Remarks by CWA President Larry Cohen at the 72nd CWA Convention

CWA President Larry Cohen addresses the 72nd CWA Convention in Washington, D.C.

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Eyes on the Prize

In 1956, as the Civil Rights movement was moving forward after decades of fighting segregation, activist Alice Wine wrote "Eyes on the Prize," based on a gospel song written decades earlier.  A few years ago, Bruce Springsteen popularized it again in a recording with Pete Seeger and it seemed like a good way to begin today.  Music can carry us forward in tough times, and CWAers and working families are living through some tough times. 

But it's not hopeless, just hard, and we've done hard before.

As the song goes, we have to "Hold on!" keep moving, and now singer song writer Si Kahn and educator and performer Elyse Bryant will sing it for us. 

Si has been writing songs and performing for nearly 40 years, and organizing at the same time, particularly in the South.  Like Bruce Springsteen, he has performed with Pete Seeger many times, and retired earlier this year as the director and founder of Grassroots Leadership in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Elyse Bryant is a Professor at the National Labor College, founder and director of the National Labor Chorus, and a leading educator and cultural leader of our movement.
As we meet here today, can we keep our eyes on the prize?  Can we hold on?  Holding on to our values, yet embracing change.  Holding on to our union, and movement, at a critical and difficult time.   

We have no guests at this convention—we won't need a motion to ask anyone to leave—this year the yellow badge says family, friend or ally.  It's up to us and it's only us here, CWA fighting for our future.

Working for unity inside our union, with patience and tolerance, solidarity and love.  There are no easy answers in times like these,   whether we are bargaining contracts, organizing, or fighting for political change.   We will need to take risks. We won't all agree about all the internal changes that are before us today and tomorrow, or the kind of coalition building we will propose to rebuild this movement.   But I am convinced that together we can move forward and lead. 

But as we are all aware, the current situation for our union is serious and urgent.  The U.S. labor movement remains locked in a downward spiral, our triangle in reverse with falling membership, nearly all defense in bargaining, organizing rights near the bottom of the 20 largest world economies, falling real wages in the U.S. for nearly 40 years, and a political system at the federal level that is all but paralyzed, despite the 2008 election results.  In terms of membership, 2009 was the worst year ever for U.S. labor with the loss of 800,000 union jobs, including 30,000 CWA jobs and members.  Few of our members were laid off, many left with enhanced retirement, but as we will hear from Ray Myers and the RMC leaders, it is up to everyone here to sign them up for the RMC and keep them in our movement.  Those 30,000 should definitely realize the difference CWA and you, their local leaders, made in their working lives, our commitment to social security, retiree health care and Medicare, and stick with this union and our movement.  But we need to make sure we ask every one of them to join the RMC and be active.

Corporate power measured in every way is at an all time high.  The wage gap between management and front line workers in the U.S. is up to 500 times and accepted by most.  The political power of the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable has never been greater with total control on economic issues in the Republican Party and huge influence among nearly all Democrats as well.  There remains a significant difference, well worth voting for, but there is no path right now for any relief in bargaining and organizing rights and economic reform has been minimal.

Some in labor remain in denial of the scale of the crisis and we do not have a unified labor movement despite our efforts.  At our convention last year, we had the NEA and AFT presidents speaking together and working together for labor unity, yet, in the year since then, labor unity has not progressed.

The White House has made a difference in other ways including health care, saving the car industry, green job initiatives, and many good appointments to labor jobs of all types.  The Department of Labor is now filled with assistants to Labor Secretary Solis who support us including OSHA, enforcement of wage and hour and new policy initiatives aimed at so-called independent contractors and federal procurement policy.

As a result of the President's appointment of Linda Puchala, former AFA president,  to the National Mediation Board,  AFA-CWA filed for the largest U.S. representation election in years—20,000 flight attendants at Delta, including 7,000 we have represented at the former Northwest.  We also filed  for 3,000 customer service workers at Piedmont and 20,000 other customer service workers are organizing at American and American Eagle—all of this possible just with the rule change that Puchala supported that those not voting are not "No" votes.

In other words, now there will be a "Yes or No" ballot; non-voters are no longer counted as "No."  Almost alone among transportation labor leaders, our own Pat Friend has championed this change, and as she retires at the end of this year, among many achievements ― this change and the massive organizing it is generating will remain her legacy!

All of us in CWA — flight attendants, customer service members, organizers, staff and local leaders ― are working together  to help create a breakthrough that can encourage more organizing in airlines and other sectors.

