CWA District 4 Hosts Annual Education Conference

Last week, CWA members met in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the CWA District 4 Annual Education Conference. CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton led the conference, which focused on its theme, “Power in Unity.” CWA Local 4400 President Jason Ballman, on behalf of local members, retirees, staff, and volunteers, welcomed visiting CWA members to Cincinnati.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered the keynote address, highlighting the accomplishments of CWA District 4 members and retirees, made possible by their continued unity and support for one another. Said Cummings, “Together we are more powerful than an executive order. More powerful than the billionaires. We the people understand that power. We’ve used it again and again to fight, and win, on the side of justice. Our unity gave us the weekend. It gave us child labor laws. It gave us protections on the job against racist staffing policies and a foot in the door to opportunities that never would have been there had ‘we the people’ not demanded them. It is time for us to demand more.”

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam addressed the gathering, as well as several members of CWA’s Executive Board, including CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase; Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton; and Central Region At-Large Diversity Executive Board Member Reggie Small.

 
CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton (left) and CWA District 4 Staff Representative Diane Bailey (right) presented CWA Local 4009 Unit Vice President Chris Hardy with the first-ever Linda L. Hinton Human Rights Excellence in Humanity Award for his exemplary leadership and dedication to his community and the advancement of human rights within the labor movement.

Members received detailed reports from various groups, including the Defense Fund Oversight Committee, the Retired Members Council, Next Generation, the Human Rights Committee, and CWA District 4 Organizing. In preparation for bargaining, applicable members also selected the bargaining teams for AT&T Mobility and AT&T Midwest.

 
Members, retirees, and staff at the CWA District 4 Annual Education Conference showed their support for union siblings at Frontier Communications as they battle for a fair contract in California. Attendees included (front row, left to right): Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton, CWA District 4 Assistant to the Vice President Curt Hess, CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton, and CWA District 4 Administrative Directors Frank Mathews and Mike Handley.

---

This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.