CWA 2007 Convention: Delegates Approve Diversity Proposal, Call for Movement to Rebuild America’s

Delegates to the 69th CWA Convention in Toronto in July took historic action to increase diversity among CWA leadership and witnessed the signing of a strategic alliance with the Steelworkers for CWA's 8,000 Canadian members.

Adoption of the Executive Board diversity proposal establishes four at-large board seats representing four geographic areas of the union, giving greater voice to local leaders. The goal is to have at least three of the four be people of color and two of them be women.

"Bringing the perspective and ideas of local leaders and activists to the top ranks of the union's leadership can only make us stronger and wiser and better equipped to take on the tough challenges facing our movement in the 21st century," CWA President Larry Cohen said.

The current 19-member Executive Board itself will appoint the first four new members based on nominations from the Committee on Equity, the National Women's Committee and the CWA Minority Caucus. The seats will be up for election at the 2008 convention.

Under the new alliance with the Steelworkers — signed by USW President Leo Gerard, Cohen, TNG-CWA Canada Director Arnold Amber and Ken Neumann, USW national director for Canada — CWA members in Canada will join forces on common issues with the country's 280,000 USW members.

Delegates also voted to establish a Canadian region, with members formerly in Districts 1 and 7 now part of a new region with full authority on governance, policy and operational decisions affecting Canadian members, in accordance with the CWA Constitution.

In other convention business, delegates approved a plan under which the CWA Executive Board and the board of the Retired Members' Council will look for ways to work more closely together. The RMC also will develop an action plan with specific goals to help locals organize new chapters, increase membership and build participation in CWA campaigns.

Among resolutions, delegates endorsed the "$8 in '08" CWA-COPE program to fight for working family candidates and rebuild America's middle class.

Other resolutions endorsed the Restoring Pension Promises to All Workers Act of 2007 (S.1725), introduced in June by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); pressed to rescind the new, extreme postal rate changes that are devastating to small, independent publications, including union newsletters; called for true country-of-origin labeling for food and other consumer products entering the United States; and affirmed that CWA will organize the telecom industry wall-to-wall and insisted that any contracted work be performed in the United States by union workers.

Delegates also called on CWA to bring worldwide attention to the crisis in Darfur, where more than 400,000 people have been killed, countless others raped and mutilated and villages burned, creating 2.5 million refugees. The resolution urges the U.S. government and Canadian Parliament to fully support the International Criminal Court to indict the perpetrators of the genocide.

In a strong, impassioned and very personal speech, CWA District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci, who is battling Lou Gehrig's disease, asked delegates to commit their energy on two vital fronts: The fight for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and the fight for embryonic stem cell research. He said stem cells have shown great promise in treating crippling diseases and trauma that now have no cure, such as spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease and Lou Gehrig's, also known as ALS.

Catucci said the United States is far behind other countries in stem cell advances, due to President Bush's order restricting embryonic stem cell research. "These are not cell lines that will ever become tissue and are slated to be destroyed, yet the potential for life-saving cures is enormous," he said.

Catucci urged CWA members to call, e-mail or send postcards to their U.S. senators and representatives seeking their support for the vital research. Joining him in a call for "EFCA and stem cells," delegates gave him a prolonged standing ovation.