Jul 13, 2023 - 2023 CWA Convention: "When We Fight, We Win" and other news

In an historic election, Claude Cummings Jr. was elected CWA president by delegates to the union's 79th convention in St. Louis, Mo. Ameenah Salaam was elected CWA Secretary-Treasurer. Cummings and Salaam are, respectively, the first Black man and first Black woman to serve in these roles at CWA.

“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,” said Cummings, who has been serving as Vice President of CWA District 6 since 2011. Watch a video of Cumming's full remarks here.

Cummings succeeds Chris Shelton, who stepped down after serving as President for 8 years and spending over 55 years in CWA.

A Houston, Texas, native, Cummings started his union career when he went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (now AT&T) in 1973 and worked as a Frame Attendant and Communications Technician, maintaining systems for NASA, among other corporate customers. Prior to his election as CWA District 6 Vice President, he was President of CWA Local 6222, representing more than 8,000 members, having served previously in other leadership positions in the local, including Vice President. Cummings was the first Black man elected to all of these positions.

Salaam, a native of Wilmington, Del., started her union career when she went to work for Diamond State Telephone in 1991 as a customer service representative. She was elected as a CWA Local 13100 steward and served as Vice President of the local until September 1997, when she joined the CWA national staff. As an assistant to outgoing CWA President Chris Shelton, she has played critical leading roles in organizing, bargaining, and mobilization campaigns, supporting staff, and pushing CWA's core mission forward with effective strategic planning and fiscal responsibility.

Read the full press release here.

Elections were also held for sector and district Vice President positions, along with elections for at-large diversity members of the Executive Board.

View all of the election results here.

Delegates to the 2023 CWA Convention elected new national, district, and sector leaders to the CWA National Executive Board.

At the 2023 CWA Convention in St. Louis, Mo., CWA members from every sector and district came together to discuss and make decisions about the union's future and how to make our union stronger, held national and district elections, recognized and celebrated each other's accomplishments, and much more.

In his final Convention kick-off address, President Emeritus Chris Shelton shared a heartfelt thank you to all CWA members for their trust and confidence in his leadership and all the work they do to make our union strong. “I want to thank each and every one of you, the local officers and local leaders of our union. You are the backbone of the union. You are the lifeblood of our union. You are in the trenches every single day, dealing with grievances, fighting for good contracts, walking on picket lines, lobbying and campaigning for elected officials, organizing new members into the union. You fight for our members every single day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Without all of you, there is no union. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for everything you do,” said Shelton.

He also took the opportunity to reflect on the lessons he has learned from the last five decades in CWA and clearly articulated his vision for the future of CWA, as well as emphasized the important roles our members and leaders play in strengthening the union and the labor movement. Shelton called on CWA members to “fight smart” by coming together to constantly mobilize. He encouraged all CWAers to continue to organize and grow our union. In addition, he urged CWA members to actively engage in building political power.

Watch a video of Shelton's full remarks here.

CWA delegates and guests of the Convention also heard from President Joe Biden, who sent a video message, and other guest speakers, including Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, State Senator and CWA Local 6300 member, Karla May, and the mayor of St. Louis, Tishaura Jones.

In addition, the delegates and guests participated in district and sector meetings, wrote postcards in support of pro-worker candidates, signed petitions to advocate for increased broadband access, contributed to the Political Action Fund and CWA’s Eduardo Diaz Union-To-Union International Solidarity Fund, signed up for Building an Anti-Racist Union and Gender Justice Trainings, joined the CWA Pride Caucus, and much more. See photos from the convention here.

The Hat Award for outstanding achievements in organizing is named for CWA's founding president, Joe Beirne, who would pass his hat at each organizing meeting to collect the funds he needed to cover travel costs of getting to the next group of telephone workers he was to visit. It is CWA's highest honor.

This year, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. presented the award to President Emeritus Chris Shelton in recognition of his lifetime of service to CWA and his outstanding leadership as president for the last eight years, during which more than 47,000 workers joined CWA through new organizing campaigns.

President Cummings also presented "The Morton Bahr CWA STRONG Award" in honor of the former CWA President's vision, tenacity, and union building. This year’s recipients were Local 1180 President and National Executive Board Member Gloria Middleton, who was recognized for her successful efforts to build an impressive internal organizing campaign, and Local 1104 President Tom Benedetto, in recognition of his leadership in figuring out new strategic and innovative ways to organize while facing a number of challenges, including the pandemic.

Since the last CWA convention, CWA locals from around the country have brought in over 11,000 new members through external organizing campaigns. Locals that helped more than 100 workers join CWA and win a voice at work were honored with a plaque and subsidies to support future organizing efforts.

