Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
CWA Newsmakers
Generous CWA members across the country helped 17 families in New Jersey Local 1058 recover from flood damage after Hurricane Floyd, said Sal Greene, the local’s executive vice president and chair of its Community Services Committee. The group spread the word that its members needed help, and more than $8,000 poured in. Each family received a check for $495.85 to go toward repairs of their homes and property. “On behalf of Local 1058’s officers, executive board and members, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks,” Greene said.
North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Easley has picked Doris Weaver, CWA Local 3611’s legislative chair, to serve as labor liaison for his campaign committee. Weaver, a Bell South facilities technician and past president of the Raleigh-based Triangle Labor Council, AFL-CIO, will work three days a week in Easley’s campaign office, coordinating volunteers and raising PAC funds from local unions on behalf of the labor-endorsed candidate. “It’s a great opportunity for Doris and it’s an honor for the local,” said local President Paul Jones. “We’ve never had anyone named to a position like this before.”
Christmas was merrier for hundreds of low-income children in New York state thanks to a toy drive sponsored by the Alliance@IBM through CWA Local 1120. Working with an established charity that lost its sponsor, union members placed collection boxes in public areas and used radio ads to urge community members to donate new, unwrapped toys or money to buy toys. More than 4,000 toys were collected, then wrapped by volunteers at the South Hills Mall in Poughkeepsie. The charity distributed the packages to more than 2,500 children in low-income families in the Mid-Hudson Valley, as well as youngsters in orphanages and battered women’s shelters. “It was fun,” Local 1120 President Glenn A. Carter said. “Our members definitely had the Christmas spirit.”
Charlie Boykin, a staff representative in District 3 with more than 40 years of union membership and service, has retired. Boykin, 63, joined the International Typographical Union in 1956, while working as a printer for the Raleigh News and Observer/Raleigh Times. He was elected vice president of Local 54 in 1964 and president in 1968, serving through 1982. Boykin became a local ITU organizer in 1979 and a national organizer in 1982, working in 25 states. In 1980, he took the lead in organizing Moreno Press in Georgia, which now employs more than 300 people. In 1989, two years after ITU and CWA merged, he went to work as a staff representative in Decatur, Ga. In December 1998, he transferred to Garner, N.C., his hometown, where he worked until his retirement.
Dennis Dearing, a District 3 CWA representative who negotiated more than 50 contracts over the past 20 years, has retired. Dearing, 50, was a high school senior when in 1967 he went to work for Southern Bell in Louisville, Ky. Too young to drive a company vehicle, he started as a frame attendant. A year later, he became an installer-repairman. Dearing quickly became active in Local 3310, serving as a job steward for three years, then an executive board member and vice president in charge of organizing. In 1974, he was elected president of the local, a full-time job he held until December 1978. The following April, he was named a CWA representative in Huntsville, Ala. The office moved to Birmingham in 1986, where he worked until retiring in February. In addition to his union activities, Dearing has served on numerous community boards, including the Red Cross, United Way and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
Sharon A. Craig, a CWA representative in District 4 for more than 22 years, has retired. Craig, 52, went to work for Indiana Bell in Kokomo as an engineering clerk in 1968. Over the next 11 years, she was active in Local 5709, serving as a steward, chair of the community services and education committees and vice president. She also held a seat on the Howard County Central Labor Council and was a representative to the Labor Studies Committee at Indiana University in Kokomo. She was hired by CWA as a straff representative in November 1977. She worked in the Indiana and Illinois offices of what was then District 5, returning to the Indianapolis office in 1990. She retired in March. She is especially proud of a series of strong contracts she helped bargain with GTE over the years.
North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Easley has picked Doris Weaver, CWA Local 3611’s legislative chair, to serve as labor liaison for his campaign committee. Weaver, a Bell South facilities technician and past president of the Raleigh-based Triangle Labor Council, AFL-CIO, will work three days a week in Easley’s campaign office, coordinating volunteers and raising PAC funds from local unions on behalf of the labor-endorsed candidate. “It’s a great opportunity for Doris and it’s an honor for the local,” said local President Paul Jones. “We’ve never had anyone named to a position like this before.”
Christmas was merrier for hundreds of low-income children in New York state thanks to a toy drive sponsored by the Alliance@IBM through CWA Local 1120. Working with an established charity that lost its sponsor, union members placed collection boxes in public areas and used radio ads to urge community members to donate new, unwrapped toys or money to buy toys. More than 4,000 toys were collected, then wrapped by volunteers at the South Hills Mall in Poughkeepsie. The charity distributed the packages to more than 2,500 children in low-income families in the Mid-Hudson Valley, as well as youngsters in orphanages and battered women’s shelters. “It was fun,” Local 1120 President Glenn A. Carter said. “Our members definitely had the Christmas spirit.”
Charlie Boykin, a staff representative in District 3 with more than 40 years of union membership and service, has retired. Boykin, 63, joined the International Typographical Union in 1956, while working as a printer for the Raleigh News and Observer/Raleigh Times. He was elected vice president of Local 54 in 1964 and president in 1968, serving through 1982. Boykin became a local ITU organizer in 1979 and a national organizer in 1982, working in 25 states. In 1980, he took the lead in organizing Moreno Press in Georgia, which now employs more than 300 people. In 1989, two years after ITU and CWA merged, he went to work as a staff representative in Decatur, Ga. In December 1998, he transferred to Garner, N.C., his hometown, where he worked until his retirement.
Dennis Dearing, a District 3 CWA representative who negotiated more than 50 contracts over the past 20 years, has retired. Dearing, 50, was a high school senior when in 1967 he went to work for Southern Bell in Louisville, Ky. Too young to drive a company vehicle, he started as a frame attendant. A year later, he became an installer-repairman. Dearing quickly became active in Local 3310, serving as a job steward for three years, then an executive board member and vice president in charge of organizing. In 1974, he was elected president of the local, a full-time job he held until December 1978. The following April, he was named a CWA representative in Huntsville, Ala. The office moved to Birmingham in 1986, where he worked until retiring in February. In addition to his union activities, Dearing has served on numerous community boards, including the Red Cross, United Way and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
Sharon A. Craig, a CWA representative in District 4 for more than 22 years, has retired. Craig, 52, went to work for Indiana Bell in Kokomo as an engineering clerk in 1968. Over the next 11 years, she was active in Local 5709, serving as a steward, chair of the community services and education committees and vice president. She also held a seat on the Howard County Central Labor Council and was a representative to the Labor Studies Committee at Indiana University in Kokomo. She was hired by CWA as a straff representative in November 1977. She worked in the Indiana and Illinois offices of what was then District 5, returning to the Indianapolis office in 1990. She retired in March. She is especially proud of a series of strong contracts she helped bargain with GTE over the years.