CWA State Councils A Powerful Political Force

CWA state councils — statewide coalitions of locals — play an invaluable role in coordinating the political efforts of locals at the state level and in strengthening all three sides of the CWA Triangle.

"Political clout is increasingly necessary for us to get good contracts," noted CWA President Larry Cohen. "CWA state councils are especially effective in our political mobilizations and lobbying efforts, which in turn creates a better climate for organizing and increases our clout at the bargaining table."

All across the country, state councils play a major role in electing state and national leaders and influencing state and national legislation. Working with the AFL-CIO at the state level, they mobilize thousands of members for political campaigns. And they build solidarity between CWA sectors that carries over into widespread mutual support.

CWA vice presidents have found that when the locals in a particular state come together to determine a political and legislative agenda and pay dues to fund it, they can be much more effective than working alone.

"We all agree on what we need to get done to mobilize our members and to focus our political efforts," said District 7 Vice President Annie Hill, who cited the success of the Minnesota State Council, which mounted a huge political mobilization for the 2004 elections, hired a full-time coordinator in 2005 and has since been increasingly active in lobbying for state legislation.

Working with the state AFL-CIO, the council sent numerous volunteers door-to-door, protecting the seats of four incumbent friends of working families in the U.S. House and gaining 13 seats in the state House, coming within two seats of winning a majority.

Said Minnnesota State Council President Tim Lovaasen, "Building on the mobilization we developed, we're confident that in 2008, we can take back the state House, hold the state Senate and win the governor's chair."

State Council volunteers also built considerable momentum for electing a friend of working families to the White House.

Brian Tyler, a Local 7201 steward who took part in the council's 2004 political mobilization, said he talked one-on-one with hundreds of union members at their homes and learned that many had not previously thought much about candidates or issues from a worker's perspective.

"Now they appreciate our involvement in politics and understand how getting the right people into office helps us all."

Electoral Victories
"The Virginia CWA State Council played a major role in electing a friend of working families to the governorship," said Charles Buttiglieri, assistant to District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci. "The council arranged for several stewards and officers to work full-time with the state AFL-CIO's 2005 political effort and mobilized hundreds of volunteers, and it dramatically increased fund-raising for CWA-COPE, the union's political education fund."

Local 2222 Executive Vice President Vince Cody is one of those who worked full time on the campaign to elect Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). Coordinating with the AFL-CIO's Northern Virginia Central Labor Council, Cody participated in phone banking, precinct walks and the distribution of literature on Kaine's behalf and rounded up dozens of volunteers from Northern Virginia locals to help.

Dolores Gerber, a Local 2222 steward and chair of the local's legislative committee, also worked full time on the Kaine campaign. Full-time and part-time volunteers from locals in the southern part of the state did the same.

"We got 61 percent of the vote for Kaine, and he won in some of the counties that had been Republican," Gerber said.

Kaine has appointed Gerber and several other labor leaders to the transition team that recommends political appointments and keeps the governor-elect informed on labor's issues. He also has appointed labor leaders to the transition team's subcommittees: Work Development, Education, Public Safety, Hospitality and Tourism.

When the governor chooses cabinet members, Gerber said, "We want to get some labor people in there. We're all going back to our unions and asking for recommendations of people who would be interested in these positions."

Also, in a conservative, "red" state, the Virginia State Council over the course of 2005 increased CWA-COPE fundraising by nearly $2,000 per month, to $6,782 per month by October.

The solidarity that built the Virginia State Council also carried over to mobilization and lobbying support for individual locals' and sectors' issues. For example, the council joined an e-mail and letter-writing campaign to members of Congress in support of legislation that would overturn an agreement between United Airlines and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation that would slash flight attendants' pensions. Under that agreement some flight attendants could lose 60 percent of their pensions, said Lois Breece, president of AFA-CWA Local Council 22021, near Dulles Airport outside Washington, D.C.

"This attack on pensions, through the bankruptcy process, started with the airline industry, but has spread to other corporations, like Delphi," Breece said. "Because of working together as a council, we're all now more aware and involved with the issue."

The Minnesota State Council has seen a similar boost in solidarity. For example, said Richard Bowring, president of NABET-CWA Local 57441, the state council has three times provided volunteers to staff the phone banks for Twin Cities public TV fund raising. Twin Cities PBS Channel 2 employs 37 NABET-CWA members.

Said Bowring, "These are union brothers and sisters who work in a different field, telephone mainly. They're out there to make sure we keep our funding and have secure jobs. If they were to need our help on the picket line or for some other reason, we'd be right there with them."

State Lobbying
State councils often fight for issues that are of national interest for CWA but are regulated by the states. In 2005, for example, the Texas Political and Legislative Committee (TPLC) — CWA's oldest state council — succeeded in getting a bill passed permitting SBC, Verizon and other phone companies to offer Internet services and video to compete with the mostly non-union cable companies.

Both the Minnesota and Virginia CWA councils are pursuing similar legislation in their states. And, because of the intensity of their lobbying efforts, both are also seeking to hire staff.

In April 2005, the Minnesota State Council voted to increase assessments from the locals to 16 cents per member to help fund a nearly full-time position for Jim Meyer, secretary-treasurer of Minneapolis Local 7250. Highly effective, Meyer has since become a full-time lobbyist for the Teachers union. The council will shortly vote on a replacement.

The Texas Council has had a full-time lobbyist — Dally Willis — since 1961. "With the legislature meeting in Austin for 140 days every two years and scheduling additional special sessions, you need somebody available to talk about our issues," Willis said.

In one of many political mobilizations over the years, the TPLC in 1990 helped elect Ann Richards governor. In 1988, when she was state treasurer, Richards, a firebrand for working families, gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. As governor, she signed the law, pushed through the legislature by the TPLC, granting dues-checkoff for the Texas State Employees Union, CWA Local 6186.

"We've had good results with our state council," said Deane Armstrong, TPLC secretary-treasurer, a Southwestern Bell retiree and member of Local 6132 in Austin. The council holds a legislative conference for all state locals once every two years. They set the agenda, along with District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn and staff.

The TPLC pays its full-time lobbyist entirely from a per capita from the locals of 25 cents per member per month.