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.
