Civil Rights Conference Energizes Members to Fight for Progress in Tough Times

Progress and challenges were the twin focus of the 2010 CWA Civil Rights and Equity Conference, which drew more than 200 members and leaders to New Orleans last week.

The National Civil Rights and Equity Committee spent months planning the conference. The members, one from each CWA district, are Local 1180 Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Middleton; Local 2222 Vice President William Steele; Local 3806 Area Rep (AT&T Mobility) Esther Pond; Local 4123 Secretary-Treasurer Gloria Lamas; Local 6016 Vice President (Avaya) Audry Brown; Local 7800 President Michael Lynch; Local 9413 Executive Vice President Elizabeth Sorenson; and Local 13100 Rep-At-Large Michael Biddle.

The committee presented District 7 Vice President Mary Taylor with its Mays-Carroll Award, given to honor CWA members who have made outstanding contributions to civil rights and minority practices.

The busy conference agenda include presentations from the CWA Executive Board's at-large diversity members and advice from Civil Rights Coordinators Linda Hinton, District 4, and Sylvia Ramos, District 6, on starting local civil rights and equity committees. Each participant received a new brochure and manual, and was given time to meet by district to discuss issues and future plans.

Participants also got personal insight from Presidents Judy Bruno, Local 3406, and Paul Pearson, Local 3410, on Hurricane Katrina's devastation and its impact on CWA families.

Addressing the conference theme, "Labor, the Disenfranchised, and the Economy in America," CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill discussed the difficulties facing CWA's sectors, the uphill battle to restore organizing and bargaining rights and America's vanishing middle class.

But Hill and CWA President Larry Cohen also stressed victories and reasons for hope: CWA's more diverse executive board and a strengthened human rights program, the success of CWA Strategic Industry Fund projects, and the major One Nation Rally Saturday in Washington that will energize 10,000 CWA members and hundreds of thousands of civil rights, labor, faith and Green allies for the hard work in the weeks left until Nov. 2.

The conference also heard from internationally known leaders, including Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Michael Wilson, executive director of Americans for Democratic Action; and Arlene Holt, AFL-CIO executive vice president.