will have heard his story, I was shocked to learn that female secretaries were disrespected by being required to have lunch and breaks in the women's restroom. I not only fought to give them a proper place to eat, but ran for my first leadership position at Local 6222. Why? Not to put the name of Claude Cummings on the map, but to use the office to promote change on the largest scale. In each successive position -- from member to President in Houston to Vice President of District 6 -- it was never about me, or to simply break barriers. It was to continue to bring my fighting spirit to bear on issues big or small that affected the entire membership.

Through the years we've taken on resistance to empowering workers at tech giants such as Apple to form a union to protecting the rights of airline workers, passenger service workers, call center workers that were treated inhumanely by a government contractor no less. We have fought to advance the rights of public sector workers, education workers, healthcare workers, and every day we fight tooth and nail against the telecom giants' corporate greed.

Today, we find ourselves faced with greater challenges, but even greater opportunities. Our union is only strong when people work with each other, for each other. And throughout the last few months, I've heard from many of you about your concerns and thoughts about what matters to you, your families, and also to our union. I want all of you to know that I will work hard to incorporate all of my priorities into my vision during my leadership of this great union.

Most of all, my hope is to leave a legacy of strong unity, even stronger than what we have already built, truly embodying our values of mutual respect, and underlying principle of an injury to one is an injury to all. Our values of unity and solidarity are the foundation of our strength as a union, which is why at this very moment, we all have to commit -- we all have to commit -- to come in together as one union, one family and together fight for what we collectively believe in. That will allow all of us to meet our challenges, wherever and however they may come.

And never, never forget that we cannot, should not and will not give up the fight. When we come together, work together, stand together and fight together, we will always win because when we fight, we win! When we fight, we win!

Thank you!