The Communications Workers of America is advancing a labor message that connects representation, solidarity and public infrastructure. In today’s conversation on the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews outlined how the union is elevating women and leaders of color, rallying around a member’s family in crisis and continuing its push for broadband expansion and consumer protections across underserved communities.
The latest America’s Work Force conversation with CWA District 4 Administrative Director Frank Mathews opened with a broader reflection on labor history and who gets to lead. Framed by Black History Month and Women’s History Month, the discussion focused on how the Communications Workers of America has worked to align its leadership structure with its membership.
Mathews pointed to a long-running effort inside the union to ensure that leadership is not symbolic but representative. In a union where many members are women, and many are people of color, that question carries practical weight. Representation at the top is not only about visibility. It is about whether the union’s priorities, culture and decision-making reflect the lived experience of the workers it serves.
This evolution has become increasingly visible in recent years, as CWA members voted Claude Cummings Jr. as President, marking a major milestone in the union’s history. Union delegates also elected Amina Salam as Secretary-Treasurer, another significant step in broadening leadership at the national level. In District 4, Linda Hinton’s leadership stands as another marker of that shift.
For Mathews, those developments are part of a longer labor story. Historically, unions have often offered one of the few pathways to stable wages, benefits and workplace respect for women and workers of color. In sectors tied to telecommunications and customer service, many jobs were long filled by women. Through collective bargaining and union standards, those positions became jobs that could support families rather than low-paid work treated as disposable.
That history matters because it places today’s leadership gains in a larger context. CWA is not presenting diversity as a branding exercise. It is framing it as a continuation of labor’s role in expanding dignity, fairness and opportunity on the job.
The interview also highlighted how the CWA is using March to spotlight women whose work strengthened labor and working families. Mathews described Women’s History Month as a major point of emphasis for the union, with national and local channels recognizing women from labor and public life whose contributions helped reshape opportunities for others.
This effort serves a purpose beyond commemoration, as it reinforces the union’s internal message that leadership should be visible, attainable and rooted in service. It also gives members a clearer sense of continuity between past struggles and present organizing.
AWF host Ed “Flash” Ferenc underscored that point by highlighting female leaders who have broken barriers within the labor movement and then used those positions to deliver concrete results. The discussion cited CWA Local 1180 President Gloria Middleton as one example of how leadership milestones can translate into material gains for members.
In that framing, labor history is not static. It is active, local and tied to institutional power. The people being recognized are not only symbols of progress, they are organizers, negotiators and advocates whose work has shaped wages, workplace equity and member confidence.
The conversation then shifted from leadership to solidarity in its most immediate form. Mathews used the national platform to raise awareness of a kidney donor search for Elias Manolis, the 13-year-old son of CWA Local 1180 member Margaret Manolis.
According to Mathews, Elias has spent his life managing chronic kidney disease and now needs a transplant. The CWA has posted information through its national website to help expand awareness and connect potential living donors with the screening process.
Mathews explained that the appeal reflects a familiar union principle: when one member’s family is in crisis, the broader labor movement responds. In this case, the CWA is using its communications network not for bargaining updates or political alerts, but to mobilize care. That includes directing supporters to an online form where people can learn more about becoming a donor or being screened to see if they are a possible match.
For labor audiences, the story connects people across geography, turns attention into action and reminds members that solidarity is not an abstract slogan. Mathews said It is practical, urgent and often deeply personal.
The second half of the interview returned to a topic that has become central to CWA’s public policy work: broadband expansion. Mathews said the issue remains unfinished, with some states still awaiting approvals and others working through shifting rules that have slowed progress.
The larger point was clear, he said. Broadband is no longer a luxury service or a side issue in telecommunications policy. It is essential infrastructure tied to education, employment, health access and civic participation. When communities lack reliable internet service, they are cut off from opportunities that now define everyday life.
The CWA’s position treats broadband as both an access issue and a labor issue, Mathews explained. The union wants the buildout to move forward, but it also wants the work done by qualified companies that meet high standards for safety, quality and accountability. It reflects a broader union view that public investment should create durable public value rather than rushed contracts and uneven service.
Mathews also argued that broadband expansion alone is not enough. Even where service exists, affordability and reliability remain major barriers. That is why the CWA is encouraging states to think beyond infrastructure and toward consumer protections.
Among the ideas discussed were baseline affordable service for low-income households and older residents, along with clearer standards for repairs and outages. The underlying argument is straightforward: if broadband is essential, then the public has a legitimate interest in making sure it is accessible and dependable.
He noted that the approach echoes older utility-style protections that once governed telephone service more directly. As communications regulations changed over time, many of those safeguards weakened or disappeared. The CWA now sees an opening to rebuild at least some of that framework around broadband.
Mathews pointed to Illinois as an encouraging example, where legislation has been introduced to establish a more affordable base level of broadband service for vulnerable populations. He described that as an early but meaningful step toward a more worker- and consumer-centered model.
Taken together, the interview’s themes are all connected. Leadership matters because workers deserve institutions that reflect them. Solidarity matters because unions are strongest when they mobilize for members in moments of real need. Broadband matters because access to modern communications infrastructure now shapes whether communities can participate fully in economic life.
That is the throughline the CWA brought to America’s Workforce. The union is not treating these as disconnected stories. It presents them as part of the same mission: building a labor movement and a public policy agenda that expands dignity, access and security for working families.
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