Convention Honors Locals, Districts for Building CWA

CWA Local 1040 President Carolyn Wade and local organizer Connie English accept an organizing award.

Delta flight attendant Toni Weinfurtner, left, and AFA-CWA member Diana Mitcham, a Northwest flight attendant, thank CWAers for their support in organizing campaign.

CWA is an organizing union, and locals and members were recognized for their achievements over the past year. Highlights include:

• 17 locals recognized for organizing at least 100 workers.
• Local 1040 wins a special award as the first CWA local to organize at least 100 workers a year at least 15 times.
• Local 4900 wins the President's award.
• District 6 given special award for internal organizing.
• Delta activists and AFA-CWA supporters outline Unity campaign.

Organizing at Least 100 Workers: Locals that organized at least 100 workers were Local 1102, Local 2201, Local 2204, Local 32035, Local 3010, Local 4100, Local 4900, Local 6171, Local 7076, Local 7077, Local 7803, Local 27081, Local 27071, Local 37083, Local 9413, and Local 28031.

Special Recognition for Local 1040: Local 1040 in Trenton, N.J., was recognized for being the first local to organize more than 100 workers a year for 15 years, an incredible achievement.

President's Award: Local 4900 received CWA's highest organizing honor for outstanding efforts in organizing more than 500 workers at the former Centennial Communications/AT&T Mobility and two other telecoms. CWA President Larry Cohen praised the local for not giving up despite initial setbacks, but "creating opportunities and acting on them." Within three weeks, the local signed up 232 of the 290 workers, and 154 members signed up for COPE.

Special Internal Organizing Award: District 6 won a special internal organizing award recognizing efforts to organize represented workers who have not yet joined CWA. So far, district and local organizers have signed up 1,920 new union members.

Delta campaign: Toni Weinfurtner, a Delta flight attendant, and Diana Mitcham, an AFA-CWA member from Northwest (now merged with Delta) energize delegates over the campaign to win bargaining rights for all Delta flight attendants. "This election is about opportunity, unity and respect, and that all starts with voting yes," Weinfurtner said.