2021 Woman of the Year
Deborah Casey
Retired, CWA 2204
Deborah (Deb Casey was born in August of 1959 the eldest of 10 children of a coal miner in the Russel county section of southwest Virginia. She is currently married to Jim Ripley Jr and lives in Richlands, VA. She is the mother of four children and grandmother of ten. Deb just retired from the AT&T call center in Lebanon, Virginia where she worked for the past 17 and a half years. When she started in 2004, the call center was not union. This is when she met Leaburn Kennedy who was standing in all kinds of weather trying to get employees to talk to her about the need for a Union at their workplace. During this time AT&T was purchased by Cingular who allowed a card check and in January 2006 we were officially able to have a Union and had our first contract. Deb and her late husband Carlies were 2 of the first 3 elected representatives in the Lebanon call center.
Since that time Deb has been part of the bargaining team for 2013 and 2017 contract for negotiations for the Orange contract between the CWA and AT&T Mobility. In 2013 Deb became CWA District 2/13 Co-coordinator for the Unity@Mobility program. This program's goal was to get out and educate and engage the mobility membership across our district which encompasses 5 states and the District of Columbia. During this time we have seen more members become involved and active within their locals.
From 2014 until recently Deb served as CWA local 2204 Norton Area Vice president. She is currently a member of the Western Labor Federation and Coalition of Labor Union Women.