Ten-Week Strike Wins “Substantial Improvements” for Locals 506 and 618

On June 22, after nearly two months of negotiations, the 1,400 members of UE Locals 506 and 618 voted down Wabtec’s last, best and final offer. Ten weeks later, they ratified a new contract that “represents a substantial improvement over what Wabtec had on the table in June,” according to Local 506 President Scott Slawson. “We are proud of the resolve of the membership over 70 days on the picket line. As a result of the action taken by our members, we made both economic and non-economic gains.”

Coordinated Bargaining Brings Coast-to-Coast Gains for USCIS Service Center Workers

USCIS Service Center workers at UE Locals 208, 808, and 1008 ratified new three-year agreements with federal contractor ITC Federal in June. Their union contracts cover nearly one thousand federal contract workers who process nonimmigrant visa petitions for USCIS in Essex Junction, VT (208), Lincoln, NE (808), and Laguna Niguel, CA (1008). Amid the threat of coming layoffs, the locals united in an aggressive, coordinated contract fight, winning massive economic gains and beating back all of ITC’s concessionary demands.

Local 119 Wins, Preserves Contract Despite Privatization Complications

Negotiations for UE Local 119’s third contract this spring provided an object lesson in how privatization can create havoc for the workers who provide essential public services like education.

Leadership and Staff Development Program Participants Learn on the Picket Lines

Participants in the second cohort of UE’s Leadership and Staff Development Program met at the UE Local 506 hall in June for a few days of workshops and experiences on the picket lines outside the Wabtec plant. As these rank-and-file members traveled to Erie from around the country, UE Locals 506 and 618 were taking a vote on whether to accept Wabtec’s last contract offer or go on strike. Read more »

Virginia Beach Organizing Blitz: An Opportunity to Break Down Barriers

The Virginia Beach City Workers Union (UE Local 111) hosted an organizing blitz from August 7-11 with a main objective of making their union stronger. Building their numbers and increasing their membership will assist municipal workers in Virginia Beach in gaining collective bargaining rights. Four leaders from new UE grad worker locals who participated in the blitz report »

Thousands of Stanford Graduate Workers Join UE in Lighting-Fast Campaign

Thom Chaffee of the Stanford Graduate Workers Union-UE reports on the organizing campaign that broke UE's record for the most cards signed on the first day of a campaign (2,571). SGWU was also the first graduate worker union to complete a card drive and NLRB election in the same quarter. Read Chaffee's report »

FEATURE

Sixty Years Ago, Virginia Workers Defied Company Pressure to Form UE Local 123

Monday, August 28 marked the 60th anniversary of the NLRB election that brought Local 123, in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, into UE. UE Director of Organization Robert Kirkwood called it “one of [UE’s] most significant organizational victories since the Union was split in 1949. Read more »

First Contract at Refresco

As we reported in the July UE NEWS Bulletin, workers at the Refresco bottling plant ratified a first UE contract at the end of June, after a multi-year struggle. The contract includes significant pay increases, strong health and safety language, and protections against workers being forced to work 12-hours shifts, all major issues that fueled the organizing campaign. Read the details of what they achieved »

Parental Leave, $3/Hour Wage Increase Among Highlights of New Local 267 Contract

The over 300 service and maintenance workers who maintain and clean the University of Vermont’s buildings, grounds, and other physical infrastructure received a “historically high” wage increase of $3 per hour on July 1 thanks to UE Local 267’s new three-year contract. They will also now be able to take up to eight weeks of paid parental leave upon birth or adoption of a child. Read more »

Smooth Talks and a Satisfactory Contract for Local 121

The 60 members of UE Local 121 who work for Clendenin Brothers ratified a new five-year contract in May. Local 121 President Marcus Davis, who was elected shortly before negotiations began, called the experience “thrilling and interesting. It was a good experience.” Treasurer Sheldon Brooks added, “The contract talks went pretty smoothly this year.” Read more »

Local 234 Opens Up Historic Wage Increases with Early Negotiations

Members of UE Local 234 who manufacture precision scales in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom opened their contract in May, securing larger wage increases than the local has seen in over a generation. Management had approached the union about a wage re-opener, but the local insisted on taking advantage of the leverage workers have in the current economy to negotiate a new contract which will go through October 2025. Read more »

Local 225 Contract Improves Working Conditions, Benefits

Educators who work for the Vermont Achievement Center, members of UE Local 225, negotiated a new two-year contract this spring which includes improvements in benefits and working conditions and larger wage increases than workers have seen in over a decade. Local 225 members work for two programs at VAC: an early education and childcare program, and Sheldon Academy, which provides special education for older children. Read more »

Sweet $17 in Local 203 Box Office Contract

The new four-year contract between amalgamated UE Local 203 and the Flynn Regional Box Office boosted wages to $17 per hour when it went into effect on July 1, representing a double-digit percentage increase for workers who previously made between $15 and $15.50. Wages will increase to $17.68, $18.21, and $18.76 in the second, third and fourth years of the agreement. Read more »

UE Local 770 Honors David Disbrow, Fights for Safety and Dignity at Work

On August 3, 2023 Local 770 member David Disbrow died from an ongoing health condition while performing regular job duties at his workstation at Hendrickson Suspension, a manufacturing facility for medium and heavy-duty mechanical vehicle suspensions. While there is no evidence that working conditions contributed directly to Dave’s death, the company’s inadequate response to his passing did not honor Dave or protect his coworkers. Read more »