Texas AFL-CIO Congratulates Texans Cummings, Osobase on Election to National Offices in Communications Workers of America
Contacts: Rick Levy,
Leonard Aguilar or Ed Sills,
(512) 477-6195;
Sills cell: (512) 695-1148
Texas AFL-CIO Celebrates Election of Claude Cummings As Communications Workers of America President…
…And Celebrates Derrick Osobase’s Election as Vice President
The Texas AFL-CIO celebrated the election of two brilliant Texas labor activist/leaders to national leadership roles in the Communications Workers of America.
At the union’s convention in St. Louis, delegates elected Claude Cummings Jr. as the new international President. Cummings had previously held the Vice President’s position in District 6, which includes Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas. Derrick Osobase of the Texas State Employees Union/CWA 6186 was elected to succeed Cummings as Vice President in District 6, which has 45,000 CWA members.
Cummings is the first Black man to serve as CWA President. The newly elected international Secretary-Treasurer, Ameenah Salaam, is the first Black woman to serve in that post.
“What a great day for Texas labor!” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said. “Claude Cummings and Derrick Osobase are powerful leaders with a broad and compelling vision of our movement. They have fought — and won — in the most hostile environments for union organizing. They will do even more on this larger stage, and working families everywhere will benefit.”
“In Texas, Claude Cummings is a force of nature as an organizer, a leader, a civil rights champion, and a friend to any worker struggling for a better livelihood. CWA members across the nation can expect Claude to do everything in his power to broaden the labor movement.”
Levy praised Osobase’s work in Texas and beyond as an organizer and advocate for laws that respect the dignity of all work.
“Derrick Osobase is one of the brightest stars in Texas. His leadership and activism have benefited the Texas labor movement at every level,” Levy said. “He has been fearless in organizing workers and fighting to give them a voice in the workplace, in the Capitol and in politics. Derrick is committed to building a bigger, broader, bolder labor movement, and we are excited about what lies ahead.”
More information from CWA: https://tinyurl.com/3tnp5dee
The Texas AFL-CIO is the state labor federation consisting of 240,000 affiliated union members who advocate for working families in Texas.