CWA District 9 Members Pledge to Rebuild for Our Future

Last week, CWAers from across District 9 gathered for the first ever virtual District 9 Meeting and Leadership Conference. CWA President Chris Shelton spoke at the conference, themed Rebuilding for Our Future, and stressed the importance of continuing to build on our political and organizing accomplishments, including fighting back against Governor Newsom’s recall election in California. “Those behind the recall have a long history of attacking unions. They are attempting to roll back decades of progress on workers’ rights in the state. The recall poses a direct threat to our jobs, wages, benefits, and our union,” Shelton said. “We need to fight back and vote NO on this recall election.”

“It's time for the Union to expand and organize across all industries, including those outside of units traditionally represented by CWA,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce during his opening remarks. “Several District 9 locals have current organizing campaigns in nontraditional telecommunications industries, non-profits, gaming, dot-com, and service workers at casinos.”

Western Region At-Large Executive Board Member Dante Harris also addressed the participants of the conference and highlighted CWA’s ability to pivot by learning and adopting new methods of organizing during the pandemic. Participants of the conference also heard from Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton; Public, Health Care and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook; and Curt Hess, Assistant to the Vice President District 4, who spoke on behalf of CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton.