CWA President Claude Cummings Jr.: We Fight Back

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.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.