US AIRWAYS PASSENGER SERVICE EMPLOYEES
LOCAL 3640
CWA National Convention
21 June – 24 June 2009  -   Washington, DC
I arrived in Washington on Thursday, 18 June to prepare for the Convention. The National paid my lost wages for the 18th and 19th and paid my per diem from the 18th through the 21st, since we worked through the weekend.  As the District 3 National Chair of the Women’s Committee, we worked with Leslie Jackson; Director of Civil Rights on our reports and met with Annie Hill, National Executive Vice President. There was much discussion on the various Committees, such as Equity, Women’s and the Diversity Committee.  Attendance has been slowly decreasing for several years and the idea was to see if we could combine the conferences. I will keep you updated on any further discussion on this topic
Since we were awarded 3 Delegate Votes for the National Convention, Darla and Vickey joined me on Sunday 21 June.
The Convention was brought to order at 0900 on Monday. After the Presentation of the Colors and the National Anthems of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico were sung; Vice President, Ron Collins,of District 2, introduced President Larry Cohen.
Larry spoke to us about the importance of the labor movement and getting the Employee Free Choice Act passed.  He thanked us for the hard work and long hours we put in for the election of President Obama.  “CWA’s commitment to member communication and involvement, and the mobilization of our members places us in a unique position to impact the critical issues of the day like never before in our history.” He is a very powerful speaker and gave us his history of growing up in the 50’s and the stories of D-Day and being from a neighborhood full of union families.  He spoke on the ‘sit down strike’ at Budd, a GM assembly plant, where the strike was crushed by police swinging clubs and cracking bones. The workers never gave up and everyday fought for democracy at home.  They were confident because FDR and the Congress were on their side, adopting minimum wage, social security, food stamps and with the assistance of the National Labor Relations Board, they knew they would have a seat on the bargaining table. He stated we can’t hold on to our standard of living just by playing defense. Currently we are just playing defense at the bargaining table, not only because of the worst economy in 75 years but because the private sector is 7% down from the 35% peak from the years after D-Day.

Most important is the re-building of the labor movement, we have several ways to think of Free Choice;
First, we will never restore the middle class without effective bargaining rights.  Wages are at the same level of buying power as we had 25 years ago.  Second, is global perspective, 70 nations have majority union sign up and the United States does not!  Collective bargaining is shrinking.  We have to get Employee Free Choice Act passed. It is crucial for the labor movement. His powerful closing was;
“We don’t have to hit the beach like those veterans of D-Day did 65 years ago. But, we do need to believe there’s ‘a better world a coming’ and commit to work for it and fight for it, day and night. This is the time! This is our time!
Executive Vice President, Annie Hill talked about the political and legislative work being the lifeblood of our Union. As labor leaders we see it every single day and almost every moment in the workplace, our power is not quite as strong as we have had in the past. It is becoming harder and harder to get contracts that give our members the economic security they deserve.  Many of us have seen the years of mismanagement as CEO’s have come and gone with their golden parachutes, leaving the workers who make the money behind to live in the ruins. To add insult to injury, after we watch CEO’s and other executives make millions, it is the workers that have built the companies, actively working or retired that bear the brunt of mismanagement. This is a travesty in a country that is the richest in the world.
We have 2,000 on the Hill, lobbying for working families. Remember they work for you, you elected them. Let’s show them what CWA Power is all about.
We had many guest speakers, which included Dennis Van Roekel; President, National Education Association, Randi Weingarten; President, American Federation of Teachers, Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
One of our primary tasks at hand was the District 3, Vice President election. Noah Savant was reelected last July and due to health reasons had to resign from his position. Beverly Hicks was appointed during the interim and we, CWA Local 3640 endorsed Judy Dennis. Judy Dennis won the election and we look forward working with Judy as our District 3 Vice President.
Being a part of such a dynamic Union makes me proud of my fellow brothers and sisters.

In Solidarity,

Vonda Hardy
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