CWA 75th Convention

CWA Convention Delegates Elect New National and District Leaders

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Christopher Shelton, vice president of CWA District 1 for 10 years, was elected CWA president by acclamation of delegates to the union's 75th convention in Detroit. Sara Steffens, who had been serving as secretary-treasurer of the Newsguild-CWA, was elected CWA secretary-treasurer.

CWA President Shelton takes the oath of office.

Below: President Shelton swears in CWA's new secretary-treasurer, Sara Steffens.

Shelton called on CWAers to "unite and fight because we are fighting to defend the living standards not just of our members, but of the entire working class. That is our job and that is our mission."

Shelton succeeds Larry Cohen who stepped down after serving as president for ten years and spending 39 years organizing in CWA.

Shelton started his union career when he went to work for New York Telephone in 1968 as an outside technician. He was elected a CWA Local 1101 shop steward in 1968 and held several offices in the local before joining the union's national staff.

As TNG-CWA Secretary-Treasurer, Steffens managed the TNG-CWA operating budget, its investments and other funds. She assisted locals with fiscal and legal compliance and also served on the NewsGuild's collective bargaining and legal services committees.

In other election results:

Lisa Bolton, president of CWA Local 7777, was elected vice president of the Telecommunications and Technology sector; Brooks Sunkett was re-elected vice president of the Public, Health Care and Education Workers sector; and four at-large diversity members of the Executive Board were elected: Carolyn Wade, president of CWA Local 1040, was re-elected for the Northeast region; Vera Mikell, executive vice president of CWA Local 2205, Southeast region; Anetra Session, president, CWA Local 6327; Central region, and Frank Arce, executive vice president, CWA Local 9400, Western region.

CWA vice presidents and other executive board members took the oath of office, administered by CWA President Chris Shelton. Here, the four at-large diversity members, the PPMWS executive officer and the director of TNG-SCA Canada are sworn in.

In election results for District Vice Presidents:

• In District 1 (New Jersey, New York and New England), Dennis Trainor, assistant to the vice president, was elected.
• In District 2-13 (mid-Atlantic), District 4 (Midwest) and District 6 (Southwest), delegates re-elected Vice Presidents Ed Mooney, Linda Hinton and Claude Cummings.
• In District 3 (Southeast), Richard Honeycutt, president, CWA Local 3605, was elected.
• In District 7 (Plains, Mountain states and Northwest), Brenda Roberts, assistant to the vice president, was elected.
• In District 9 (California, Nevada and Hawaii), Tom Runnion, District 9 staff, was elected.

Shelton: 'Will You Stand Up and Fight for Every Member of CWA?'

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In his opening address, CWA President Chris Shelton pledged to spend every day for the next four years strengthening our union and rebuilding our beloved labor movement.

CWA Chris Shelton rallies delegates to stand up and fight for every CWA member.

"I lived the American Dream because I was lucky enough to have a union job, a CWA job, and CWA knew how to fight so that all its members could enjoy their piece of the American Dream...

"CWA needs each and every one of us to unite to join the fight to become a union like we have never been before, one where every member has every other member's back, one where every local joins with every other local, and there are no phony dividing lines between districts and sectors or from one occupation to another. A union where we all fight side by side in every fight, everywhere."

Read President Shelton's full speech and watch some video here.

Cohen: 'Change is Possible'

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In his last keynote address as CWA President, Larry Cohen told delegates that "we can't keep playing by their rules – the deck is stacked, the dice are loaded, the game is fixed." To change that stacked deck, "we need allies and deeper coalitions because the obstacles are that much tougher. We are forming something together beyond a single issue, a deeper sense that we are building a movement together that can move from one issue to another, linked by our goals of democracy and economic justice. I commit to you that I will fight just as hard, shoulder to shoulder with you to build this movement," he said.

President Cohen gives his final keynote address.

 

Read Cohen's full speech and watch some video here.

Cohen administered the oath of office to new CWA President Chris Shelton, who praised Cohen as a "visionary, transformational" leader.

Cohen was presented with the President's Award, CWA's highest honor for organizing, also known as the "Hat Award," in honor of CWA founding President Joe Beirne. In presenting the award, Shelton said the honor was long overdue and was a tribute not only to the 40,000 New Jersey public workers that Cohen brought into CWA in 1981 but his decades of work to help workers gain organizing and bargaining rights and his never-ending commitment to building our union.

Delegates also adopted a resolution "honoring the leadership and determination of President Larry Cohen to fight 'One Day Longer, Each Day Stronger,' and also voted to designate red as CWA's official color, both in honor of Cohen and in memory of Local 1103 Steward Gerry Horgan who was killed on a picket line in 1989.

Read full resolution here.

At the Convention

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Delegates to the CWA 75th convention adopted policies, reports and actions to keep our union moving forward. See more photos here. The site will be updated as more photos are received from the field, so check back often.

During the convention, delegates called their representatives, urging them to vote no on Fast Track legislation that is scheduled for House vote on Friday. Delegates made more than 1,500 calls.

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More scenes from the convention.

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Lothar Schröder, a leader of ver.di, the union representing German telecom workers, told delegates that ver.di members will continue to stand strong and support the fight by T-Mobile US workers for a CWA voice. He was presented with a plaque in appreciation of ver.di's support for TU.