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Communications Workers of America (CWA)

Communications Workers of America

CWA

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Quick Facts
Address

501 3RD STREET, N.W.
WASHINGTON, DC 20001

CWA's Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

UnionUnit Name/LocationMembers
Communications Workers of America Division Iue/cwa District 7
Dayton, OH		47,000
Communications Workers of America State Council Ohio
Rossford, OH		30,000
Communications Workers of America Council Southern California
Pasadena, CA		22,269
Communications Workers of America Council Northern California-Nevada
San Jose, CA		13,719
Communications Workers of America Local 6186
Austin, TX		11,173
Communications Workers of America Local 1037
Newark, NJ		8,758
Communications Workers of America Council Western New York
Buffalo, NY		8,699
Communications Workers of America Local 1180
New York, NY		8,036
Communications Workers of America Local 1040
Trenton, NJ		7,377
Communications Workers of America Local 9400
Paramount, CA		7,376
» See All Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Financial Information

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which is enforced by the Office of Labor-Management Standards, requires labor unions to file annual reports detailing their operations. Contained in those reports are breakdowns of each union's spending, income and other financial information.

Total Assets Trend

Basic Financials

  • Total Assets?: $644,378,769.00
  • Total Liabilities?: $291,050,335.00
  • Total Income?: $636,525,284.00
  • Total Spent?: $638,211,352.00

» See Historical Financial Information

Assets (Change from previous report)

  • Cash?: $3,205,589.00 (-34.5%)
  • Accounts Receivable?: $11,536,689.00 (-31.2%)
  • Investments?: $455,573,003.00 (+44.4%)
  • Fixed Assets?: $43,131,728.00 (+44.4%)
  • Treasury Securities?: $113,687,813.00 (-13.2%)
  • Other Assets?: $1,962,066.00 (+14.6%)
  • Loans Receivable?: $15,281,881.00 (+2.9%)

Liabilities

Income

  • Dues?: $0.00
  • Per Person Tax?: $132,048,196.00
  • Investments?: $349,610,457.00
  • Supplies?: $0.00
  • Loan Repayment?: $0.00
  • Interest?: $13,575,145.00
  • Dividends?: $0.00
  • Rents?: $1,410,000.00
  • Fees and Fines?: $73,036.00
  • Loans Obtained?: $4,580,000.00
  • Other Receipts?: $9,447,734.00
  • Affiliates?: $5,108.00
  • Members?: $125,493,007.00
  • Reinvestments?: $282,601.00
  • All Others?: $1,875,586.00

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Spending

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) requires unions to report how they spent their money in a number of categories. For the first five, OLMS requires unions to provide detailed information on any recipient that received more than $5,000 per year.

Total Spent in 2011: $638,211,352.00

Search All Spending

Spending Breakdown

  • Representational?: $58,460,876.00 (9.16%)
  • Political Activities and Lobbying?: $2,044,595.00 (0.32%)
  • Contributions, Gifts, and Grants?: $719,342.00 (0.11%)
  • General Overhead?: $17,881,498.00 (2.80%)
  • Union Administration?: $30,133,988.00 (4.72%)
  • Strike Benefits?: $0.00 (0.00%)
  • To Union Officers?: $3,154,145.00 (0.49%)
  • To Union Employees?: $41,388,195.00 (6.49%)
  • Education?: $0.00 (0.00%)
  • Fees?: $0.00 (0.00%)

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Membership

Total Members: 468,469

Membership Trend



YearMembers
2002589,143
2003557,136
2004576,153
2005545,638
2006720,534
2007559,083
2008549,791
2009492,762
2010503,790
2011468,469

Income per Member: $1,358.73

Dues

see item 69 per month

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Officers and Employees

  • Average Total Compensation: $56,118.06
  • Total Employees: 346
  • Employees Making more than $75,000: 82

Top Ten Highest Paid Leaders

NameTitleTotal Compensation
$2,619,301.00
JAMES CLARKIUE-CWA DIVISION PRESIDEN$218,404.00
LAWRENCE COHENPRESIDENT$199,043.00
JAMES WEITKAMPVICE PRESIDENT$181,022.00
JEFFREY RECHENBACHSECRETARY-TREASURER$175,706.00
CLARENCE MILBURN JRVICE PRESIDENT$173,677.00
JUDITH DENNISVICE PRESIDENT$171,329.00
CHRISTOPHER SHELTONVICE PRESIDENT$171,144.00
ANNIE HILLEXEC VICE PRES$167,718.00
RONALD COLLINSVICE PRESIDENT$164,962.00

