This post was originally published on Defender Network
By Aswad Walker
Though Labor Day 2023 has come and gone, the resurgent fight for labor rights continues. From sea to shining sea, in every industry imaginable, workers are raising their voices, demanding fair wages, access to an increased share in company profits, improved benefits, safer working conditions, an end to the racial and gender pay gaps, and more.
But with CEO salaries reaching record highs while annual real wages (average salaries adjusted for inflation) decreasing, the question many are asking is, “Who is fighting for the rights of workers”?
One of those fighters is Claude Cummings, a Houston native and Kashmere High School alum, who in July was elected president of one of the nation’s largest unions, the Communications Workers of America. Cummings leads the CWA’s 700,000 private and public sector workers who make up arguably America’s most diverse union, with not just communications and information industry professionals, but also workers in news media, airlines, broadcast and cable television, public service, higher education, health care, manufacturing, high tech and more.