Earlier this week, at CWA’s 80th Convention in Pittsburgh, Pa., CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered his keynote address to over 800 delegates from across North America. He highlighted the many achievements of CWA members and retirees over the past few years, including numerous strikes, life-changing new contracts, and political wins. President Cummings emphasized the incredible work of the Organizing Department, as 25,000 new members have joined CWA since our last convention, the highest two-year total in over a decade.

President Cummings then focused on the threats union members across the country face from the Trump Administration and its billionaire enablers. “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.”

Despite the current threats to both the labor movement and American democracy, Cummings remains optimistic and a fervent believer in the power of union workers. “Do you know who is not running scared? Us. Our union and our labor movement. We have a whole lot of experience standing up to bullies, whether it is a manager who thinks the contract doesn’t apply to them or a hothead at the bargaining table with a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. Yes, we have to take the threat to our democracy seriously. But when the bullies come for us, for our co-workers, and for our families, do we back down? No!”

President Cummings urged delegates to stay united. “The history of our union is filled with stories of people just like you who made sacrifices because they believed in the promise of a better tomorrow,” he said. “To build the future we want, the future we, our children, and our grandchildren deserve, we have to cultivate a mindset that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.” He went on to say, “Our momentum is strong! We will not be stopped by billionaires or bullies!”

He closed with a rousing call to action, bringing the crowd to its feet to commit to fight for each other, our union, and a better tomorrow.

Read President Cummings’ full speech here.

Click here to watch President Cummings’ full speech.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered his keynote speech at the 80th CWA Convention in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Throughout the two-day CWA Convention, August 11-12, speakers from across the union and our allies delivered messages of hope and unity.

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis welcomed delegates, members, retirees, staff, and guests to Pittsburgh, Pa., and introduced CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. CWA Local 13500 President Cindy Neumeyer served as Temporary Convention Chair.

Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam updated those in attendance on the financial state of the union, stressing the need for diligence in keeping to our fiscal budget and outlining her plans to maximize efficiency. She closed her presentation noting that the challenges we are facing are not new but, “These attacks have intensified, and we need to keep in mind we have to not only, like the young kids say, ‘match energy,’ but we must match energy and level up. When they come for our jobs, we must match energy and level up. When they come for our pensions, we must match energy and level up. And when they come after our unions and collective bargaining agreements, we must match energy and level up!”

Members also heard from allies, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Congresswoman Summer Lee, Congressman Chris Deluzio, and UNI Global Union General Secretary Christy Hoffman.

CWA Organizing Director Tim Dubnau presented the Organizing Report and congratulated CWAers on welcoming over 25,000 new members into our ranks since our last convention. He invited United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3821 President Anne Langendorfer to the stage to share her experience helping form the direct-join, wall-to-wall union. She and her union siblings have won higher pay, dignity, and a voice on the job despite forming their union in a right-to-work state.

National Retired Members Council (RMC) President Gwen Parker and the National RMC Executive Board shared the RMC report and encouraged retirees to join the RMC as lifetime members. They noted that, “We cannot put away our union card, sit back and reap the rewards and benefits of a long career because [employers] continue to find ways to take those benefits away, as history has shown.”

The National Committee on Civil Rights and Equity and the National Women’s Committee provided comprehensive reports on critical issues of concern. The Civil Rights and Equity Committee ended their presentation by asserting, “We built this, we run this, and we are taking it back!” The Women’s Committee brought the delegates to their feet, asking, “We’re fighting back, are you?” The answer was a resounding, “Yes!”

Pictured, top left to right: CWA Local 13500 President Cindy Neumeyer, CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis, Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam, Congressman Chris Deluzio, CWA Organizing Director Tim Dubnau, Congresswoman Summer Lee, National Retired Members Council (RMC) President Gwen Parker, United Campus Workers-CWA Local 3821 President Anne Langendorfer, the National Committee on Civil Rights and Equity, and the National Women’s Committee.

CWA delegates to the 80th CWA Convention voted in favor of adopting the CWA Unbreakable resolution to strengthen our members’ ability to strike while providing sustainable funding for important projects that build our bargaining power and our union. The resolution adjusts the guidelines for our Strategic Industry and Growth Funds to provide more consistent funding. It also increases weekly payments to striking members.