» See All Employees' Compensation and Salary History

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Political Activities

FEC

Overall Contributions

Democrats: $13,288,022.00 (0.9616)
Republicans: $417,843.00 (0.0302)

CWA's Political Action Committees

Political Action CommitteeTotal Contributed
Communications Workers of America$11,848,698.00
Assn of Flight Attendants$698,500.00
Communications Workers Local 13000$478,200.00
Electronic Machine Furniture Workers$437,900.00
Communications Workers of America$177,731.00
Communications Workers of America$150,000.00
Communications Workers of America$28,036.00

Source: Federal Elections Commission by way of the Center for Responsive Politics

Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

State-level Political Operations

Democrats: $9,454,877.93
Republicans: $597,774.00

Source: National Institute on Money in State Politics by way of Transparency Data.

Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

527 Spending

A union's 527 committee makes contributions to political candidates and other organizations for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. Unlike Political Action Committees, which are strictly regulated by the Federal Election Commission, 527s are regulated by the IRS. These committees are often considered a form of "soft money."

Total 527 Expenditures: $7,439,491.00

CWA's 527 Committee(s)

527 CommitteeTotal Spent
Communications Workers of America$7,325,416.00
CWA Local 1032$114,075.00

Source: Internal Revenue Service by way of the Center for Responsive Politics

Last Updated: March 1st, 2011

Lobbying

Federal Lobbying

Total Spent Lobbying: $7,077,500.00

Lobbying Expenditures Trend

CWA's Major Issues

IssueTotal Spent Lobbying
Health Issues$160,000.00
Labor, Antitrust & Workplace$140,000.00

CWA Lobbying Groups

ClientTotal Spent Lobbying
Communications Workers of America$5,820,000.00
Assn of Flight Attendants$1,257,500.00

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Last Updated: March 1st, 2011

Crime, Corruption, and Racketeering

Corruption and Embezzlement Charges

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducts investigations to determine if violations of the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) provisions have occurred.

Investigations are initiated based on various sources such as complaints from union members; information developed by OLMS as a result of reviewing reports filed; information developed during an OLMS audit of a union’s books and records; and information obtained from other government agencies. Investigations may involve civil matters (such as an election of union officers) or criminal matters (such as embezzlement of union funds).

Type of Criminal ActivityNumber of Incidents
1
Criminal Charges20
Criminal Convictions1
Embezzlement Charges31
Guilty Pleas32
Indictments8
Officials Sentenced24

Some incidents may be accounted for in multiple categories.

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Last Updated: March 1st, 2011

Financial Audits

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has responsibility under the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) to conduct audits to determine if unions are complying with the law.

OLMS uses a streamlined audit approach called the Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to audit local unions which utilizes specialized records review and investigative techniques to verify LMRDA compliance.

LocalViolationsView Audit
CWA Local 63013Full Audit Text
CWA Local 46754Full Audit Text
CWA Local 145145Full Audit Text
CWA Local 847780Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84-7274Full Audit Text
CWA Local 77082Full Audit Text
CWA Local 77042Full Audit Text
CWA Local 3010Full Audit Text
CWA Local 884005Full Audit Text
CWA Local 148371Full Audit Text
CWA Local 88-1232Full Audit Text
CWA Local 62062Full Audit Text
CWA Local 62021Full Audit Text
CWA Local 60098Full Audit Text
CWA Local 861063Full Audit Text
CWA Local 13024Full Audit Text
CWA Local 847497Full Audit Text
CWA Local 70500Full Audit Text
CWA Local 11532Full Audit Text
CWA Local 20005Full Audit Text
CWA Local 76107Full Audit Text
CWA Local 861138Full Audit Text
CWA Local Beckley2Full Audit Text
CWA Local 310262Full Audit Text
CWA Local 813132Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84-7081Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84-7081Full Audit Text
CWA Local 63506Full Audit Text
CWA Local 848401Full Audit Text
CWA Local 795Full Audit Text
CWA Local 2390Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4485Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4603Full Audit Text
CWA Local 7103Full Audit Text
CWA Local 14733Full Audit Text
CWA Local 31032Full Audit Text
CWA Local 31041Full Audit Text
CWA Local 38218Full Audit Text
CWA Local 81408Full Audit Text
CWA Local 86004Full Audit Text
CWA Local 14620Full Audit Text
CWA Local 7304Full Audit Text
CWA Local 81215Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4217Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1022Full Audit Text
CWA Local 14845Full Audit Text
CWA Local 51025Full Audit Text
CWA Local 14177Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84704Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1701Full Audit Text
CWA Local 81311Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4671Full Audit Text
CWA Local 13302Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1122Full Audit Text
CWA Local 34071Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1300Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4487Full Audit Text
CWA Local 14169Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84809Full Audit Text
CWA Local 13500Full Audit Text
CWA Local 4401Full Audit Text
CWA Local 7290Full Audit Text
CWA Local 39521Full Audit Text
CWA Local 6320Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1060Full Audit Text
CWA Local 81353Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84797Full Audit Text
CWA Local 2203Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1113Full Audit Text
CWA Local 1152Full Audit Text
CWA Local 84749Full Audit Text

