District 1 Locals Gather for the First D1 Leadership Conference Since 2018

After the cancellation of the 2020 District 1 Leadership Conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the 2021 CWA National Convention being moved to entirely virtual, CWAers were thrilled to be able to meet in person in Atlantic City, NJ last week for the first in-person annual meeting since 2019!

Over 350 CWA members, leaders, retirees, and guests met to participate in power-building workshops, hear from exciting guest speakers including New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and New York State Attorney General Tish James, discuss plans and strategy for strengthening the union over the next year, and look back on the last few years of extraordinary work and incredible growth.

"I'm proud to report that the state of District 1 is strong!," said District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor in his opening speech. "We continue to win on all 3 sides of the CWA triangle: Our organizing program is strong, our bargaining and representation have won historic contracts and our political power continues to grow. I’m proud to say that CWA is one of the unions driving the rise in organizing. Since the last conference in 2018, we have organized over 8,240 new members into CWA District One. These are some of the biggest numbers we’ve organized in decades."

Check out some of the highlights of our work from the last two years!

​The conference opened on Tuesday with a vital discussion by District 1's Civil Rights and Equity Committee and Women’s Committee representatives on Building an Anti-Racist Union, and on Wednesday we heard from CWA National President Chris Shelton, Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens, and District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney, and on Thursday from Margaret Cook, Vice President of the CWA Public, Healthcare & Education ​Workers, and Pat Welsh, President of the District 1 Retired Member Brigade. Other panel discussions tackled Disinformation and the Threat to Our Union​​ and Rising up: Organizing the Unorganized Like Never Before!

VP Trainor also lead a moving tribute to the members we've lost to COVID-19 over the past several years and to all of our members who have gone above and beyond to keep our communities healthy, connected, and going strong throughout the pandemic.

​"As you know," said VP Trainor. "We proudly represent workers across dozens of industries and job titles - telecom workers, healthcare workers, transportation, education, city, and state government, board of elections, traffic enforcement, and so many more - and every one of our members stepped up in the face of this crisis, even at great risk to themselves, to keep our communities going.​"

He highlighted the COVID Heroes Project, a multimedia art project that CWA healthcare workers participated in and shared their stories of working through the worst days of the pandemic. You can view the project at BuffaloCovidHeroes.com​.