Communications Workers of America

History

In 1918 telephone operators organized under the Telephone Operators Department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. While initially successful at organizing, the union was damaged by a 1923 strike and subsequent AT&T lockout. After AT&T installed company-controlled Employees' Committees, the Telephone Operators Department eventually disbanded. The CWA's roots lie in the 1938 reorganization of telephone workers into the National Federation of Telephone Workers after the Wagner Act outlawed such employees' committees or "company unions". NFTW was a federation of sovereign local independent unions that lacked authority over the affiliated local unions leaving it at a serious organizational disadvantage. After losing a strike with AT&T in 1947, the federation led by Joseph A. Beirne, reorganized as CWA, a truly national union, which affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in 1949. The union's Canadian members split away in 1972, forming the Communication Workers of Canada.

CWA has continued to expand into areas beyond traditional telephone service. In 1994 the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians merged with the CWA and became The Broadcasting and Cable Television Workers Sector of the CWA, NABET-CWA. Since 1997, it includes The Newspaper Guild (now renamed The NewsGuild-CWA). In 2004, the Association of Flight Attendants merged with CWA, and became formally known as the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, or AFA-CWA. In 2020 CWA launched the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) initiative to unionize tech, video game, and digital workers which has led to CWA becoming a major union for US and Canada tech worker organizing, including organizing all non-management workers at the Hawaii digital wireless carrier Mobi in 2022.

Contracts and strikes

Following is a partial list of contracts and strikes that the Communications Workers of America were involved in:

Composition

Membership

According to CWA's Department of Labor records since 2006, when membership classifications were first reported, the total reported membership has varied greatly and unpredictably due to the addition and removal of reported membership categories. As of 2025, there are 682,324 members, of which 254,250 (37%) are classified as "non-dues-paying retirees", and not eligible to vote in the union. The other, voting eligible, classifications are "active" (367,026 members; 54%) and "dues-paying retired" (61,048 members; 9%). CWA contracts also cover 14,238 non-members, known as agency fee payers, which number comparatively about 2% of the size of the union's membership.

Affiliates

• Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) represents over 55,000 flight attendants at 22 airlines. Established in 1945, it affiliated with the CWA in 2004.
• CODE-CWA (Campaign to Organize Digital Employees)
• International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers (IUE-CWA) represents over 45,000 manufacturing and industrial workers and affiliated with CWA in 2000.
• The NewsGuild (TNG-CWA) represents over 26,000 journalists and media workers at wire services, newspapers, magazines, and broadcast news. Established in 1933, it affiliated with the CWA in 1995.
• National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET-CWA) represents over 10,000 workers employed in the broadcasting, distributing, telecasting, recording, cable, video, sound recording and related industries. Established in 1934, it affiliated with the CWA in 1994.
• CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers represents more than 140,000 workers including social workers, educators, and health care providers, including state workers across New Jersey.
• Printing, Publishing and Media Workers Sector (PPMWS-CWA) was formed from the merger of the International Typographical Union printers. PPMWS-CWA represents over 8,000 workers in a diverse range of occupations in daily newspapers, commercial printing and mailing operations, and graphic design.
• University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA) represents 18,000 clinical lab technicians, computer resource specialists, editors, lab assistants, museum scientists, social workers, staff research associates, student affairs officers, and writers at all campuses and medical centers of the University of California. Established in 1990, it affiliated with the CWA in 1993.
• Wells Fargo Workers United (WFWU-CWA) formed in 2023 with its first win in an Albuquerque, New Mexico branch office. Since this first win, the division has successfully organized 20 local branch offices across the country.
• United Videogame WorkersUnited Videogame Workers-CWA (UVW-CWA) was launched in March 2025 to cover all workers involved in the video game industry across United States and Canada.
• ZeniMax United (ZOS United-CWA), represents 461 workers of ZeniMax Online Studios and 241 workers of subsidiary studio Bethesda Studios

Leadership

Presidents

:1947: Joseph A. Beirne :1974: Glenn Watts :1985: Morton Bahr :2005: Larry Cohen :2015: Chris Shelton :2023: Claude Cummings Jr.

Secretary-Treasurers

:1947: Carlton W. Werkau :1955: William A. Smallwood :1969: Glenn Watts :1974: Louis Knecht :1985: James E. Booe :1992: Barbara Easterling :2008: Jeff Rechenbach :2015: Sara Steffens :2023: Ameenah Salaam

Notes

References

References

1. {{Cite OLMS. (August 29, 2025)
2. "About". Strategic Organizing Center.
3. [[Stephen H. Norwood. Norwood, Stephen H.]]: ''[https://archive.org/details/laborsflamingyou0000norw Labor's Flaming Youth: Telephone Operators and Worker Militancy, 1878-1923]'', page 302. University of Illinois Press, 1990.
4. "U.S. Department of Labor - Labor Hall of Honor - Joseph A. Beirne". United States Department of Labor.
5. (2003). "Continentalizing Canadian Telecommunications". McGill-Queen's University Press.
6. (2020-01-07). "Major union launches campaign to organize video game and tech workers".
7. (2021-08-27). "Campaigns".
8. (2019-11-25). "Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA)".
9. (14 September 2022). "Local telecommunications company Mobi unionizes with support of CEO".
10. [http://www.cwa-union.org/about/timeline Communications Workers of America - Timeline] Accessed March 24, 2010.
11. [http://www.cwa3805.org/HistoryOfTheCWA.pdf CWA Local 3805 Timeline] Accessed March 24, 2010.
12. [http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1990/01/art2full.pdf U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review - January, 1990] Accessed March 24, 2010.
13. (August 1956). "1956 Convention of the Communications Workers of America". US Government Printing Office.
14. (31 August 1998). "Tentative Agreement Is Reached In Strike by U S West Workers". The New York Times.
15. Svensson, Peter. (8 August 2012). "AT&T workers in 3 states launch short strike". Boston Globe.
16. Nayak, Malathi. (13 April 2016). "About 40,000 unionized Verizon workers walk off the job". Reuters.
17. (2016-05-29). "Big Gains for Striking Verizon Workers in New Agreement". Communications Workers of America.
18. (2019-08-25). "CWA/AT&T Southeast Bargaining Report #46". District 3.
19. {{Cite OLMS
20. Ashack, Elizabeth A.. (2008). "Major Union Mergers, Alliances, and Disaffiliations, 1995-2007". Monthly Labor Review.
21. McKercher, Catherine. (2000). "From newspaper guild to multimedia union : a study in labour convergence". Concordia University.
22. Mosco, Vincent. (2006-10-23). "Convergence Bites Back: Labour Struggles in the Canadian Communication Industry". Canadian Journal of Communication.
23. Cain, Timothy Reese. (2017-09-11). "Campus Unions: Organized Faculty and Graduate Students in U.S. Higher Education, ASHE Higher Education Report". John Wiley & Sons.
24. Stratton, Kay. (1989-03-01). "Union democracy in the international typographical union: Thirty years later". Journal of Labor Research.
25. (2018-08-06). "The New Rank and File". Cornell University Press.
26. (2023-12-20). "Wells Fargo Workers Win First-Ever Union Election".
27. (2024-10-17). "Union drive at Wells Fargo heats up as employees allege intimidation tactics".
28. Maas, Jennifer. "United Videogame Workers Union Launches in Partnership With Communication Workers of America". [[Variety (magazine).
29. (2024-12-12). "ZeniMax Online Studios Workers Form Latest Video Game Union with Communications Workers of America".
30. Wilde, Tyler. (2017-07-19). "Bethesda Game Studios developers form 'wall to wall' union that includes artists, designers, and programmers". PCGamer.