Frank Mathews, administrative director of CWA District 4, joined America's Work Force Union Podcast as part of the Labor 132 series, presented by the National Labor Office of Blue Cross Blue Shield. He traced the history of the Communications Workers of America from its founding as a union in 1947 through decades of growth, landmark contract wins, barrier-breaking leadership elections and the tradition that has defined the union's identity since 1989.
Mathews highlighted major milestones, including the 1971 nationwide AT&T strike that produced the first cost-of-living adjustment in the Bell System, the 1970 consent decree that addressed systemic discrimination by AT&T, the creation and growth of the member relief fund and the diversification of CWA into gaming, healthcare, higher education and high-tech.
Finally, Mathews told the story of Gerry Horgan, a chief steward, Marine, volunteer firefighter and family man who was struck and killed by a replacement worker driving through a picket line during the 1989 NYNEX strike — and how his memory is honored every Thursday when CWA members wear red.
- CWA was founded as a union in 1947, primarily rooted in the telephone industry. It has since grown to represent workers in telecom, news media, airlines, broadcast and cable, public sector, higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, high-tech and gaming across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Landmark CWA milestones include the 1971 nationwide AT&T strike that produced the first cost-of-living adjustment ever negotiated in the Bell System, the 1970 consent decree requiring AT&T to compensate victims of discrimination and implement affirmative action and elections in 2023 of Claude Cummings Jr. and Ameenah Salaam as the first Black male president and first Black female secretary-treasurer of an international union to serve simultaneously.
- The CWA member relief fund, seeded in 1951 at 50 cents per member per month and restructured in 1992 to be funded at a quarter-hour per month per member, now provides $300 per week to striking members after 14 days on strike, rising to $400 per week after 29 days. Mathews said the fund is not primarily used as strike support but as a deterrent to employer leverage, because companies that count on members being unable to sustain a work stoppage financially are confronted with the reality that members will have income coming in regardless.
- Gerry Horgan was a chief steward with CWA Local 1103, a U.S. Marine, volunteer firefighter, mountain rescue team member, husband, father, son and brother who was struck and killed by a replacement worker driving through a picket line during the 1989 NYNEX strike. Aug. 15 marks the anniversary of his death. CWA members have worn red in his honor on Thursdays ever since. Red has become so identified with the union that suppliers now automatically refer to the color as CWA red, Mathews said.
Where You've Been Shapes Where You're Going
Frank Mathews opened by sharing what he thinks about when speaking to younger members. Knowing where you are going matters, but knowing where you have been matters just as much. The Communications Workers of America has been around long enough that its history contains some of the most consequential moments in American labor — and some of its most personal ones.
CWA became a union in 1947, founded primarily in the telephone industry. Today, the union represents workers in telecom, news media, airlines, broadcast and cable, the public sector, higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, high-tech and, most recently, gaming — across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The growth, Mathews said, reflects a strategic vision to diversify and grow, because you have to.
The Milestones That Made CWA
Mathews walked through a set of what he called high points and mileposts that cemented the CWA as a national labor union.
The 1971 nationwide strike against AT&T is one of the union's defining moments. It was only the second nationwide CWA strike since the first in 1947. The country was experiencing significant inflation — conditions Mathews said feel familiar from recent years — and after a one-week work stoppage, CWA achieved the biggest economic package ever negotiated within the Bell System. For the first time, the agreement included a cost-of-living adjustment. Mathews noted that COLA is a term used casually in labor conversations today, but recognizing that 1971 was the first time CWA had won one can be a genuine wake-up call to members who have grown up with it as a standard expectation.
In 1970, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed charges against AT&T and its 24 operating companies for discriminating on the basis of sex, race and national origin in employment practices. CWA was central to what followed: a consent decree that provided compensation for victims of past discrimination and established an affirmative action program to change the pattern of discrimination across the Bell System. Mathews called it one of the biggest settlements in CWA's history.
The union's member relief fund has a history of its own. In 1951, CWA created a defense fund seeded at 50 cents per member per month to support members and locals involved in strikes. In 1992, the convention restructured the fund at one-quarter hour of pay per member per month. Today, the fund provides $300 per week to any member on strike after 14 days, rising to $400 per week after 29 days.
Mathews made a point of explaining the fund's real strategic value. Employers often count on members being unable to financially sustain a work stoppage and use that assumption as leverage at the bargaining table, implicitly or explicitly telling workers they cannot afford to strike. The changes to the member relief fund affect that calculation. When CWA goes to the table and makes it clear that members will have income coming in regardless of how long a strike lasts — enough to cover a mortgage payment, a car payment, groceries and insurance — it removes one of management's most reliable weapons. The fund deters strikes, Mathews said, precisely because it makes the threat of a strike credible.
The union has also been a consistent barrier-breaker in leadership. In 1992, Barb Easterling of Akron, Ohio, became the first woman ever elected to a national union executive position when she was elected CWA secretary-treasurer. In 2023, the union's 79th annual convention elected Claude Cummings Jr. as national president and Ameenah Salaam as international secretary-treasurer — the first Black male president and first Black female secretary-treasurer of an international union to serve simultaneously. Mathews said the union's leadership has grown over the years to reflect its membership, and described that as a point of genuine pride.
Red on Thursday: The Story of Gerry Horgan
Since 1989, CWA members across the country have worn red on Thursdays. It is one of the union's most visible and most meaningful traditions. Mathews told the story behind it.
In 1989, CWA went on strike against NYNEX Corporation in New York. Gerry Horgan was a chief steward with Local 1103, assigned to a picket line in Westchester County. NYNEX had hired replacement workers to maintain operations during the strike. On Aug. 15, 1989, a car driven by a replacement worker came through the picket line and struck Gerry Horgan. He died as a result of his injuries.
Horgan was not only a union member. He was a U.S. Marine, a volunteer firefighter and a member of a mountain rescue team. He was also a husband, father, son and brother. Mathews said he was the kind of person who spent his life showing up for others — in the union hall, on the mountain and in the firehouse.
In the years that followed, CWA members began wearing red on Thursdays to honor his memory. Red had not been a CWA color before that. The union did not have a signature color, but AFSCME members are recognized by green. After Horgan's death, red became that color. Today, Mathews said, suppliers automatically ask whether a CWA order should be in CWA red. The color and the cause have become inseparable.
Aug. 15 marks the 37th anniversary of Gerry Horgan's death. The red shirt tradition is a reminder. The struggles workers face are real, Mathews said, adding that the labor movement has been built on sacrifice and the people who came before us paid a price that made possible everything that came after.
The reasons to wear red go beyond the story of one man. They include anger at jobs being downsized and replaced by contractors. Anger at work sold to other companies without compensation or protection of vested rights. Anger at workers having no voice in management decisions that affect their lives. Anger at age being used as a factor in headcount reductions. Anger at mandatory unpaid overtime that crowds out vacation, sick leave and training. Anger at every form of indignity the workplace can impose on a person who simply wants to do their job and go home to their family.
All of that anger, Mathews said, has a color. It is red. And it is worn on Thursdays.
More information on CWA District 4 is available at cwad4.org.
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