CWA District 6 on the Rise at Annual Conference

Last week, CWA District 6, led by Vice President Derrick Osobase, held its annual conference. The theme of the conference was “Together We Rise.” Hundreds of members from across the District met in Tulsa, Okla., where CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. delivered the keynote address.

President Cummings hammered home the theme, saying, “We cannot let politicians, bosses, or even ourselves break the bonds we create with one another. Our unity is our strength, and without it, we don’t have much to fight with or fight for. Unity is the key, and I don’t just believe it is; I know it is. Like the theme of your conference says, together we rise. Not one by one, but together.”

President Cummings, focused on the upcoming presidential election and all the important down-ballot races. He urged members to focus on voter turnout, saying, “What we now know is that there is a clear and present danger to our democracy, to the idea of having a say, any say, in how you are governed, where you work, your hours, your pay, your taxes, and how those taxes are spent. Project 2025 gives the details of their dangerous, extremist agenda to roll back our rights and put more power in the hands of CEOs and corporations.”

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam, who couldn’t be there in person, sent a video detailing many of the changes she’s brought to the office of Secretary-Treasurer including establishing a general email to more quickly answer member questions. Salaam has made it her goal to streamline CWA’s finances and has already saved the union significant money by cutting unnecessary expenses.

Attendees also had the opportunity to build skills through various workshops, including “Grievance Prep Training,” “How to Build an Anti-Racist Union,” and “Aptify–Grievance Tracking.” They also got to hear from numerous speakers, including Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton, NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Sara Nelson, Western Region At-Large Executive Board Member Keith Gibbs, and Retired Members Council President Gwen Parker.

 
At the CWA District 6 Conference, members of the Retired Members Council showed their CWA pride with CWA District 6 Vice President Derrick Osobase (back row, center).

---

This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.