P R O C E E D I N G S - - - - - - - - - - - of the 77th CONVENTION COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA AFL-CIO, CLC _______ Westgate Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada July 29-31, 2019 i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page MONDAY MORNING July 29, 2019 Call to Order - Temporary Chair Marc Ellis, President, CWA Local 9413 2 Invocation - Hon. Pat Spearman, Nevada State Senator 4 Opening Ceremonies - Presentation of Colors, National Anthems 6 Welcome - Elizabeth Sorenson, President, Nevada AFL-CIO 7 Rusty McAllister, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Nevada State AFL -CIO 14 Hon. Steve Sisolak, Governor of Nevada 25 Introduction of President Shelton By Tom Runnion - CWA Vice President, District 9 35 President's Address - CWA President Chris Shelton 36 Credentials Committee - Preliminary Report Marge Krueger, CWA-IBT Chair 61,81 Use of Microphones, Introduction of Parliamentarians and Platform Observers 64 Resolutions & Rules Committee - Shawn Ludwig, CWA Local 1038, Chair 69 Resolution #77A-19-7 - "Censuring President Trump for Racist Attacks on Congresswomen of Color 71 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Report - National Committee on Civil Rights & Equity - Intro by Vice President Claude Cummings & "Wake Up" video 82 Introduction by Sara Nelson AFA-CWA Executive Vice President 100 Report of the Women's Committee By Grace Catania, Chair 105 Report of the CWA Secretary-Treasurer By Sara Steffens 120 Announcements 135 Recess 135 MONDAY AFTERNOON Call to Order / Introduction of Guests 136 Election Procedures By General Counsel Pat Shea 138 Nominations & Elections of CWA Officers 148 Recess 201 TUESDAY MORNING July 30, 2019 Call to Order 202 Invocation - Rabbi Bradley Tecktiel Midbar Kodesh Temple, Henderson, NV 202 Election Results & Oath of Office 204 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Report - Finance Committee, Dante Harris, President, AFA-CWA Local 29012, Chair 219 Report - Defense Fund Oversigh t Committee, Cecilia Valdez, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 7025, Chair 230 DFOC Election Results 250 Report - Resolutions & Rules Committee, Shawn Ludwig, Local 1038, Chair 250 77A-19-1 - Funding Our Fight For the Future 251 77A-19-2 - "CWA Strong" 281 77A-19-3 - Strengthening CWA with a Steward Strong Campaign 285 Report - Constitution Committee Ryan Letts, Local 4034, Chair 304 (Also See Appendix) No. 1 - Consolidation of PPMWS 304 No. 2 - Appeal of Revocation 312 No. 3 - Public, Healthcare & Education Workers 316 Recess 329 TUESDAY AFTERNOON Call to Order 330 Report - Constitution Committee (cont.) No. 5 - Article IX - Executive Board 331 Remarks by Tom Smith, New Organizing Director 349 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Organizing Awards Morton Bahr CWA Strong Award for Organizing - 367 President's Award for Organizing 368&375 Political Action Fund Awards Vice President Ed Mooney 384 Thirty Years of Service Awards - By Vice President Braico 387 Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation 389 Remarks by Craig Evans, Development Director 390 TNG-CWA Vice President Bernie L unzer Pediatric AIDS Foundation / Hope Awards 395 District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton - Eduardo Diaz Union-to-Union International Solidarity Fund 400 Report of the Retired Members' Council Lisa Bolton, Telecom Vice President 404 Remarks by Judy Freize, District 6 RMC 405 In Memoriam 413 Recess 426 WEDNESDAY MORNING July 31, 2019 Call to Order 428 Invocation by Deb Casey, Local 2204 428 Moment of Silence - v Passing of President Emeritus Morton Bahr 429 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Appeals Committee Report Appeal Nos. 1 thru 14 432-504 Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens 504 Raffle Announcements Resolutions & Rules Committee: 77A-19-4 – Tax Reform to Promote Fairness, 505 Good Jobs, and Public Service 77A-19-5 Workers' Rights and Labor Law Reform 520 77A-19-6 International Worker Solidarity 533 Points of Personal Privilege 544 Motion to Adjourn 559 Closing Remarks by President Shelton 559 Adjournment - 563 Appendix - Defense Fund Oversight Committee & Constitution Committee Report 1 P R O C E E D I N G S - - - - - - - - - - - of the 77th CONVENTION of the COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA AFL-CIO, CLC _______ Westgate Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada July 29-31, 2019 VOLUME I Bona Fide Reporting Company P.O. Box 16535 Fernandina Beach, FL 32035 2 MONDAY MORNING SESSION July 29, 2019 The 77th Convention of the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC, held July 29 -31, 2019, in the ballroom of the Westgate Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, convened at 9:04 a.m., Temporary Chair Marc Ellis, President, CWA Local 9413, presiding. TEMPORARY CHAIR ELLIS: Please take your seats. The official clock here in Las Vegas, Nevada, indicates that it's a