Vice President Morton Bahr is a dedicated trade unionist whose vision and energetic leadership have combined to create a union that has maintained the economic security of its members in the face of the challenges of changing technology and global competition.
He began his career as a telegraph operator and soon organized an independent union in the telegraph industry that later affiliated with CWA. He subsequently joined the CWA staff as an organizer and rose through the ranks to become District Director then Vice President of District 1, CWA’s largest district, where he directed the union’s first public-sector organizing campaign.
He was elected president of CWA in 1985. Under his leadership, CWA has expanded its original work of representing workers in telecommunications to include a growing number of unions in communications, media, the airline industry, electronics and manufacturing.
At his direction, CWA also has pioneered innovative programs in the areas of worker education and developed successful bargaining to organize strategies.
He was elected an AFL-CIO Vice President in 1985 and contributed to the Executive Council as Chair of the International Affairs Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee, the Industrial Union Council and the committees on Capital Stewardship, Community Partnerships, Political Education, Public Affairs, Women Workers, Article XX Appeals, Article XX & XXI Review, Political Funding and Campaign 2004.
He serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the Economic Policy Institute and serves on the boards of the National Labor College and Union Privilege.
On behalf of the men and women of the unions of the AFL-CIO, the Executive Council expresses its gratitude and appreciation to Morton Bahr for his service and devotion to the members of his union and to the labor movement.