Convention delegates showed their commitment to building a better future for our members, retirees, and their families by passing the resolution with overwhelming support.

Delegates considered several proposed amendments to the CWA Constitution. They rejected an amendment that would have consolidated the Telecommunications and Technologies sector into the CWA Districts' administration structures.

Delegates approved amendments to:

• Require that Finance Committee present a report during the Presidents' Meetings in non-convention years;
• Add a Passenger Service Representative to the Defense Fund Oversight Committee;
• Empower members by allowing them to file charges with the National Union for violations of the Policy on Mutual Respect—specifically in cases of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation;
• Update the process for handling charges against members and conducting trials.

Additionally, delegates approved the following resolutions:

Ten-year Project to Unionize Our Fellow Telecommunications Workers reaffirms our commitment to organizing in our industry of origin.

Fighting the Trump Administration’s Anti-Union Project 2025 Playbook outlines the Trump Administration's attacks on working people and resolves to oppose any policies that undermine our ability to form unions and bargain contracts, resist any and all attempts by politicians to hand more power to corporations by taking away our freedom to vote, and mobilize to elect candidates who share our vision for a better future for ourselves, our families, and our communities.

Protecting Our Public Services resolves to organize and mobilize to protect high-quality public services and good union jobs, fight to defeat anti-worker, pro-corporate policies, and proactively seek to put in place protections for public services as well as to educate, advocate, and build coalitions to help a wide audience of policymakers and working people understand the valuable role of public services.

Trans Rights are Workers’ Rights reaffirms CWA’s organizational support for our trans siblings and resolves that CWA will continue to bargain for trans-inclusive contract language and protections to respect the expressed gender identities of our members. It is also resolved that we will continue to stand up for the civil rights of our trans siblings both in principle and by utilizing the power of our members to enshrine those principles into strong, enforceable contract language.

A Generational Fight for Our Freedoms resolves to educate our members, increase our union membership, grow our independent political strength, and take an active part in building the broad multiracial working-class resistance to authoritarianism.

Restoring Federal Funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Local Public Media condemns the Trump administration’s decision to request, and Congress’s decision to approve, the rescission of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which jeopardizes the jobs of CWA members. It also reaffirms our commitment to defending public broadcasting as an essential institution that informs, educates, and connects communities across the nation.

International Solidarity reaffirms our union’s commitment to global labor solidarity and support for the work of our international labor federations; states that we will work to ensure the full restoration of USAID and all international labor rights programs, institutions, and independent agencies that defend workers’ rights, investigate labor and human rights abuses, and lift up international labor standards; and urges locals to support CWA’s Eduardo Diaz Union-to-Union International Solidarity Fund through voluntary funding.

The resolution also demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the return of all hostages, and that all steps are taken for the immediate and unhindered delivery of critical humanitarian aid to Gaza. In addition, CWA joins the calls for a permanent two-state solution for the region and, as such, demands that the U.S. government join the list of countries that have formally recognized a Palestinian state.

Click here to read the full resolutions adopted at the 80th CWA Convention.

Delegates to the 80th CWA Convention voted on numerous resolutions, motions, and actions during the two-day convention.

From an ambitious idea to a full-blown industry movement, video game workers have burst onto the union scene to demand respect, fair pay, and an end to abusive work policies. This year CWA’s highest honor, the “Hat” Award for outstanding achievements in organizing, went to a group of locals who led the way in organizing video game workers at Microsoft. The Hat Award is named for CWA's founding president, Joe Beirne, who would pass his hat at each organizing meeting to collect the funds he needed to cover travel costs of getting to the next group of telephone workers he was to visit.

CWA Locals 1118, 1400, 2100, 2108, 4652, 6215, 7250, 9400, and 9510 accepted the award.

While presenting the award, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. also recognized former Director of Organizing Thomas Smith for his pioneering vision for video game worker organizing that paved the way for this wave of organizing wins.

CWA President Cummings, along with CWA Executive Board members and staff, awarded video game workers CWA’s highest honor, the Joe Beirne President's "Hat" Award.

President Cummings also presented the President Morton Bahr CWA STRONG Award to two locals who faced possible extinction. A right-wing attack from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the state legislature ended payroll dues deductions and forces a decertification if bargaining unit membership falls below 60 percent.