CWA District 1, District 6, Local 1101, Local 6215, and Local 6327 were recognized for their contributions to CWA's Political Action Fund (PAF). Local 13572, Local 7026, Local 4319, Local 3310, and Local 1037 were honored for fund-raising on behalf of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Congratulations to all the winners!

At the 2023 CWA Convention, locals received organizing awards in honor of their extraordinary work.

CWA delegates approved the following resolutions at the 2023 CWA Convention:

Resolution #79A-23-01 - Honoring the Leadership and Determination of Christopher M. Shelton to Fight and Win for CWA Members and All Working People – CWA delegates voted to express their deep appreciation to Chris Shelton and bestow upon him the title of President Emeritus for his lifelong dedication to fighting and winning for CWA members and all working people. We recognize the legacy of strategic and thoughtful preparation to ensure that our union is able to win every fight we undertake on behalf of our members.

Resolution #79A-23-02 - Building Worker Power by Fighting for Pro-Worker and Pro-Union Laws in the States – CWA delegates voted to commit to prioritizing state level advocacy and legislative efforts to enact laws which would strengthen organizing and collective bargaining protections and build worker power. They also voted to elect pro-labor candidates for state and local office as well as to continue CWA’s efforts to advocate for passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.

Resolution #79A-23-03 - Resolution: Reforming Our Federal Tax Code to Support Worker Organizing and Collective Bargaining – CWA delegates voted to demand changes to our tax code so that it protects union members and the right to organize, bargain, and strike, by ending deductions for companies engaged in union busting or shipping jobs overseas, and by ensuring that all workers have the right to deduct union dues and work related expenses from their taxes.

Resolution #79A-23-04 - Fighting for the News Our Communities and Members Deserve – CWA delegates voted to recognize that the decimation and consolidation of local journalism has had a negative impact on our democracy and must be reversed. They also voted to support several pieces of legislation, including the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, and the Stop Wall Street Looting Act, and to support efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to strengthen the regulation of private equity companies.

Resolution #79A-23-05 - Mobilizing for Good Jobs and Safety in the Aviation Industry – CWA delegates voted to mobilize and work to ensure timely passage of FAA Reauthorization legislation that protects and builds on our members’ rights and protections on the job and a national air transportation system that supports good union jobs. They also voted to continue to fight for fair compensation, decent working conditions, and dignity, and safety on the job for our members and all workers in the aviation industry.

Resolution #79A-23-06 - Committee on Membership and Office-Holding Eligibility – CWA delegates voted to allow the CWA President, in consultation with the CWA Executive Board, to appoint a committee to discuss and report on questions raised about whether Local or International Union staff should be permitted to join the Union by virtue of their employment by the Union.

Resolution #79A-23-07 - Retired Member Council Eligibility for CWA Disaster Relief Fund – CWA delegates voted to include retired CWA members who have paid their dues to the CWA Retired Member Council in eligibility for support through the Disaster Relief Fund.

Resolution #79A-23-08 - Ensuring Accessibility at CWA Meetings for All – CWA delegates voted to establish a committee of members and staff who will work to develop suggestions for policies and practices to enable future meetings to be as accessible as possible for all of our members.

Resolution #79A-23-09 - CWA Resolution on Mutual Respect – CWA delegates voted to recommit to ensuring mutual respect in CWA and affirm that mutual respect must be a foundation and guiding principle of our union.

SEGA

On Monday, a majority of workers at SEGA, a multinational video game and entertainment company, in Irvine, Calif., won their union recognition election to join CWA. Their union, Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS), CWA Local 9510, consists of more than 200 workers in the quality assurance, localization, live service, marketing, and product development departments. They are demanding higher base pay following industry standards, with raises tied to the cost of living and inflation; improved, stable benefits; increased and clear opportunities for advancement; balanced workloads, schedules, and defined responsibilities for all positions; and adequate staffing, to end patterns of overwork. The workers are the latest to organize with CODE-CWA, an initiative to provide strategic support for tech and game workers who are collectively taking action to have a voice on the job. Read more here.

###

Activision Blizzard/Microsoft

On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from closing its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. The Judge’s decision allows the merger to move forward, and gives the FTC an opportunity to transform the video game and technology labor market by providing a clear path to collective bargaining for almost 10,000 workers, thanks to a ground-breaking, legally-binding labor neutrality agreement between CWA and Microsoft. The agreement, which will apply to the Activision Blizzard workforce once Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of the company is complete, committed Microsoft to a neutral approach when employees express interest in joining a union, with a free and fair process for voluntary recognition of the union.

Read more here.