CWA Hosts Presidents’ Meeting and Legislative and Political Conference

Last week, CWA members and retirees from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., for two events: the Presidents’ Meeting and the Legislative and Political Conference.

CWA Local presidents and members of the CWA Executive Board began with the Presidents’ Meeting on Monday, June 1. CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. updated attendees on the current state of our union and plans for continued organizing in our core telecommunications sector. Presidents had the chance to debate and vote on pressing issues from the Credentials, Appeals, and Finance committees. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam also delivered her Financial Report.

The following day, President Cummings opened the two-day Legislative and Political (LP) Conference, which featured a host of notable speakers, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Sen. Ruben Gallego (AZ), Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35), and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Members also heard from Minnesota Representative and AFA-CWA member Kaela Berg (MN-55B), who is running for Congress in MN-02, campaigning on a pro-union, pro-worker platform.

 
Pictured left to right: Senator Ruben Gallego (AZ), AFA-CWA member and congressional candidate Kaela Berg (MN), and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker spoke directly to conference attendees.

President Cummings spoke fiercely against attempts by the current administration to disenfranchise millions of American voters after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. “We are seeing, in real time, white supremacists gerrymandering Black districts out of existence, stripping voters of their rights,” said Cummings. “All because they know their anti-worker, anti-family policies will never win votes from the majority of Americans.

“You may have heard me say this before, but I keep a slip of paper from the so-called ‘good old days.’ It’s my father’s poll tax receipt. In those same ‘good old days,’ Black people who wanted to exercise that most basic right had to pay to be able to vote. Today they call it the SAVE Act, but it’s the same. People who can barely make ends meet being asked to find money for passports and certified birth certificates.

“The right to vote is precious. It should never be taken for granted, and we should never allow it to be taken away at all. We will not go back to those dark days.”

Click here to watch President Cummings’ Legislative and Political Conference speech in its entirety.

 
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. brandished his father’s poll tax receipt from 1942 as a reminder of the struggles Americans have overcome for the right to vote.

Representative Casar chose our Legislative and Political Conference to unveil his landmark legislation, the “Double the Wage for Overtime” Act, which, if passed, will amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to pay double a worker's regular wage for every hour worked over 40 hours in a single week.

 
Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35) took the stage to formally announce his “Double the Wage for Overtime” Act.

This proposed legislation fits perfectly into the CWA political agenda laid out by CWA Deputy Government Affairs Director Elena Lopez. The objectives of our Worker Power Agenda reflect the most pressing concerns of our members, as expressed in the issues survey, which over 6,000 members completed in the spring of 2026. The survey revealed major concerns over attacks on the ability of workers to join unions nationwide, affordable healthcare, artificial intelligence being used against workers, and the outsized influence of the wealthy in our political system.

To address these concerns, Legislative and Political activists will be pushing for a slate of bills outlined in the Worker Power Agenda, including the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and the No Robot Bosses Act. Click here to learn more about our legislative agenda and what it will mean for working people.

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss (above, right) hosted a spirited and insightful panel discussion titled “Worker Power in the Age of AI” with (left to right) CWA Local 3519 Vice President Ylonda Sherrod, The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003) President Susan DeCarava, and Representative Chris DeLuzio (PA-17).

Attendees also got to hear from (pictured above, left to right) AFL-CIO Legislative Representative Tom Leibried; CWA Local 1122 Legislative and Political Chairperson and N.Y. Home Care Nurse Tori Henley; CWA Local 6186 member and candidate for Texas District 19 Kyle Rable; and Representative Steven Horsford (NV-04). CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook (right) moderated the discussion titled “Fighting Back Against Attacks on Our Healthcare”.

Conference attendees participated in a large-scale run-through of the LP Department’s “Fighting Oligarchy” training, currently available to both CWA members and allies. Participants used an interactive mobile system to answer questions related to the role of money in our political system, how to identify abuses of power, and what workers can do to fight back.

Additionally, the conference featured personal stories​ from several CWA members directly impacted by the current administration’s war on workers, including Colleen Burns and Don Reno Intreglia, AFA-CWA members impacted by the Spirit Airlines implosion, which left thousands of Spirit Airlines Flight Attendants without jobs or healthcare. Attendees also heard from CWA Local 7603 Steward Jeremiah Clever, who saw his highly successful apprenticeship program gutted by the Trump administration’s anti-D.E.I. funding cuts, leaving his students and staff in limbo and searching for alternative funding streams.

Members met in the mornings for conference briefings before spending afternoons on Capitol Hill speaking directly to lawmakers.

Click here to watch videos from the CWA 2026 Legislative and Political Conference.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.