CWA Locals 3180 and 3181 both met this challenge with grit and determination, hosting hundreds of one-on-one conversations with members to get them signed up for bank draft and direct dues payments. Through their tireless efforts, both units now have more members than before the attack. CWA Local 3180 President Laurie Taylor and CWA Local 3181 President Dylan Owens accepted the awards on behalf of their respective members.

Since the last convention, CWA locals from around the country have brought in over 25,000 new members through external organizing campaigns. IUE-CWA Industrial Division President Carl Kennebrew and CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister recognized the locals that organized at least 100 workers in either one or both of the past two years. Each winning local will receive a $1,000 organizing subsidy; five-time winners will receive $5,000.

CWA District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton announced the winners of CWA’s awards for political action. CWA Local 7799, CWA Local 7777, and the Denver Newspaper Guild TNG-CWA Local 37074 won the Paul Wellstone Award for spearheading a ballot initiative to establish collective bargaining rights for city and county employees in Denver, Colo. The Maxine Lee Award went to the Michigan Legislative-Political Action Team, Locals and activists. Their hard work in raising Political Action Funds (PAF) has helped build our political power in Michigan, which played a big role in enabling us to repeal the anti-union so-called “right-to-work” law there.

CWA District 1, District 6, Local 1101, Local 1180, and Local 6327 were recognized for their high level of contributions to CWA's Political Action Fund (PAF). You can find a detailed list of CWA's Political Action Fund Honor Locals here.

Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook recognized CWA Locals 1170 and 7076 with the Hope Award for the high percentage of members contributing to CWA’s Charity of Choice, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. CWA Locals 1037 and 7076 received the Ariel Glaser Award, which is awarded to the locals who raised the most funds for the Foundation.

Congratulations to all of the award recipients.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. swore in Reginald Small to the position of Central Region At-Large Diversity Executive Board Member. Said Small, “I am very excited about accepting this position. I am ready and willing to do the work. My commitment to this union remains the same, and I believe that service is what our members need from me as a leader.”

Stay tuned! Next week’s eNewsletter will include more news from the CWA Convention! We are also adding and updating photos on our Facebook page and on Flickr.

Members of CWA Local 1101 ended July outside Wells Fargo Bank in New York City calling for an end to threats of privatization of the U.S. Postal Service. They joined members of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) calling for the bank to stop advocating to turn the Postal Service into a private company. In a leaked memo, Wells Fargo analysts describe “harvesting” post office facilities, cutting jobs, and raising prices—a scheme to hand public funds to private investors.

CWA mobilized in support of union allies, highlighting the bank’s ongoing anti-union efforts as members attempt to organize branch and call center workers across the country. Wells Fargo executives have engaged in union-busting tactics at over two dozen locations and are stalling contract negotiations with CWA.

"CWA stands in solidarity with APWU,” said CWA Director of Organizing Tim Dubnau. “We know that privatizing our mail will destroy good union jobs, make the post office slower, and make the experience worse for customers. Wells Fargo should stop interfering with the post office and put their energies into bargaining with CWA members for a first contract for the 29 branches that are now CWA strong."

The bank also came under fire in a recent protest against its continued investments in fracking projects. Protestors in San Francisco called out bank executives for environmental harm and stood in solidarity against union-busting as workers seek to join CWA.

Members of CWA Local 1101 mobilized in solidarity with postal workers against Wells Fargo’s promotion of privatization.

Earlier this month, CWA members joined allies and outraged residents at the Texas Capitol to voice their displeasure over Texas Republicans’ latest gerrymandering attempt. The proposed redistricting effort comes amid ongoing legal challenges by civil rights groups to Texas’s illegal gerrymander in the 2021 congressional and legislative maps. Over 3,000 residents testified against the proposed maps either in person, virtually, or via written dissent.

“I’ve been visiting this Capitol for 35 years, but I have never seen more of a sham process than what they’re trying to do today,” said Rick Levy, President of the Texas AFL-CIO. “To the Republicans: stand up to this tyranny. You know it’s wrong. To the Democrats: This is a fight for the soul of our country. Know that you need to do everything you can, by any means necessary, to put Texans first.”