April 2025 Newsletter #29

Community Corner

Locals 3212 & 3519

Siblings, support for the Union is necessary to build strength and solidarity in this time of continued change, and it is imperative that we keep that momentum going and become more involved within our communities. There was a time when CWA’s motto was “The Community Minded Union.” Showing our collective support for the betterment of the communities in which we live and work is the right thing to do. When we stand in solidarity with our communities a magical thing happens, not only does the community get to know CWA but member engagement increases as well. This has been proven in several Locals around the district. Whether it’s at community events or membership meetings, Locals who are active in their communities have seen an astounding rise in member engagement.  The more active our membership becomes the better it is for us when it comes to mobilizing for contract negotiations. An active and engaged membership is more likely to apply the pressure we need during our contract fights with the various companies we bargain with. 

The E34 Community Outreach and Maintaining Year-Round Mobilization program has been making their presence known in the field and here is what has been going on since Q1 of 2025.

In January, D3 suffered many major weather events. There was a great deal of snow, storms, tornadoes, flooding, mudslides, and more. The focus of our engagements centered around what our individual communities needed at the time -- ensuring our membership and communities had cleaning supplies, clothing, food, etc. 

February 2025 was African American History Month. The team organized events geared toward cultural education. We held gatherings for group tours of museums and other community activities. Some of our favorite photos of this came from Local 3519 in D'Iberville, MS and Local 3212 in Newnan, GA. In addition to these activities, we emailed out a list of black-owned businesses for online shopping and encouraged our members to shop black owned businesses locally. 

Steward Training Local 3146

The training was in Spanish and facilitated by CWA District 1 Staff Representative, Luis Benitez-Burgos.

Local 3519

CWA Louisiana and CWA Mississippi held their joint state meeting April 6th - 8th in Biloxi, MS. The meeting was hosted by CWA Local 3519 President, Josh Drinkard. There were fifty-one (51) registered participants and nineteen (19) locals were represented, along with LA/MS Staff Representative Herman Junkin, D3 Vice-President Richard Honeycutt, and Asst. VP Nick Hawkins. More than 50 CWA members from across the two states showed up and showed out to stand strong together and reaffirm our solidarity!

Local 3122

Juan Morales, Outside Plant Technician, Miami,