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CWA Elects New Leaders at 67th Convention
Chicago – Larry Cohen was elected president of the Communications Workers of America by acclamation of delegates to the union's 67th annual convention. Cohen becomes CWA's fourth president since the union's founding in 1938. He will be sworn in tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Cohen succeeds retiring president Morton Bahr, who led the union for 20 years through one of its most turbulent periods following the 1984 breakup of the AT&T Bell Telephone system.
Delegates also elected a new executive vice president and returned their secretary-treasurer to office.
In another major action on the first day of the convention, delegates called for all elements of CWA – locals, districts and membership sectors, staff and top officers – to begin a review and discussion "on ideas for structure, strategies and activities to meet the challenges of the present and future." A special website will be created for an exchange of ideas over the next year, and a "CWA Strategic Plan for the Future" will be presented to the 2006 convention.
Cohen, 56, is recognized as one of the labor movement's most innovative and effective leaders. He has built one of the most respected organizing programs in the country and has put in place new strategies and programs to bring union representation to workers in a broad range of sectors. He was elected executive vice president in 1998, after serving as assistant to President Bahr and director of organizing the previous 12 years. A native of Philadelphia, Cohen began his union work as an unrepresented state worker in New Jersey, where he led the successful drive that brought 36,000 state workers into the CWA family.
Delegates unanimously re-elected Secretary-Treasurer Barbara J. Easterling to a new three-year term. Easterling, who has served as secretary-treasurer for 13 years, directs the union's government relations programs, and manages the finances and physical facilities of CWA. A native of Akron, Ohio, Easterling started her union work an operator at Ohio Bell, joining and serving in various posts in Local 4302. She became an assistant to the CWA president in 1980, was elected executive vice president in 1985, and was first elected secretary-treasurer in 1992.
Elected unanimously as executive vice president was Jeff Rechenbach, who had served as CWA's vice president for its Midwestern district, District 4, since 1994. Rechenbach's work with CWA began at Ohio Bell in Cleveland, when at age 19, he was elected president of the 2,000-member Local 4309.
In other convention action today, delegates heard from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who said that the unions of the AFL-CIO "are determined to focus our energy, not on those who are trying to tear our movement apart, but on the greedy corporations and the right-wing elected officials who are trying to tear our country apart."
Tomorrow, the convention will hear from Cohen and focus on CWA's major recent organizing successes, particularly in the South, and its international affairs efforts that have built effective alliances with unions in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Cohen heads the telecom sector of the global labor organization for communications, media, professional, commercial and technical workers, Union Network International.
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Cohen's keynote address will be available online at ga.cwa-union.org/issues on 8-30-05.
Cohen succeeds retiring president Morton Bahr, who led the union for 20 years through one of its most turbulent periods following the 1984 breakup of the AT&T Bell Telephone system.
Delegates also elected a new executive vice president and returned their secretary-treasurer to office.
In another major action on the first day of the convention, delegates called for all elements of CWA – locals, districts and membership sectors, staff and top officers – to begin a review and discussion "on ideas for structure, strategies and activities to meet the challenges of the present and future." A special website will be created for an exchange of ideas over the next year, and a "CWA Strategic Plan for the Future" will be presented to the 2006 convention.
Cohen, 56, is recognized as one of the labor movement's most innovative and effective leaders. He has built one of the most respected organizing programs in the country and has put in place new strategies and programs to bring union representation to workers in a broad range of sectors. He was elected executive vice president in 1998, after serving as assistant to President Bahr and director of organizing the previous 12 years. A native of Philadelphia, Cohen began his union work as an unrepresented state worker in New Jersey, where he led the successful drive that brought 36,000 state workers into the CWA family.
Delegates unanimously re-elected Secretary-Treasurer Barbara J. Easterling to a new three-year term. Easterling, who has served as secretary-treasurer for 13 years, directs the union's government relations programs, and manages the finances and physical facilities of CWA. A native of Akron, Ohio, Easterling started her union work an operator at Ohio Bell, joining and serving in various posts in Local 4302. She became an assistant to the CWA president in 1980, was elected executive vice president in 1985, and was first elected secretary-treasurer in 1992.
Elected unanimously as executive vice president was Jeff Rechenbach, who had served as CWA's vice president for its Midwestern district, District 4, since 1994. Rechenbach's work with CWA began at Ohio Bell in Cleveland, when at age 19, he was elected president of the 2,000-member Local 4309.
In other convention action today, delegates heard from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who said that the unions of the AFL-CIO "are determined to focus our energy, not on those who are trying to tear our movement apart, but on the greedy corporations and the right-wing elected officials who are trying to tear our country apart."
Tomorrow, the convention will hear from Cohen and focus on CWA's major recent organizing successes, particularly in the South, and its international affairs efforts that have built effective alliances with unions in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. Cohen heads the telecom sector of the global labor organization for communications, media, professional, commercial and technical workers, Union Network International.
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Cohen's keynote address will be available online at ga.cwa-union.org/issues on 8-30-05.