WNYLaborToday.com Editor’s Note: After 40 years of service to Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1122, President John Mudie (on the left) has retired and handed off the reins of running the 1,500-Member Local to Tom Antonio, who’s been a Member for more than 25 years.  WNYLaborToday.com recently sat down with Mudie, a former President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, and Antonio to discuss the change in leadership and their future plans.  Pictured above, they took time to strike a pose out in front of the Union’s Genesee Street Offices near the Greater Buffalo-Niagara International Airport.  (WNYLaborToday.com Photos) 

(CHEEKTOWAGA, NEW YORK) – It was a real pleasure to sit down and interview recently-retired Communications Workers of America (CWA) President John Mudie and his successor, Tom Antonio, at the Union’s Suburban Buffalo Office located near the Greater-Niagara International Airport.  And it only took a moment or two to understand why Antonio had been groomed to be the next in line to lead this Union of 1,500 Members and how he and Mudie’s professional/working relationship, and friendship, will benefit them in the years to come.

Mudie has been a Member of Local 1122 for 40 years - starting as a Stewart/Organizer, he’s worked at Verizon since 1998 and served as Area Vice President East, as Executive Vice President and then as President at Local 1122.  And if that wasn’t enough, he’s a past President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and an Executive Vice President of the Buffalo Labor Council prior to that (For More, Go To: CWA Local 1168’s Denise Abbott Becomes First Woman To Serve As President Of The Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council Since Its Official Beginnings Back In 1957 - WNY Labor Today: Your On-Line Labor Newspaper, Bringing You Labor News From Across The Nation, New York State & Western New York) .

On the other hand, Antonio’s been a Local 1122 Member for more than 25 years, served as a Stewart, as Area Vice President South for 15 years and then as an Executive Vice President (since 2020) at the Local.

Asking them questions and then listening to their answers flowing from one to the other was nothing more than a testament to their smooth working relationship - and friendship for that matter, which has been forged over the years at Local 1122.

Asked what first comes to mind when Mudie’s name is spoken, Antonio quickly answered: “My cool uncle.” 

Asked what first comes to mind when Antonio’s name is spoken, Mudie responded: “Pit bull.”

“I’ve ‘always said, more than once, you’ve got to find your replacement,’” said Mudie - adding in regard to Antonio: “I’ve worked with him for (18) years ‘and he’s done everything.’  ‘We thought alike - and he has great experience at the bargaining table.’”

Antonio said: “John’s ‘ability to connect with people, inside and outside’ of Labor - including community groups, ‘you just don’t see that every day.’  ‘He cares.’  But (Mudie) had a ‘great’ retirement offer.  ‘I told him to take it, go live your life.’  ‘We’ve always wanted to make the Local better than we found it.’  ‘We have responsibility for (1,500 Members) - every day.’  ‘Honestly, we can’t screw anything up - it’s too important.’  ‘This is not a social club.’  ‘People’s lives are on the line.’  ‘They work hard and they are tireless and we owe it to our Membership to get it right, including finding my replacement to do what’s best for them.’”

Over the years, Antonio used to give Mudie grief for being on the phone all the time, mostly fielding Members’ calls.

“During COVID, every one of our Members were deemed ‘essential,’” Mudie said.  “I was on the phone with them - ‘every day, making sure they had what they needed’ (to do their jobs), including PPE (Personal Protection Equipment).”

Now in the job, Antonio “understands” - “The phones ‘don’t stop,’” he said.

Local 1122 represents Members who are employed by an array of area employers, including: ADT Security/TYCO; the American Red Cross; AT&T Mobility; Avaya; Crisis Services; Dex Media; Frontier Communications; Jewish Family Services; Manchester Cable; Northwest Buffalo CC; PUSH Buffalo; Verizon; the Visiting Nurses Association; and PUSH Buffalo.

“All sixteen contracts ‘are different - and it is not easy.’  Since I took over January First, ‘it’s been a blur.’  ‘I’ve been back and forth’ to Albany and Syracuse and Saratoga (in meetings), ‘but our Officers (a Staff of eight) have done a great job.’  ‘And without Melissa (Means/Local 1122’s Office Manager/Bookeeper), it wouldn’t be possible,’” Antonio said. 

Said Mudie: “(Antonio) ‘picked up on that’ (being on the phone with Members).  ‘You have to call people back and give them the truth.’  ‘You can’t B.S. the Members.’”

Over the years the two developed a positive relationship that blossomed into a true friendship, including when they tried to break each other up during stressful times.  One notable memory they shared had Antonio wearing a super-tight t-shirt around the office to keeps things light.

But both Mudie and Antonio paid homage to their CWA and Local 1122 roots, going back to former President Don Hoak and on to Presidents Don Loretto and Dave Palmer, whose leadership and friendship helped mold them into what they have become as CWA Leaders.

“I ‘learned from John that there was more about being a good dude, a good father - that’s a testament to John and how good he was.’  But John and I ‘were coached by the same three:’ Don Loretto and Dave Palmer and Don Hoak.  ‘It started with Don Hoak, who had a vision.’  John ‘was a Don Loretto.’  ‘I hope to be a John Mudie, but we have got to carry on Don’s (Hoak) legacy,” Antonio said.

Antonio sees CWA Local 1122’s Membership as “one of the most inclusive Locals” in Western New York with a number of young Members now in the fold.  He looks forward to the opportunity of educating them on what the Labor Movement can do for them.

In addition, the Local has already trained more than 25 new Stewards, said Mudie, “who are young and energetic.” 

Said Antonio: “It’s those Stewards and Chief Stewarts ‘who make us look good - and we need to get more people involved in this good stuff because it’s our hope some of those people will step up and become our replacements.  ‘It’s cool to sit with them and listen to them.’  The Labor Movement ‘is shifting’ (with more young Workers getting clued into the need to Unionize).  You’ve seen that at places like Starbucks, ‘but I wish they would align themselves more with our National (Union) organizations (instead of being independent Unions).  ‘They’re missing out on the vast amount of knowledge and experience.’  ‘We have to keep working to find our replacements and that’s a testament of how we (Antonio and Mudie) worked as a team.’”

Added Mudie: “While ‘we never paid attention to our accomplishments - we did a lot together.’”

Antonio, meanwhile, also pointed to the many awards that have bestowed upon Mudie in the past several months, from within and outside of Organized Labor, including many community groups - which have greatly and positively impacted Local 1122 - including support on local picket lines that helped win major contract battles, most notably involving Verizon several years ago. 

“It’s those relationships we’ve established over the past twenty years ‘that have come in handy - extremely,’” said Mudie, who told WNYLaborToday.com that he will still involve himself with the Western New York Labor Community and his Local - when asked.

Finally, Antonio followed in his footsteps of thanking his significant other - as Mudie did with his “best friend,” Colleen, by tipping his hat to his wife, Julie - a New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Nurse employed at Buffalo’s Erie County Medical Center.

“‘None of this would be possible without Julie,’” said Antonio, who has four children age 24, 18, 18 and 15.