Claude Cummings Jr. will be Communications Workers first African-American president

Veteran union leader Claude Cummings Jr., 71, won a runoff late on July 10 for the presidency of the Communications Workers, becoming the influential and progressive union’s first-ever African American in its top job and its first-ever Southerner.

Cummings is the union vice president who leads CWA’s District 6, headquartered in Austin, Texas, and was the longtime president of Houston-based Local 6222. He defeated Ed Mooney, the union vice president and leader of mid-Atlantic District 2-13.

Cummings succeeds current President Chris Shelton, who is retiring at the end of this convention, on July 13, in St. Louis.

The victory for Cummings keeps the leadership of the union in the hands of a telecom worker, and the candidate with the longest union experience—50 years—a point he emphasized in his campaign.

Fred Redmond to Serve as AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer

USW International President Tom Conway issued the following statement today after the AFL-CIO Executive Council elected USW International Vice President Fred Redmond to serve as secretary-treasurer, making him the first African American to hold the organization's No. 2 office:

“We are incredibly proud that the AFL-CIO Executive Council selected USW International Vice President Fred Redmond to serve as its secretary-treasurer alongside AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

“Fred is a decades-long union activist with a proven commitment to both negotiating good contracts and advancing civil and human rights, including through his recent work as chair of the AFL-CIO Task Force on Racial Justice. We know that he will bring the same passion and dedication to his new position.

“Workers across our nation are facing unprecedented challenges, and we are deeply grateful to Fred for assuming this role, even as he continues his work with the USW. Rich Trumka’s passing reverberated throughout the labor movement, but despite our grief, I know Fred, like all of us, is committed to ensuring the AFL-CIO’s vital mission goes uninterrupted.”

McDonald's CEO Don Thompson supports a minimum wage increase

[SOURCE] One of the largest employers of low-wage workers said that the company will support a minimum wage hike. That is, if the legislation moves forward.

McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson gave the conditional endorsement in a widely overlooked speech last month at Northwestern University, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

“You know, our franchisees look at me when I say this and they start to worry: ‘Don, don’t you say it. Don’t you say we support $10.10,’” Thompson said. “I will tell you we will support legislation that moves forward.”

“McDonald’s will be fine,” he said at the early May speech. “We’ll manage through whatever the additional cost implications are.”