Communications Workers of America
Overview and Governing Documents
Current governing documents, institutional scope, sector boundaries and verified changes from 2023 through 2026.
Evidence reviewed through .
Parent-union scope and current leadership
CWA represents workers across multiple industries, including telecommunications, media, manufacturing, public service and aviation. It does not use one uniform base or domicile structure. Geographic districts, industrial sectors and divisions, and chartered locals carry out different functions under the parent Constitution.
The official leadership roster identifies President Claude Cummings Jr. and Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam, elected in July 2023. The current 20-position Executive Board comprises those two officers, seven district vice presidents, six sector/division vice presidents, the Canadian director and four at-large diversity members. The roster identifies the offices; the Constitution and applicable sector instruments define their powers.
Sources: About CWA; CWA leadership roster; 2023 Convention proceedings; Constitution, IX.1 and XII.
Governing documents
| Document and issuer | Edition or date | Scope and source |
|---|---|---|
| CWA Constitution | As Amended August 2025 | Official PDF · official HTML and landing page. Governing institutions, elections, finances, bargaining, discipline and member controls. |
| CWA Union Operating Procedures Manual | Revised March 2024 | Official PDF. Operating procedures and worked examples; later enacted rules and guidance may supersede particular provisions. |
| CWA Convention proceedings | July 10–12, 2023; August 11–12, 2025 | 79th Convention proceedings · 80th Convention proceedings. Actual motions, amendments and dispositions. Committee recommendations alone do not establish adoption. |
| CWA collection-policy notices | June–July 2026 | Special Convention official call · July 2026 Secretary-Treasurer guidance. The reported reversal of the 2025 collection policy and July 6 implementation. |
| CWA-AFA Constitution and Bylaws | Amended March 9, 2026 | Official sector PDF · sector document landing page. Appendix A preserves the merger agreement and related instruments relevant to the parent-sector boundary. |
All sources in this register were checked for the October 23, 2026 review. The parent Constitution’s January 2026 file-modification date does not change its August 2025 amendment label. The sector compilation’s 2026 date likewise does not make its historical merger provisions new 2026 rules.
The constitutional allocation of authority
Article VII identifies the Convention as CWA’s highest governing authority, subject to member referendum. The Executive Board acts between conventions under the Constitution and Convention decisions; the President executes established policy. Those are separate functions with separate limits.
The Convention interprets and amends the Constitution. The Board may interpret provisions where Convention has not done so, subject to the constitutional constraints and referendum. National officers and Executive Board members may speak at Convention, but they may not serve as voting delegates or vote there.
Article IX.6 permits nonuniform affiliation and merger terms. A sector’s powers cannot therefore be inferred solely from its position on an organization chart. The authority analysis maps the governing bodies and the powers each exercises.
Sources: Constitution, VII.1, VIII.7(c), VIII.12, IX.4(k) and IX.6; PDF pp.7–15.
Verified changes, 2023–2026
| Event | Verified disposition | Meaning for the current analysis |
|---|---|---|
| 2023: unauthorized ad hoc investigative committees | Proposed disciplinary amendment failed, 100,238 weighted votes to 147,880. | The proposed offense did not become a constitutional rule. Proceedings, p.114. |
| 2023: eligibility, accessibility and mutual respect | Study and review committees were created. | The resolutions initiated review; recommendations were not automatically enacted. Proceedings, pp.192–205. |
| 2025: disciplinary procedures | National mutual-respect charges and an agreed video-trial option were adopted. | Current Articles XIX–XX govern the resulting grounds, procedures and safeguards. Proceedings, pp.198–208. |
| 2025: fund oversight | Separate Passenger Services representation on the Defense Fund Oversight Committee was adopted, despite committee opposition. | CWA-AFA and Passenger Services are separate specified constituencies. Proceedings, pp.217–222. |
| 2025: off-year financial review | Expanded Finance Committee reporting and budget recommendations at non-Convention Presidents’ Meetings were adopted, beginning in 2026. | The adopted process must be distinguished from whether a particular later budget proposal was approved. Proceedings, pp.222–226. |
| 2025: Telecom and Technology consolidation | Postponed indefinitely, 172,587 weighted votes to 114,484. | The proposal did not eliminate the sector; the current Constitution retains its provisions. Proceedings, p.215. |
| 2025: PHEW and staff-membership eligibility | Proposed amendments were withdrawn. | Committee recommendations and Board endorsement did not enact those amendments. Proceedings, p.180. |
| 2025: publishing all submitted resolutions | The motion, including rejected proposals, failed. | The proposed publication duty did not become an operative requirement. Proceedings, p.457. |
| 2025–2026: dues collection | The 2025 actual-versus-anticipated collection resolution was adopted and subsequently rescinded in 2026. | July guidance reports restoration of the previous deduction method from July 6. This concerns collection processing, not a dues-rate increase. 2025 proceedings, pp.439–451; July 2026 guidance. |
The 2025 “CWA Unbreakable” resolution also changed fund-allocation and strike-benefit rules. Its conditions and effective date are addressed in the financial analysis alongside the relevant finance reports.
Sources: Resolution 80A-25-01; adoption in 2025 proceedings, p.267.
Two source discrepancies remain visible. The July 2026 notice opens with a June 1 Special Convention date but later refers to July; the official call schedules July 1 and identifies June 1 as the Board’s call decision. The current Constitution also retains an older suspension cross-reference in Article XIX.3 alongside the expanded wording in XIX.2(c). The review records these inconsistencies without silently rewriting the sources.
Sources: 2026 Special Convention official call; July 2026 guidance; Constitution, PDF p.39; 2025 proceedings, pp.198–208.
The boundary with CWA-AFA
The merger agreement preserved the sector’s internal structure, flight-attendant jurisdiction and specified consent protections against dissolution, merger or impairment of its authority. It retained National Mediation Board bargaining rights and contract and grievance administration. The agreement also addresses the sector’s budget process, premerger net assets and specified office or staffing changes.
These provisions require a more specific account than describing every sector power as a uniform, revocable delegation from national officers. Merger disputes have a stated negotiation and binding-arbitration process. The historical withdrawal option was time-limited; it is not a continuing unrestricted right to leave at any time.
The CWA-AFA analysis examines the sector’s governing bodies and asks what benefit accrued from the merger, including what CWA legal, financial or advisory assistance can be documented and traced.
Sources: CWA-AFA Constitution and Bylaws, Appendix A §§4–6, 9–12 and related memoranda, PDF pp.161–166.
Significance
National authority is substantial and bounded. The governing question is which provision grants a power, who exercises it, and what consent, appeal, referendum or other control applies. Financial and service claims need their own records; institutional structure alone does not establish the value received by a sector or member.