Erie Strikers’ Resolve Remains Strong as Strike Enters Sixth Week
“Right now, they are not negotiating. They are just stuck in their position.”
That’s how UE Local 618 President Karleen Torrance characterized Wabtec’s attitude towards negotiations as the strike by 1,400 members of UE Locals 506 and 618 in Erie, PA enters its sixth week.
“The membership has been amazing,” said Local 506 President Scott Slawson. “I can’t thank members enough. They have made it clear we are not looking for the sun and the moon. What we are looking for is a fair contract and they are demanding the company negotiate.”
In recent weeks, the members of the two locals have received support from Senator John Fetterman, the Erie County Council and City Council (both of which passed unanimous resolutions supporting the strikers), and the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, who organized a silent peace walk on July 13 to show their solidarity with striking UE members.
Last weekend, UE members and volunteers from the Green Locomotive Project took action to support the Erie workers in Barstow, California and North Carolina, and a convoy of supporters from Pittsburgh traveled to Erie to show support.
More:
UE Local 777 Tells Post “Keep Your Hands Out of Our Pockets”
With long days (and nights) at the table, new efforts to engage the membership, and improved solidarity relationships with other unions at Post facilities, the Local 777 negotiating committee defended the existing contract and won improvements on issues the membership ranked most important in the bargaining survey.
Read more on ueunion.org »
UE President Rosen to Senate: U.S. Has Opportunity to Reduce Emissions, Create Jobs with Green Locomotives
UE General President Carl Rosen was one of three witnesses invited to testify to a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, July 26 about opportunities to clean up pollution in rail yards, reduce carbon emissions, and create jobs by instituting stricter regulations on railroad emissions.
Read more on ueunion.org »
The Saladin Muhammad Organizing Blitz: Building Power with UE Local 150
At the end of June, members from four of UE’s newly organized graduate worker locals traveled to North Carolina to join the UE Local 150’s 2023 Organizing Blitz. Three of the participants, Anna Word and Alex Peeples from UE Local 197-TRU at Johns Hopkins, and Noah Wexler from GLU-UE at the University of Minnesota, report on their experiences. Read their article »
Senator Fetterman Introduces Bill to Give Strikers Access to Federal Food Assistance
Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) has introduced a bill that would make striking workers eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal food assistance program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In an op-ed published in the Erie Times-News, Fetterman wrote, “The right to strike is fundamental to the right to organize and unionize — but being forced to choose between feeding your family and protecting your labor rights isn't a choice at all.” Read more »
Supreme Court’s Undemocratic, Reactionary Agenda Must Be Opposed
[In a statement issued on July 12, UE’s officers declared that “The six-member right-wing majority of the Supreme Court has made it clear this term that it intends to impose its reactionary views on the American people, regardless of precedent or public opinion. The undemocratic nature of the Supreme Court — an unelected body who serve for life — has never been clearer. After attacking the rights of women when they overturned Roe v. Wade last year, this year the Court’s right wing has attacked the rights of Black people and other people of color, LGBTQ+ people, students, and workers.” Read the full statement »
FEATURE
The Suppression of the 1948 Univis Strike
August 3 marked the 75th anniversary of one of the most violent attacks on a UE picket line in history. On that day in 1948, 1,500 national guards, armed with tear gas, machine guns, and tanks, arrived in Dayton, Ohio to suppress a strike by 600 UE members at the Univis Lens plant. The workers voted to strike after their employer refused to offer even a single cent in wage increases during contract negotiations. Read more »
Podcast: The UE Chicago Murals
UE General President Carl Rosen was on the Labor Express Radio show last Sunday, talking about the murals in the UE Hall in Chicago. Listen to the interview online, or search your favorite podcast app for “Labor Express Radio.”
Bulletin
