Kathy Cummings Joins WSLC 
Staff as Communications Director

The Washington State Labor Council is pleased to welcome Kathy Cummings as our new Communications Director. Kathy comes to us with a vast wealth of experience, both in the national news arena, and as a labor activist. She has worked in Washington, DC for CNN, NBC, PBS and in the communications department at the Machinist Union Headquarters in Upper Marlboro, MD. She also served as the interim communications director for the California Labor Federation, during the victorious Prop 75 fight in 2006. 

Kathy has spent the last year building a video production business in the Sacramento area, called First Media Solutions.  She has been busy producing and directing longer form informational and educational videos, and recently was awarded a Telly award for a public service piece on the flood areas in the Sacramento area. 

Kathy’s experience has taught her first hand the value of belonging to a union. She was released from her job as a contract cameraperson to CNN, as she and a group of fellow workers were active in an organizing campaign to bring the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) into the company.  She has been on strike at NBC Network News, covered presidential campaigns, and helped blazed a trail for women in the media behind the camera.  

Kathy has a Master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.  She is married to Kevin Cummings, Special Representative on the Grand Lodge staff of the IAM, and has two children, Tom (age 16) and Stacy (age 15).