CWA members from across the country met this week in Washington, D.C., for the 2022 CWA Legislative and Political Conference. During the two-day conference, attendees heard from CWA leaders, political powerhouses, and other guest speakers. This year’s conference focused on CWA’s efforts to secure legislative and political gains that protect our members’ rights and promote worker organizing.
CWA President Chris Shelton, who, at the CWA President’s Meeting held a day prior, announced the historic neutrality agreement with Microsoft, delivered a keynote address on the first day of the conference. He highlighted the resilience CWA members have shown throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. “Despite all of the obstacles put in our way, despite all of the crises we have faced and the losses we have suffered, we have continued over the last two years to be CWA STRONG,” he said.
Shelton praised President Biden for staying true to his commitment to workers. “Without a doubt, Joe Biden is the most pro-labor President in my long, long career in the labor movement.” From protecting workers’ right to organize and promoting worker organizing, to raising wages and standards for workers, and advancing landmark legislation with unprecedented labor rights protections, Shelton reviewed what CWA members and the labor movement as a whole have achieved by working closely with the Biden Administration. He also highlighted CWA’s organizing wins and referenced the surge of worker resistance happening across the country. Shelton added, “The entire labor movement must focus all its energy and resources on organizing the unorganized to capitalize on this moment and expand the ranks of labor.”