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Civil Rights and Equity Conference: Building Poliltics of Inclusion
Building upon a history of common cause and struggle by minorities and labor unions, CWA’s National Civil Rights and Equity Conference addressed a broad range of initiatives to encourage minority leadership in the union, the community and the nation.
More than 250 members attended the conference March 23-26 in Las Vegas.
Attendees each participated in at least four of 10 workshops put together by CWA’s Committee on Equity with the assistance of Leslie Jackson, headquarters staff for civil rights and fair practices. Topics included a history of working-class people of color, how to establish local committees on equity, diversity training for minorities and how to extend labor’s influence in communities by working with Workers’ Rights Boards.
Newspaper Guild-CWA members from the Associated Press, New York Times, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and elsewhere briefed members on strategies for raising the status of diversity in the media and improving coverage of minority communities.
“CWA is committed to fighting against discrimination and for a multicultural society,” said Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, conference moderator. “We understand that our lives are more exciting when the bonds of work, friendship and solidarity are strengthened by the diverse contributions of ethnic and religious identity, sexual orientation, gender, age and physical disabilities.”
“Identifying, linking and supporting CWA leaders active in a wide variety of civil rights efforts is not only the right thing to do,” Cohen continued, “it’s our best opportunity to sharpen our vision for the future.”
Cohen cited the importance of minority leadership and ongoing relationships with community organizations when CWA takes on the challenges of national politics, or of demonstrating that the MCI WorldCom-Sprint merger is bad for communities, or advocating for universal health care or the right to organize.
“Together, we can make a difference,” he stressed.
“By connecting our civil rights program to grassroots unionism, we can bring these issues to life in the workplaces and communities where our members live,” said CWA President Morton Bahr.
Bahr cited a recent example of how labor and civil rights leaders worked together to mount a strong effort to stamp out hate crimes in America.
Last October, just prior to the AFL-CIO convention, Bahr participated on a panel of leaders from the Jewish Labor Committee and AFL-CIO constituency groups. Several hundred people responded to invitations to attend the discussion. In January the JLC met with representatives of the constituency groups during the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Atlanta to plan a future dialogue on workplace tolerance. A month later the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and the JLC met at CWA offices to explore additional ways to work together to promote workplace tolerance.
“We can pass laws to affect people’s behavior and to put the institutions of government on the right side of the fight with us,” Bahr said, “but laws will not change people’s hearts. To do that, we must have an organized, sustained and disciplined effort. CWA and our civil rights program offer us the opportunity to make that happen.”
2000 Elections
Bahr and CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling stressed the important role CWA leaders active in civil rights organizations can play in helping elect a President, governors and majorities in the House and Senate who will respond to the needs of working families. Easterling’s comparison of Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George Bush left no doubts as to why Gore enjoys labor’s support.
The centerpiece of Bush’s campaign, “a tax cut of between $1.3 trillion and $1.7 trillion, would single-handedly wipe out the entire budget surplus, and it would require coming up with another $300 billion to $700 billion by raiding Social Security or by cutting programs that benefit working families and the poor,” she pointed out.
“Just as dangerous,” Easterling said, “the tax cut itself would give the richest 1 percent of taxpayers 1,000 times more tax relief than middle income families. More than 60 cents of every tax cut dollar would line the pockets of the top 10 percent of taxpayers, while the bottom 60 percent would only get a dime.”
“Al Gore fights for us by pledging to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatizers and tax cutters, by supporting Medicare prescription drug benefits and by leading the charge for a real Patients’ Bill of Rights,” Easterling stressed.
Common Enemy
Brooks Sunkett, CWA vice president for public and health care workers, recounted injustices suffered by minorities throughout America’s history: the enslavement of African-Americans, the decimation and dispossession of native Americans, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
“The truth is, we are all the majority,” Sunkett said. “Even though we are different colors and come from different backgrounds, we all have one thing in common. We are all workers. The real minorities are the green folks — our opponents when we negotiate contracts.”
“It’s the green folks who keep telling us we can’t afford health care for everyone. It is the green folks who want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It is the green folks who want more and bigger tax cuts even though they aren’t paying their fair share now.”
Problems and Progress
CWA vice presidents or their designees from all districts took part in a panel discussion with the union’s Committee on Equity, outlining plans to develop minority leadership within CWA locals, to hire and promote minority individuals to fill staff vacancies and to address political and workplace issues of particular concern to minorities.
The committee presented its newly conceived Mays-Carroll Award to District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler in recognition of the progress his district has shown on minority issues. The award is named after Gene Mays, the first African-American CWA officer and staff member, who served as assistant to the vice president of District 1 from 1969 until his death in 1973, and Mary Mays-Carroll, who headed CWA’s Civil Rights and Fair Practices office from 1989 until her retirement last year.
Attendees heard an address by civil rights advocate Jim Evans, a state representative and director of the Mississippi AFL-CIO, clapped along with gospel renditions by a CWA chorus, participated in workshops and district meetings and witnessed a “Tapestry of Cultures” presentation reflecting the diversity that is CWA.
