One Union, One Vision: CWA United

Just a few weeks ago we gathered for our 80th CWA Convention. Our theme was One Union, One Vision: CWA United. Unity doesn’t mean that we agree on every issue. That’s simply not possible in any group, let alone one as large as our union, with members coming from many different industries and backgrounds.

What unites us through our disagreements and discussions are our values and our vision for the future. We love our families and our countries. We want everyone in our communities to have the freedom to be themselves, pursue their dreams, and have a good life. We believe in prosperity, justice, and security for all, not just the very rich.

This Labor Day, those values and that vision are under threat. A new generation of oligarchs is bent on seizing control of our country and using their obscene wealth to capture and corrupt our government.

Now they have their strongest ally ever in the White House, and leaders in Congress have abandoned their responsibility to stand up for the people they represent. Donald Trump and the billionaires who funded his campaign are ransacking federal programs, shutting down essential services to put more money into their own pockets and throwing millions of people out of work, including thousands of CWA members.

The unfettered power that Donald Trump and his corporate backers are seeking is extremely dangerous. The rapid progress they have made rolling back the basic democratic system we have spent almost 250 years trying to perfect is alarming. The founders of our country established a government of checks and balances so that no one person could gain full control of the levers of power. Now, we are witnessing something none of us ever thought we’d see in the United States - the rise of an authoritarian regime.

When I was elected to lead this union, I promised you that I would never back down from a fight. Today, we are in an existential fight to protect the core values that make us who we are. And despite the obstacles this administration is throwing at working people, I remain convinced that labor, united, can never be defeated.

As Donald Trump and his band of billionaire bullies attempt to reshape our nation, destroy our values, and upend a century of labor law, we find ourselves as unionists once again called to defend democracy and our way of life. We will not sit idly by and watch our brothers and sisters be ripped away from their families, their jobs, and their communities. We will not turn a blind eye to our military being deployed against the very people they are sworn to protect, as voter rights, worker rights, and human rights are stripped from the most vulnerable. And we will not be complacent as workers the world over are put in harm’s way.

University presidents, partners in big law firms, media moguls, CEOs, and even some elected officials and heads of state have been responding to Donald Trump’s threats by trying to appease him. But it doesn’t work that way. Donald Trump is a bully. And if you give a bully your lunch money on Monday you better believe he’ll be back for more on Tuesday.

At our Convention, with overwhelming support, delegates passed the Fighting the Trump Administration’s Anti-Union Project 2025 Playbook resolution. We will never betray the values that make us a strong, fighting union. We are not the largest union out there. But because of the work that all of you do, we are one of the most respected and influential.

Let’s make this Labor Day a true workers’ Labor Day by standing up and speaking out against the corporate takeover of our lives and for dignity and respect for ourselves and our co-workers, neighbors and communities. Let’s make sure that every worker knows that when we join together we are more powerful than any boss or any bully, even one in the White House.

Happy Labor Day to you and yours.