little past 9:00 a.m. That means it's time for us to begin our work. I ask everyone to please be seated as I call the 77th Convention of the Communications Workers of America to order. (Applause) We have a lot of business to take up over the next three days. So again, I ask that everyone be seated so that we can get underway. My name is Marc Ellis, and I am the President of CWA Local 9413, and I want to welcome everybody to Nevada. I have served at my local as a Steward, Legislative & Political Chair since 2015. I have 3 been a lobbyist for my local, and I was sworn in as President of Local 9413 in 2018. I currently serve as a vice president and board member of the Nevada State AFL-CIO. I am honored to serve as the Temporary Chair this morning and, on behalf of the members of Local 9413 and all of CWA District 9, welcome to Las Vegas and the 77th Convention of the Communications Workers of America. (Applause) We will open our Convention, as we traditionally do, with a prayer. This morning we will be led by our very own Nevada State Senator, Pat Spearman, a fierce advocate for working families in Nevada. Before being elected State Senator, Spearman served in the United States Army for 29 years, reaching a rank of Lieutenant Colonel. She is the founding pastor of Resurrection Faith Community Ministries in North Las Vegas. If Senator, Pastor, and Lieutenant Colonel weren't enough titles, she also earned her title of Doctor when she received her Doctorate of Business Administration from Walden University. I give you Senator, Lieutenant Colonel, 4 Doctor, and Pastor Pat Spearman. HONORABLE PAT SPEARMAN (Nevada State Senator): Good morning. Let us pray. Dear God, we stand before you with thankful hearts. We are thankful for our lives, our liberty, and military men and women who serve to protect our liberties. We are also thankful for the opportunity to pursue the happiness that comes when we live according to our divine design. The challenges of our country are many and complex, yet we are not discouraged. God, because You have endowed us with wisdom to deliberate, the ability to communicate, and when we are pushed to our outer limits of our capacity, we have the humility to delegate. And so now we acknowledge the sovereignty of Your being and we ask that Your spirit would enter into this moment in history-- a moment pregnant with possibilities disguised as problems and a moment of political acrimony. But this is also a moment, God, that punctuates our corporate commitment to democracy. We 5 invoke your plans for this process so that the selfless purpose will energize our thoughts, the truth will guide our words, and the power of love will animate our actions. Help us to understand the difference between unanimous and unity, to disagree without being disagreeable, and to see that complacency in a crisis is equivalent to complicity in a crime. Let those who deliberate do so with the wisdom of Solomon, the ethical fortitude of Coretta Scott King, and the unbridled tenacity of Shirley Chisholm. Help us to remember that fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the determination to face the danger despite personal trepidation. Help us to remember the least of these, and help us, God, to become the bright light shining in the hour of darkness and despair. This is our prayer to You for the gift of Your people, in Your righteous name, Shalom, Amen, and Akshay. (Applause) TEMPORARY CHAIR ELLIS: Thank you, Senator Spearman. 6 Please remain standing for the Presentation of the Colors, followed by singing of the national anthems of the United States and Canada, by Jeanette Spoor, Local 1103, RMC member, followed by the Puerto Rican National Anthem that will be sung by Rolando Hernandez, President Local 3010. ... The Presentation of the Colors was followed by the singing of the national anthems of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico ... (Applause and cheers) TEMPORARY CHAIR ELLIS: Thank you, Henderson Police Color Guard. It is my honor to introduce the Nevada State AFL-CIO President, CWA's own Liz Sorenson. Liz is an Administrative Assistant in District 9. Along with being all of this, she is also my friend and mentor, always driving me on to bigger and better things. It's because of her leadership that I am standing here before you today. She pushed to have the political boot camps throughout our district and made sure that members from Nevada were included in these trainings that have transformed our union and 7 begun to build up our political power. Though always being an active union member, she ultimately realized that we can't keep doing things like we have for the past 40 years. Our fight has changed, and we need to change with it. We need to take corporate power on in America and, with the support of leaders like Liz, we are taking them on here in the great state of Nevada. (Applause) ELIZABETH SORENSON (Nevada AFL-CIO President): Good morning. Thank you, Brother Marc, for that very kind introduction.