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Working Together: Tackling Today's Challenges Will Take All of Us
Working Together" is more than an election theme for our leadership team. It's a philosophy and a commitment to you that is shared by all of our colleagues on the CWA Executive Board. Meeting the challenges we face in CWA and organized labor today will take all of us, working together at every level of our union family.
Events like Hurricane Katrina, followed by Rita, remind us all the more that we truly are an extended family. Like each of you, our thoughts in recent weeks have been with friends, fellow members and so many others along the Gulf Coast as they deal with a tragedy of epic proportions.
Through the generosity of CWAers over the years who have contributed to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund, along with another $4 million added by convention delegates for the relief efforts, help is being given to CWA families impacted by this cataclysm.
We're proud of the CWA members who are volunteering on the ground to aid the thousands of evacuees (see Tragedy on the Gulf Coast), and of the many CWA locals that are raising money and mobilizing shipments and caravans of food and clothing for citizens of the Gulf area, and providing shelter in homes and union halls.
What we witnessed in Katrina's aftermath was unconscionable, particularly in the richest country in the world. The economic and racial divide in the United States was never more apparent. These disparities are no secret to CWA and the labor movement, but the rich and corporate elites that control Washington today have, until now, been able to distract the public from these realities through political smoke and mirrors.
The political climate that Katrina exposed - one of government cronyism and affirmative action for the wealthy and powerful, but neglect for the poor and the struggling middle-class - is the backdrop for the challenges we must overcome… by working together.
The reality of economic globalization gives corporate opportunists the cover to send good jobs offshore and hollow out their unionized workforces by outsourcing to substandard labor contractors.
Government by and for investors and corporate chieftains means shifting costs or completely eliminating health coverage and pension plans, rather than pushing for national solutions for these economic and social crises.
Bush's special tax breaks for the rich, which supposedly were going to drive the economy and trickle down wealth to the poor and middle-class, have strangled state budgets and social programs and threaten to impoverish future generations that will have to pay off our mounting debt to China and other nations.
Like the neglected levees in New Orleans, the undermining of American labor laws is engulfing workers' rights in this country, threatening to marginalize the one institution that has effectively bolstered living standards for millions of working families. No better example of the willful destruction of workers' rights can be found than the story of the mostly immigrant workers at the Chinese Daily News, described in Chinese Daily News Vote Reflects Assault on Rights. They voted for a union more than four years ago, but their election - and their future - were hijacked.
These issues and threats affect every sector of CWA - telecommunications, media, manufacturing, airlines, public employment, health care, education and others.
While we face a rough road ahead, we know that CWA has the best leaders and a core of stewards and activists who are up to the job of overcoming every obstacle - as we always have. Our workplace base, our democracy and our mobilization network, including both active and retired members, are our strongest assets.
Building upon CWA's great traditions, we have begun a process to reach out to every element of CWA to imagine and create our future together (see CWA, Ready for the Future). Through the challenge of convention Resolution # 1, we seek to tap the wisdom and talents of CWA's ranks from the grassroots on up to help shape the structures and strategies that will make CWA successful in representing our members and continuing to be a leading force in tomorrow's labor movement.
We are honored and humbled by the trust that you have placed in us. Thank you. This is your union, and we ask for your input and involvement. This is your CWA News, and we urge you to submit your suggestions for stories and issues that we should be covering in our international newspaper.
We are excited about CWA's future and what we can accomplish. Working together, there is nothing that can stop us. We truly believe that CWA's best days are yet to come.
Larry Cohen, President
Barbara Easterling, Secretary-Treasurer
Jeff Rechenbach, Executive Vice President
Events like Hurricane Katrina, followed by Rita, remind us all the more that we truly are an extended family. Like each of you, our thoughts in recent weeks have been with friends, fellow members and so many others along the Gulf Coast as they deal with a tragedy of epic proportions.
Through the generosity of CWAers over the years who have contributed to the CWA Disaster Relief Fund, along with another $4 million added by convention delegates for the relief efforts, help is being given to CWA families impacted by this cataclysm.
We're proud of the CWA members who are volunteering on the ground to aid the thousands of evacuees (see Tragedy on the Gulf Coast), and of the many CWA locals that are raising money and mobilizing shipments and caravans of food and clothing for citizens of the Gulf area, and providing shelter in homes and union halls.
What we witnessed in Katrina's aftermath was unconscionable, particularly in the richest country in the world. The economic and racial divide in the United States was never more apparent. These disparities are no secret to CWA and the labor movement, but the rich and corporate elites that control Washington today have, until now, been able to distract the public from these realities through political smoke and mirrors.
The political climate that Katrina exposed - one of government cronyism and affirmative action for the wealthy and powerful, but neglect for the poor and the struggling middle-class - is the backdrop for the challenges we must overcome… by working together.
The reality of economic globalization gives corporate opportunists the cover to send good jobs offshore and hollow out their unionized workforces by outsourcing to substandard labor contractors.
Government by and for investors and corporate chieftains means shifting costs or completely eliminating health coverage and pension plans, rather than pushing for national solutions for these economic and social crises.
Bush's special tax breaks for the rich, which supposedly were going to drive the economy and trickle down wealth to the poor and middle-class, have strangled state budgets and social programs and threaten to impoverish future generations that will have to pay off our mounting debt to China and other nations.
Like the neglected levees in New Orleans, the undermining of American labor laws is engulfing workers' rights in this country, threatening to marginalize the one institution that has effectively bolstered living standards for millions of working families. No better example of the willful destruction of workers' rights can be found than the story of the mostly immigrant workers at the Chinese Daily News, described in Chinese Daily News Vote Reflects Assault on Rights. They voted for a union more than four years ago, but their election - and their future - were hijacked.
These issues and threats affect every sector of CWA - telecommunications, media, manufacturing, airlines, public employment, health care, education and others.
While we face a rough road ahead, we know that CWA has the best leaders and a core of stewards and activists who are up to the job of overcoming every obstacle - as we always have. Our workplace base, our democracy and our mobilization network, including both active and retired members, are our strongest assets.
Building upon CWA's great traditions, we have begun a process to reach out to every element of CWA to imagine and create our future together (see CWA, Ready for the Future). Through the challenge of convention Resolution # 1, we seek to tap the wisdom and talents of CWA's ranks from the grassroots on up to help shape the structures and strategies that will make CWA successful in representing our members and continuing to be a leading force in tomorrow's labor movement.
We are honored and humbled by the trust that you have placed in us. Thank you. This is your union, and we ask for your input and involvement. This is your CWA News, and we urge you to submit your suggestions for stories and issues that we should be covering in our international newspaper.
We are excited about CWA's future and what we can accomplish. Working together, there is nothing that can stop us. We truly believe that CWA's best days are yet to come.
Larry Cohen, President
Barbara Easterling, Secretary-Treasurer
Jeff Rechenbach, Executive Vice President