2025 PHEW Conference

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The 2025 PHEW CWA Conference will take place in Denver, CO, June 5-8. Our theme this year is PHEW for the Many. Our objective is to walk away from the Conference united with a program of action to grow and mobilize our union to strengthen our sector, CWA as a whole, and win for the working class. 

Logistics

Plan to arrive on Thursday, June 5. Official programming will run all day on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7. Departures are best planned for Sunday, June 8. The Conference will be at the Hyatt Regency - Denver. Light breakfast and refreshments will be provided, as well as a closing banquet dinner. 

Our program

Plenary sessions will include remarks and updates from CWA leadership, key struggles across the sector, and major allies. We’ll hear about our pathbreaking campaign to expand public sector collective bargaining in Colorado, and our successful fight against anti-public sector union laws in Florida. 

Breakouts & workshops
Participants will be able to choose four breakouts and/or workshops to attend. They are: 

  • Legislative and Political 

Session 1: The On-Going Class War: Public Sector Edition

CWA'ers marquee political education module on the history of working people winning political power and what it took, how the 1% swung back to regain political power and opening the hood to understand our opposition so we can better defeat them. This module will have an emphasis on the history and issues relevant to our public sector.

Session 2: The Political Terrain and Fight Back Plan

This module is focused on understanding the current political moment and fights. This examines the differing political alignments of the working class that voted in the 2024 election, the attacks we've seen under the second Trump term, and how CWA is fighting back through examining our ongoing national field plan.

Session 3: Leadership Development and Building Structure

This module is designed to support PHEW leaders in going home and building out their LP structures. How to recruit activists? How to develop activists skills and leadership? How do we build a functioning LP Committee? These questions will be answered here.

Session 4: The Strategy Chart

This fun interactive module is about folks practicing building their own legislative campaign using the Midwest Academy Strategy Chart. I will be creating a custom scenario based on the anti-privatization state bill we have been discussing. We review each component of the strategy chart and then participants break out into groups to craft their own.

  • Fighting Campaigns You Can't Lose (1 session)

In a moment when we need to aggressively grow our ranks in the labor movement to effectively counter attacks on workers, we also need to embrace a wider array of methodologies to build a movement to effectively harness working class power in our lifetimes. Drawing on the lessons of direct-join unions in CWA like United Campus Workers, United Videogame Workers, and Florida Unbreakable, this workshop offers a methodology for building "Campaigns You Can't Lose," fights that can be sustained over the long haul and grow our membership without sole dependence on narrow paths to legal certification.

  • Using Strategic Research to Win Gains in the Workplace  (2 sessions)
    Campaigns to increase wages and improve our public sector workplaces can take various forms, from a traditional collective bargaining process to lobbying and mobilization in support of legislation or executive action. This training will empower public sector local officers and activists to undertake research to help improve wages and working conditions at the bargaining table, in the political sphere, and beyond.
     
  • The Threat to Federal Funds and Effective Fight Back Strategies (1 session)

This training will help participants track what federal budget cuts might mean for state and local workers, your communities, and the people you serve. As the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress hack through federal funding and critical services, we need to understand the many ways these attacks threaten state services and funding and discuss coordinated efforts to fight back.

  • Growing My Local to Build Power (1 session)

Discuss generally different ways to build power( thru PERBS and PERCS, through political pressure to allow for recognition, and of course direct join), and then talk about how to start building an organizing program from scratch, how to access funds

  • Public Pension Power & Organizing Retirees (2 sessions)

Session One: An interactive introduction to the Public Pension Power Building curriculum - the engaging, customizable tool for educating and training to build a bench of trainers and active members. Learn steps to organize and charter a new Retiree Members Council (RMC) in your local.

Session Two: Hear a first-hand case study about a local mobilization campaign on pension issues which integrated the Public Pension Power Building Curriculum as a part of that process. Receive an update on current national and state legislative and political trends concerning public pensions, and members’ fiduciary responsibility in managing those plans for the long term.

  • Unbreakable: Building Strength and Fighting Back Against Attacks on Public Sector Bargaining and Unions (1 session)
    Learn from our ongoing powerful campaign in Florida, New Mexico, and New Jersey to fight back against attacks on public sector collective bargaining and unions led by the Far Right, Freedom Foundation and other anti-worker entities. You will learn about protecting against attacks on payroll deduction and against decertification, building up committees, and activating members against apathy. 
     
  • Combatting Stress and Anxiety in the Workplace (1 session)

We are battling stress and anxiety every day in our workplace and then when we leave for home. This training identifies the signs and symptoms of high stress and offers solutions for creating balance in your life. This is an interactive training that requires audience participation. This session is led by Janet Gerhard, Director of Public and Community Affairs at FHE HEALTH, a nationally recognized dual diagnosis mental health provider. Janet speaks nationally to unions on issues related to mental health, substance use, and recognizing signs and symptoms of mental health issues in the workplace.

  • CWA Higher Education United (1 session) 

This session is to connect with members and leaders across CWA’s higher education units and organizing to strategize for growing our membership, building coalitions, and positioning our union not just to defend higher education in this country - but transform it. We will talk about our efforts to better coordinate and develop initiatives nationally. 

  • Higher Education Labor United Strategy Summit (2 sessions)

This afternoon meeting is in partnership with Higher Education Labor United (HELU) and will take a deep look at the state of our higher education organizing, the ongoing attacks on our higher education system, and strategize about fight back plans. This is a limited space session; please let us know if you are interested in attending by contacting Thomas at twalker@cwa-union.org 

 

There will also be plenty of time for fellowship, networking, and hospitality, including a closing banquet dinner and reception.