As a former CWA member and shop steward I can tell you the 700,000 members will not follow lock step behind this endorsement. The only thing this does is allocate members dues money to a candidate they wouldn’t support if rank-and-file was given a choice.
You are correct. The headline doesn’t say they will vote for, it says they will campaign for.
Your other point is right on, it used to burn my butt that they would use my dues in an effort to counter my vote.
And why, IMO, my law of “No donation of any type (monetary, material, support, logistics, etc.) may be given to any govt entity unless one can physically cast a vote.” would never be passed.
No unions, no PACs, no foundations...Only PEOPLE, with up to the second record keeping and tracing. Any failure of record keeping is immediate dismissal/drop-out, a fine of no less than $1M\violation (adjusted for inflation), to be paid directly by the person.