But in our other four key industry groups, most of our organizing is effectively blocked by management that lets workers know that their career is on the line if they join our union—manufacturing, telecom, and media workers are confronted with the most savage tactics in 75 years.  This kind of union busting is now nearly universal.

Some of you may remember Barbara Eliot, speaking to this convention last year right before we won a representation election at Barbara's Xerox customer service center in Staten Island, New York, and the wonderful support from Local 1102.  We won the election and Xerox is still challenging the outcome at the NLRB and has not bargained one minute.  But they have fired and transferred dozens of our supporters, despite huge support from New York electeds. 

Two weeks ago, when District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton met with the general counsel of Xerox, their so-called offer was that if we dropped all the charges and complaints now awaiting trial at the NLRB, they would agree to another election.  This kind of arrogance, intolerance, and abuse must stop and only we can stop it.  This convention sends a message loud and clear to Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox — we will stand with the workers in Staten Island for as long as it takes and now we will attack Xerox across the board unless they come to the bargaining table.

Tomorrow you will hear from two amazing leaders from ver.di, the largest union in Germany and the world—more than 2 million strong.  Ado and Kornelia have been leading the effort in Germany to stop the union busting by T-Mobile in the U.S.  Together, we have formed the TU so workers at T-Mobile USA know they are joining not only CWA but ver.di. More on this tomorrow but despite this united effort, T-Mobile USA management and their Deutsche Telekom parent persist in a total effort to block any union recognition in the U.S.

Workers' rights in the U.S. now resemble Mexico and not any of the other large global democracies.  We need to take this to heart, understand this is a total reversal over the last 50 years and now on our watch.  We can't pretend it will get better with time—in fact it will get worse unless we stop it, taking risks and trying new strategies.

Our public sector members in states like West Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona, and others have no current path to bargaining rights either.  We continue to fight for federal legislation providing minimal bargaining rights for public safety officers and recently, this was included as part of the House legislation that (ironically) continues funding at record levels for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (to date over $1 trillion).  Inclusion in the Senate or in conference will still be tough, but led by 20,000 public safety members in our union we will keep pushing ― more on this Wednesday and Thursday at the Legislative Conference.

At this convention, we will consider change on many fronts—internal and new coalition initiatives to take on national change.   Internal changes, supported by our Executive Board and the RFF Committee, chaired by Jeff, and with broad support from local officers across the union.  Five years ago, we started down this road at the 2005 Convention with "Ready for the Future ― Resolution 1."

In 2006, we adopted an 11-point program, including the stewards army, coordinating telecom work in DC with the EVP, and the Strategic Industry Fund (SIF).  In 2007, we adopted the proposal to increase Executive Board diversity with four local leaders, and in 2008, established the Canadian region.  The current issue of the CWA News documents 13 different SIF campaigns across our union and industry groups.  "Ready for the Future 3," in delegate packets, documents the five year progression as well as proposals before this convention.

This includes combining C&T and Telecom, merging Districts 2 and 13, providing a voting seat on the Executive Board for the Canadian Director, and moving to biennial conventions.  These changes, together, can not only create a stronger and better focused CWA, but combined, they will lead to savings of nearly $2 million per year for the national budget and millions more for local union budgets. 

Less than two weeks ago, I attended a District 13 meeting with Jeff, Chris Shelton, Ron Collins and several District 2 staff and local leaders.  Four District 13 locals had joined CWA more than 25 years ago when they were all independent local telecom unions in Delaware and Pennsylvania.  On July 15, all four signed modifications of their merger agreements that had created District 13 and now supported merging with District 2 to create a combined district—stronger together with nearly 50,000 members.

I would ask that the delegates from Locals 13000, 13500, 13100 and 13101 please stand.  These delegates demonstrate to all of us that change is possible when we have the leadership and courage to change.  I would also like Vice Presidents Mooney and Collins and all the delegates from Districts 2 and 13 to stand.  They are doing what their predecessors could not do for 25 years in uniting their Districts if you adopt the merger resolution before you.  I congratulate Ron, Ed and the officers in both Districts for their leadership.

Change is not easy.  It does not fall from the sky like rain.  We have to work for it inside our union and fight for it outside where unfortunately, management, the Chamber of Commerce and their political allies are lined up against us.

We need to drive home the point that this convention will not compromise our transparency, openness and democracy but at the same time we need to move precious resources to balance our budget and rebuild our union power in CWA and across the movement.

New coalition action is critical to rebuilding our movement.  With seven percent bargaining coverage in the private sector, labor alone cannot move our agenda.  Fortunately, others pushing for change realize they need partners as well. 

