CWA Endorses Joe Biden for President

Washington, D.C. -- The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has endorsed Joe Biden for President.

In a letter to the union’s Executive Board recommending the endorsement, CWA President Chris Shelton said that Biden is “someone who will walk the walk when it comes to fighting for workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.”

“Joe understands labor’s mantra: ‘Which side are you on’,” wrote Shelton. “He knows who built America and who built the middle class. When we need him, Joe and his White House will be there for us, ready to help. It’s about time the President of the United States was an ally and promoter of organized labor, not an enemy.”

Shelton cited Biden’s support for the PRO Act, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and the fact that his broadband plan includes language requiring companies receiving funds to remain neutral on workers’ organizing efforts as evidence of Biden’s commitment to workers’ rights.

In his letter, Shelton said that Donald Trump’s treatment of working people as expendable disqualified him from the union’s endorsement. “The past three years – and indeed just the past three months – have proven that the 2016 election was the most damaging election of our lifetimes,” wrote Shelton. “Donald Trump’s victory that year will tear at the fabric of our society and the health of our communities for years to come and will worsen if he is re-elected.”

As part of its endorsement process, CWA sent candidates a comprehensive questionnaire about issues important to working people and asked them to submit a short video explaining what they will do in the first 100 days as President to pass the PRO Act, Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act and expand workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively. Biden’s answers and video are online at cwapolitical.org/biden2020. Trump did not respond.

CWA is planning an extensive member education and voter turnout effort in Presidential battleground states, and CWA activists began engaging members in key Senate states earlier this year.

CWA’s members represent a cross-section of America’s workers, working in industries spanning telecommunications, airlines, media and broadcast journalism, health care, public service, education and manufacturing

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