Empowering Our Veterans to Win Real Change

Veterans Day statement from CWA President Chris Shelton

This Veterans Day, I proudly salute the thousands of CWA member and retiree military veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice. Our veterans are a source of strength for our union and the labor movement. Even through the difficulties of the last year and a half, our veterans have continued to step up as activists, organizers and leaders in our union and beyond to meet the challenges we have been faced with and ensure the progress of the working class. Since the launch of the CWA Veterans for Social Change program almost two years ago, CWA has been organizing a broad base of CWA activists who are veterans and active duty service members to build power and strengthen our union by advocating for issues that impact other veterans and working families. In addition to advocating for pro-worker legislation like the PRO Act, participating in community service and advocacy, standing up for Black lives, and organizing other veterans in their community, CWA veterans who have taken part in this program were instrumental in securing key wins for working people in the 2020 elections.

Veterans have powerful and unique stories of service, determination, courage, resilience and solidarity. Just this week, several IUE-CWA military veterans who work for General Electric (GE), participated in an advertising campaign as part of the “Bring it Home GE” campaign. The campaign, led by IUE-CWA and a national coalition of labor, environmental, trade and veterans groups, calls on GE to reinvest in veterans and American workers and strengthen our national security by ceasing its military offshoring practices. In the ad, GE workers who served in all branches of the United States military emphasize the impacts of GE’s offshoring of defense contracted work, and the risks imposed upon American national security. As an Air Force veteran and president of this union, I could not be more proud to stand with my fellow veterans within CWA who are continuing the fight to ensure our country’s freedom and security even long after they have taken off the uniform.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

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