At this convention, we will hear from the NAACP, Sierra Club, Blue Green Alliance and other key progressive groups with millions of members.  Civil rights and immigrant rights groups are working together under the banner of "One Nation" and our Board has endorsed and joined along with the AFL-CIO.

There is a resolution before you supporting "One Nation."  Some will see this as a march in Washington on October 2.  As important as that will be, in demonstrating that we can mobilize far better than Tea Party and right wingers, for us, "One Nation" is a reset of our political agenda and key partners for change. 

Labor itself, even if we were united, cannot accomplish the agenda before us.  For example, this convention will consider a resolution to support changing the Senate rules, including limiting or eliminating the filibuster, so when a majority of the Senate wants to take action, they can.  Our constitution provides that Texas and Wyoming have the same representation in the Senate even though Texas has 50 times the population.  But our constitution does not provide for a minority of senators preventing senate action.  Right now, there are more than 400 items passed by the House that await Senate action.  The House has 435 members versus 100 in the Senate, yet there is no outcry that the House rules prevent debate.

We need to speak truth to power here.  There is no hope of any meaningful restoration of private sector bargaining rights as long as we have these Senate rules.  We were fortunate in the past that we had a two-party system with some Senators from both parties committed to workers' rights.  This was true in 1935 when the National Labor Relations Act was passed, and again in 1974 when President Gerald Ford signed the extension for health care and non profit workers, supported by many Republican Senators and most Democrats.  But today in the Senate, that bipartisanship is over, and we can't wait for miracles to save our bargaining rights and this labor movement.

The Senate of Cicero in ancient Rome depended on every Senator agreeing to end debate before a vote could be held.  Our U.S. Senate today has more in common with the Senate in ancient Rome than any other legislative body in any global democracy.   This Executive Board is asking this convention to send a clear signal to the U.S. Senate—stand with us for democracy and workers' rights and we will stand with you.  But if you run for office defending these rules, we will not work for you, and we will look for candidates who will work with us.

Led by our locals in Arkansas, CWA, other unions, and progressive groups took a stand in the Senate Democratic primary this year, supporting Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter in his campaign against incumbent Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln.  There were many reasons including Lincoln's refusal to support a floor vote on even the compromise version of the Employee Free Choice Act, her opposition to the White House effort to save the U.S. car industry, opposition to the public option on health care reform and her vote against final passage on health care which reduced the excise tax on our plans, and also included financial aid for college students.  Meanwhile the Chamber of Commerce made her a hero for her refusal to support cloture on any version of Employee Free Choice and opposing cloture on NLRB nominee Craig Becker, and raised millions for her campaign. 

Bill Halter was prepared to take her on and give up a safe reelection as Lieutenant Governor.  District 6 and our Arkansas leaders said let's do it—"we have had it with Senator Lincoln."  We hosted a meeting at CWA where progressive unions committed to support Bill's campaign, and later, the Sierra Club, Move.On, the NAACP, and many others joined us.  Bill Halter forced a runoff and then lost the runoff by a narrow margin as the entire Democratic establishment from Senate leaders to the White House, and former President Clinton campaigned for Lincoln.  But led by CWA Arkansans and other working families, we sent a clear message to Senator Lincoln and others — we are an independent political movement that focuses on the rights of working families.  Even in Arkansas, with only four percent of working families with bargaining rights, we can make a difference.

Now, it is my pleasure to introduce Lieutenant Governor Halter for a special address and then I will return to conclude my remarks.  (Bill Halter speaks)

Bill Halter will continue to be our partner as we fight for change in Arkansas and across the nation.  In New Jersey independent political action means unifying progressive labor, civil rights, greens and community, while some democrats there support the Governor in his attacks on public services, and the pensions, benefits and jobs of our members.

Our strategy of independent political action also means we develop new allies.  In addition to "One Nation" and NAACP, we are working with the Sierra Club to bring one gigabit internet connections to rural towns and their anchor institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and libraries.  Later today we will hear from FCC chairman Genachowski about this and other aspects of the national broadband plan.  But if we don't organize with partners like Sierra, it will be nothing but a plan.  We need a combination of public and private sector investment so our members can build, maintain and support the networks of the 21st century. 

We are also working for sustainability in other ways, supporting environmentalists and working for clean energy and green jobs.  There is a resolution before you on Green jobs and a sustainable economy.  IUE-CWA led this initiative with their work on Green manufacturing from wind power to hybrid batteries.  Then this year, we expanded it with our focus on rural broadband.

