Victory in Georgia Senate Runoffs Brings New Promise for America's Working Families

Even as an armed anti-democratic insurrection was unfolding at our nation's Capitol on January 6th, we had two pieces of amazing, positive news: Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff won their U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia! With these victories for Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, working people in Georgia and across the United States have ensured that their voices will be heard on Capitol Hill in 2021 and beyond.

CWA members began preparing for the Georgia Senate race shortly after the 2018 midterm elections. Members educated their co-workers on issues including offshoring, corporate tax cuts, and providing paid leave for all workers and the importance of passing legislation like the PRO Act to enable more workers to join unions and fight back against corporate control of their lives and our economy. The pandemic brought even more urgency to those efforts, as CWA members continued to provide essential services while the Senate leadership failed to act on legislation to protect their lives and their jobs.

For the runoff, CWA District 1 members joined our CWA sisters and brothers from District 6 and IUE-CWA for weekly virtual phone banks - over the course of six short weeks, we logged an eye-popping 766 volunteer shifts — well over one thousand hours on the phones!

"CWA activists in Georgia have spent years organizing and building a program to engage members and retirees in legislative and electoral work," said CWA President Chris Shelton. "There's no doubt that every vote mattered and their work to organize all around the state made a huge difference in winning Georgia for Joe Biden, Rev. Warnock, and Jon Ossoff. Mitch McConnell's days as the 'grim reaper,' single-handedly stopping legislation that would improve the lives of working people from even coming up for debate in the Senate, are over."