November 11, 2024
Dear CWA Members and Retirees,
Only days out from a tumultuous political season, we come together to honor the thousands of CWA members and retirees who have served our country. Their service does not end once their uniform comes off. We honor them because we believe that our nation is worth defending and that our ideals of truth, justice, courage, and perseverance are worth fighting for.
The military and our union have a shared strength. We come together from all walks of life and every part of our country. We work side-by-side in common purpose and have the opportunity to share ideas and perspectives with people we might never have crossed paths with outside of the union hall. We love our families and our country, and 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 a privileged few.
We must remember those shared values as we move out of this contentious election and back to the day-to-day work of building a stronger union and nation for all of us.
That includes caring for our veterans and their families. Although providing such care should be a bipartisan priority, Project 2025 contains some alarming recommendations for the incoming Trump Administration. We must use our voices to ensure that our veterans have uninterrupted access to high-quality health care resources, including mental health care services. We must protect union workers at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs so that they can provide high quality services and care, and prevent the outsourcing of VA hospitals and health care clinics to private contractors. We must insist that our leaders preserve benefits for disabled veterans, no matter the condition that has led to their disability. We must provide a pathway for veterans to apply the skills they have learned while on active duty to civilian work, with apprenticeship and other programs that lead to good, union jobs.
Those that rely on our labor for profit have always sought to divide us. We cannot let that happen. This Veterans’ Day, I’m asking each of us to approach the union, our civic duties, and our nation with the mindset of a veteran–willing to sacrifice for the greater good and, above all else, protect each other against those who would harm us.
Thank you to our veterans for providing us with living examples of dedication and patriotism.
In Unity,
Claude Cummings Jr.
President