But most important, we are moving to build a strong coalition with all these partners and key elected officials to change the archaic Senate rules.  The threat of a filibuster keeps blocking majority action on everything, even White House nominations. 

Our own Vice-President Bill Boarman was nominated by President Obama months ago to be the Public Printer, and like so many nominees, one Republican Senator has thus far held up his confirmation.  A simple majority of the Senate next January can adopt democratic rules where, after reasonable debate, a majority can act on nominations, and on legislation including our priority issues.  This is not a revolution, this is just basic fairness and democracy and it is within reach.

Some of our members and leaders may argue against this ambitious agenda.  We need your leadership in every industry group to make it clear that if we are not ambitious, if we do not aim higher, our bargaining rights may not survive.  Anyone tired of bargaining solely on defense should understand that we either move forward or fall back.  We need bold action and leadership to move forward.  I am proud to work with Jeff, Annie and this Executive Board — all determined to move forward.  But your leadership is the key.

Our representation of our members in negotiations and contract administration will always be the backbone of our work.  In addition we will continue to support innovative training in media, telecom and manufacturing through CWA NETT,and new health and safety strategies such as the first safe patient handling lab led by CWA locals in upstate New York.   

We will continue to develop stewards' army education in every industry that links that representation to the overall power of our movement.  For example, this draft of "Telecommunications Leadership Training," available in our booth, will be developed in various formats for districts and the telecom sector.  Using Strategic Industry Funds, we will develop clear strategies for bargaining, organizing, and political action.  These strategies may be somewhat different, recognizing the autonomy of our districts and national units, even when we share common employers.

We would all prefer that these strategies were simpler, as they were when most of us joined our union.  We would prefer that we all agreed on these strategies including bargaining strategies when we share a common employer.  But the simple truth is that the autonomy and democracy we prize in locals is also there in our districts and sectors.  In times like these, there may be different bargaining strategies in different groups or bargaining units.  In our bargaining at ATT, that stress is very apparent, and the telecom vice presidents who work regularly with Executive Vice President Hill are well aware of it as well.

I commit to you that we will all work harder to coordinate bargaining and mobilization that unifies us even in these toughest of times.  We will go the extra mile to make sure that not only the Executive Vice President and Telecom Vice Presidents communicate and work together, but that we will coordinate better between local leaders and bargaining teams in all industries and employers.

But, we can't pretend that we all agree and have the same bargaining priorities if we don't.  We can't pretend that one size must fit all or even that we can all bargain at the same time, strike at the same time, settle at the same time. 

In the U.S., in the last 18 months, there have been no strikes of significant size.  In Canada where collective bargaining is much stronger, our members and others have been more likely to strike, but even there it is grim.  Canada's largest private sector union and our alliance partner, United Steelworkers, recently ended a one-year strike at Vale's nickel mine in Sudbury with little improvement in the offer they received before the strike.  This was the largest, longest, and strongest strike in North America in recent years.

CWA and other unions are not afraid to strike and we have the second largest strike fund ― $400 million.  But workers in each situation size up the outcome and the tactics and act accordingly.  Let me be clear--This union will strike when bargaining teams are convinced that is the best tactic and this Executive Board approves a strike. We will also use all available tactics to secure the best possible agreements as long as that takes.

Our bargaining at Reuters News Service, in Connecticut at AT&T, in airlines, in New Jersey for public workers, or at NBC, all demonstrate that we will bargain for as long as it takes—and use the tactics that make sense to our leaders and members.

None of this would be possible without the incredible work of the CWA staff.  Some of them are here today and I would like them all to stand.  Because of membership losses there are fewer of them, and like the rest of us they have more to do than we can accomplish.  But without their leadership, all of our goals would be out of reach and nothing but dreams.  I want to appreciate all of them, and particularly those that work with me every day—for me you are everything, and without you there is nothing.

So whether it's representation, organizing, or political action, we need to reset and chart a positive direction no matter how difficult our present situation may seem.  We create change by working together, developing a strategy and a plan, and executing it.  We then learn from our results, reset and go at it again. 

We need to work at our unity, we need to work for change inside our union, we need to practice tolerance when we disagree, and we need to redirect our resources in these toughest of times.  We need to work to build alliances and not expect them to be easy or automatic.  We need to hold elected officials accountable, not just work on elections, as we build an independent political movement that answers to working families.  We need to build our union on all three sides of the CWA triangle.  All of this will be hard, very hard, but we've done hard before!  Let's keep our eye on the prize and hold on!

Solidarity Forever!