Advocating for Federal Pro-Worker Legislation and Prepping for Big Elections Ahead at the CWA Legislative and Political Conference

Last week CWA members and retirees from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss the business of the union, hear from a number of elected leaders, and flood the Capitol with red, speaking with legislators about several vital pieces of pro-worker legislation.

After CWA President Claude Cummings preceded over the Presidents Meeting, CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor and Assistant to the Vice President Billy Gallagher kicked off the Legislative and Political Action portion of the conference by speaking to the D1 delegation about the importance of this moment to come together and do the work that must be done over the next several months to win in November for working families.

“This is not only about the future of the labor movement,” said VP Trainor. “This election is about the future of our country, the future of our democracy. Are we going to be a country with democracy where the rule of law counts - or are we slowly turning into a dictatorship?”

​The next day, President Cummings opened the two-day Legislative and Political Conference with a similar encouragement for CWAers to be prepared to fight for pro-worker candidates from now until November—especially President Joe Biden, the most pro-union President in recent history.

“We, as a union and as a nation, need to be looking forward to a brighter future our children will inherit. That future doesn’t arrive packaged neatly with a bow on top. It’s the result of the struggles and victories we create today. I’m not interested in going back. There’s no time in the past I can think of that is better than the promise of what we have in our future,” President Cummings said, before showing a new video featuring CWA members discussing how they are working side-by-side with President Biden and his pro-union, pro-worker Administration to create good union jobs.
 

Guest speakers at the conference included several members of the Biden Administration and legislators from CWA District 1 states who spoke about the need to organize and stand together to make the country stronger for working people.
 

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CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton moderated a panel discussion with several CWA members including Local 1298 President Dave Weidlich on Building Worker Power at the State Level. The discussion touched on strategies to help identify and promote worker-friendly candidates who would both defend and support legislation designed to create and maintain good-paying union jobs. CWA Local 1104’s Nick Hoh, a leader in CWA’s national Broadband Brigade work, spoke as part of a panel on “Building Broadband for All” about the work they’ve done to ensure national broadband projects create high-road, union jobs with adequate safety and pay.

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CWAers then got to work, making trips to the Capitol to meet with dozens of members of Congress, discussing several key pieces of pro-worker legislation including tax fairness for workers, ending tax breaks for union-busting and for outsourcing - all three of which are bills that are needed to fix pieces of the tax code that President Trump created in providing huge tax breaks for corporations. 

You can check out videos from the conference here.