CWA Union: Ready for the Future

by Tula Connell, Jul 14, 2006

Communications Workers of America (CWA) delegates this week wrapped up their annual convention in Las Vegas where they approved a bold strategic plan that includes creation of a $24 million per year Strategic Industry Fund to support campaigns to change employers’ anti-union behavior and changes in public policy on issues such as trade and health care that affect working families. 

CWA, which has run a hugely successful campaign to enable workers at Cingular Wireless to gain a voice on the job—some 17,000 workers joined the union in the past year—recently completed a process of self-review to determine how the union should prepare for the future. In a democratic exchange of ideas, union leaders met with members, stewards and local executive boards and solicited comments on the CWA website. 

Based on this exchange, says CWA President Larry Cohen, a central theme emerged: strengthening CWA’s bargaining power. From there, says Cohen, the union developed its “Ready for the Future” plan, which includes four key goals: strengthening employment security, maintaining quality and affordable health care, ensuring retirement security and restoring workers’ fundamental rights to organize and bargain collectively. 

We all know that the reason union membership has fallen below 8 percent in the private sector in the U.S. has been a relentless attack by management and their government allies, which weakens union bargaining power across every industry and sector.

In his keynote convention speech July 10, Cohen said energizing and educating members is essential for CWA to help light the fire of a resurgent labor movement. Further: 

Some leaders of other unions today say that we can “change to win” but do it mainly top down. They took their unions out of the AFL-CIO. We, in CWA, have the opposite view. Real change means mobilizing more of us. We need a more unified movement, not more splitting. All of us here need to work to build unity on every front, from the workplace to the labor council. We can help lead but not alone, not without resources, and it will not be easy. 

Rallying delegates, Cohen said, CWA districts, sectors, locals and members must work together “to do things we can’t do on our own.” 

All…points in “Ready for the Future” depend on us working together, the trust that we can do big things, not just as one local, but as CWA and as a key part of a movement. Decent health care, secure jobs, good retirement and collective bargaining rights can be a reality in the richest country in the world. 

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