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Last Updated: January 1st, 2010

Union Decertifications

Unionized employees can elect to revoke a union's right to represent them through a process called a decertification. In order to decertify a union, a majority of the unionized employees must vote to remove the union in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Total Decertification Petitions: 260

Recent Decertification Petitions

Case NumberName/UnionDate Filed
04-RD-02151IDEARC Media
Communications Workers of America Local 13500, AFL-CIO		February 9th, 2009
32-RD-01569AT & T
Communication Workers of America, Local 9423		February 4th, 2009
04-RD-02146IDEARC Media
Communications Workers of America Local 13500		December 30th, 2008
05-RD-01449Verizon Information Srvs. T.A. Idearc Media
Communications Workers of America, Local 2201		November 24th, 2008
02-RD-01572Telecom Infrastructure
Communications Workers of America Local 1109		October 31st, 2008
22-RD-01501I.B.A. Molecular
Communication Workers of America		September 29th, 2008
36-RD-01710General Electric Company
Communication Workers of America Local 7990, AFL-CIO		July 29th, 2008
04-RD-02140AT&T Mobility
Communications Workers of America Local 13-100		May 5th, 2008
01-RD-02111Gormally Broadcasting (WGGB)
National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians/Communications Workers of America, Local 51019, AFL-CIO		April 16th, 2008
09-RD-02170AT&T Mobility
Communications Workers of America, District 3 (CWA)		March 21st, 2008

» See All Decertifications

Source: National Labor Relations Board; Case Activity Tracking System

Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Allegations

Unionized employees, business owners, managers, and others often bring labor law charges against unions. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) oversees the porcess of determining if the union violated the National Labor Relations Act.

AllegationCases Filed
Duty of Fair Representation1277
Other Allegations325
Union Security Related (including Beck)51
Actions of Picketers31
Threatening Statements30
Coercive Statements27
Harassment25
Statements23
Bad Faith/Surface Bargaining (Succeeding Contract)22
Refusal to Furnish Information20
Union Security Related17
Lawsuits17
Reserved Gate Issues12
Discipline (including charges/fines)11
Picketing/Strike Actions11
Failure to Sign Agreement8
Disparagement of Employee8
All Allegations8
Unknown7
Resignation of Membership (Patternmakers)7

Please notes a single case may fall into multiple allegation categories.

Source: National Labor Relations Board; Case Activity Tracking System

Recent Strikes

Employer/LocationUnionDays on StrikeEmployees on Strike
Hubbell Power Systems Inc
Centralia, MO		IUE CWA Local 868218506
Verizon Information Services
Bronx, NY		CWA Local 1101277
Sprint, Inc. (Leesburg, Ocala, and Winter Garden Dis
Leesburg, FL		CWA Local 51179
Overlook Mutual Homes, Inc.
Dayton, OH		CWA Local 515
VINDICATOR PRINTING COMPANY
YOUNGSTOWN, OH		CWA Local 11261180
Swepo Tube Corporation
Clifton, NJ		CWA Local 81427858

» See all strikes

Source: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Pensions

Pensions Linked to the Union

Pension Name/SponsorMembersFunding Percentage
Cwa/itu Negotiated Pension Plan
Board of Trustees		36,23081.0

Source: Internal Revenue Service.