More than 250 members attended the conference March 23-26 in Las Vegas.
Attendees each participated in at least four of 10 workshops put together by CWA’s Committee on Equity with the assistance of Leslie Jackson, headquarters staff for civil rights and fair practices. Topics included a history of working-class people of color, how to establish local committees on equity, diversity training for minorities and how to extend labor’s influence in communities by working with Workers’ Rights Boards.
Newspaper Guild-CWA members from the Associated Press, New York Times, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and elsewhere briefed members on strategies for raising the status of diversity in the media and improving coverage of minority communities.
“CWA is committed to fighting against discrimination and for a multicultural society,” said Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, conference moderator. “We understand that our lives are more exciting when the bonds of work, friendship and solidarity are strengthened by the diverse contributions of ethnic and religious identity, sexual orientation, gender, age and physical disabilities.”
“Identifying, linking and supporting CWA leaders active in a wide variety of civil rights efforts is not only the right thing to do,” Cohen continued, “it’s our best opportunity to sharpen our vision for the future.”
Cohen cited the importance of minority leadership and ongoing relationships with community organizations when CWA takes on the challenges of national politics, or of demonstrating that the MCI WorldCom-Sprint merger is bad for communities, or advocating for universal health care or the right to organize.
“Together, we can make a difference,” he stressed.
“By connecting our civil rights program to grassroots unionism, we can bring these issues to life in the workplaces and communities where our members live,” said CWA President Morton Bahr.
Bahr cited a recent example of how labor and civil rights leaders worked together to mount a strong effort to stamp out hate crimes in America.
Last October, just prior to the AFL-CIO convention, Bahr participated on a panel of leaders from the Jewish Labor Committee and AFL-CIO constituency groups. Several hundred people responded to invitations to attend the discussion. In January the JLC met with representatives of the constituency groups during the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Atlanta to plan a future dialogue on workplace tolerance. A month later the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and the JLC met at CWA offices to explore additional ways to work together to promote workplace tolerance.
“We can pass laws to affect people’s behavior and to put the institutions of government on the right side of the fight with us,” Bahr said, “but laws will not change people’s hearts. To do that, we must have an organized, sustained and disciplined effort. CWA and our civil rights program offer us the opportunity to make that happen.”
2000 Elections
Bahr and CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling stressed the important role CWA leaders active in civil rights organizations can play in helping elect a President, governors and majorities in the House and Senate who will respond to the needs of working families. Easterling’s comparison of Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George Bush left no doubts as to why Gore enjoys labor’s support.
The centerpiece of Bush’s campaign, “a tax cut of between $1.3 trillion and $1.7 trillion, would single-handedly wipe out the entire budget surplus, and it would require coming up with another $300 billion to $700 billion by raiding Social Security or by cutting programs that benefit working families and the poor,” she pointed out.
“Just as dangerous,” Easterling said, “the tax cut itself would give the richest 1 percent of taxpayers 1,000 times more tax relief than middle income families. More than 60 cents of every tax cut dollar would line the pockets of the top 10 percent of taxpayers, while the bottom 60 percent would only get a dime.”
“Al Gore fights for us by pledging to protect Social Security and Medicare from privatizers and tax cutters, by supporting Medicare prescription drug benefits and by leading the charge for a real Patients’ Bill of Rights,” Easterling stressed.
Common Enemy
Brooks Sunkett, CWA vice president for public and health care workers, recounted injustices suffered by minorities throughout America’s history: the enslavement of African-Americans, the decimation and dispossession of native Americans, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
“The truth is, we are all the majority,” Sunkett said. “Even though we are different colors and come from different backgrounds, we all have one thing in common. We are all workers. The real minorities are the green folks — our opponents when we negotiate contracts.”
“It’s the green folks who keep telling us we can’t afford health care for everyone. It is the green folks who want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. It is the green folks who want more and bigger tax cuts even though they aren’t paying their fair share now.”
Problems and Progress
CWA vice presidents or their designees from all districts took part in a panel discussion with the union’s Committee on Equity, outlining plans to develop minority leadership within CWA locals, to hire and promote minority individuals to fill staff vacancies and to address political and workplace issues of particular concern to minorities.
The committee presented its newly conceived Mays-Carroll Award to District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler in recognition of the progress his district has shown on minority issues. The award is named after Gene Mays, the first African-American CWA officer and staff member, who served as assistant to the vice president of District 1 from 1969 until his death in 1973, and Mary Mays-Carroll, who headed CWA’s Civil Rights and Fair Practices office from 1989 until her retirement last year.
Attendees heard an address by civil rights advocate Jim Evans, a state representative and director of the Mississippi AFL-CIO, clapped along with gospel renditions by a CWA chorus, participated in workshops and district meetings and witnessed a “Tapestry of Cultures” presentation reflecting the diversity that is CWA.