First Contracts Settled Covering over 6,000 Grad Workers

UE Locals 1122-NUGW and 1103-GSU have settled first contracts, each covering approximately 3,000 graduate workers, at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, respectively. Both contracts include significant pay increases, improvements in dental and vision coverage, benefits for international graduate workers, protections against discrimination, and universal membership through agency shop.

“The contract campaign and this local is built on WORKER-TO-WORKER organizing, relying on our members to run this union,” write four Local 1103 members in an article for the UE NEWS. Coverage of the Local 1122 contract at Northwestern will be forthcoming in the next UE NEWS Bulletin.

Co-op Workers in Madison, Pittsburgh Secure End of Pay Inequities, Progress Towards Living Wages

Members of UE Local 1186 at the Willy Street Co-op in Madison, Wisconsin and UE Local 667 at the East End Food Co-op in Pittsburgh both ratified new contracts in March. Both contracts were won thanks to active contract support committees, which mobilized members in the workplace to put pressure on management.

The new Local 1186 contract ends historic pay inequities, secures a sizeble across-the-board wage increase, seniority raises, and a cost-of-living adjustment, and expands medical leave.

The new Local 667 contract includes “life-changing” gains on wages, paid parental leave, and extra pay for workers who provide training to other workers.

Durham City Workers’ Union Demands $25/Hour

On Monday, March 18, members of the Durham City Workers Union chapter of UE Local 150 rallied for $25 per hour and fair pay before the city's budget hearing, demanding that the city finally prioritize its lowest paid workers.

TAKE ACTION: Help Rail Crew Drivers Win Relief From Polluting Locomotives

Over the next week, the Environmental Protection Agency will be taking written comments on a new regulation that will make a huge difference for the health of rail crew drivers, other rail yard workers, and rail yard communities, while creating good union jobs building new locomotives. Support UE members who work in rail yards and building locomotives by making a comment to the EPA »

Research Assistants at the University of Chicago Law School Join Local 1103

“On March 19, graduate student research assistants (RAs) at the University of Chicago Law School voted 59–29 to join UE Local 1103-Graduate Students United (GSU),” write Chris Wilson and Andrew Seber of Local 1103-GSU. “This election victory represents the first expansion of one of the newly-established UE grad locals. The vote was the culmination of a swift and thorough worker-led campaign.” Read more »

Local 896 “End the Fees” Campaign Builds Membership and Organizing Capacity

“The University of Iowa forces graduate workers to pay a slew of miscellaneous and often ill-defined fees,” writes John Tappan of UE Local 896-COGS, but his local union has been waging a vigorous campaign to end them, one which has been building membership and organizing capacity in the right-to-work state of Iowa. Read more »

Retired Local 1107 Officer Appears in Ad Opposing Social Security Cuts

A new ad urging Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) to stop supporting efforts to cut Social Security and Medicare features retired UE Local 1107 officer Joni Anderson. “I spent almost 30 years on my feet working hard at the factory,” Anderson says in the video. “I paid into Social Security with every paycheck. Derrick Van Orden’s plan would slash Medicare and Social Security, but Van Orden voted for huge tax breaks for corporations.” Read more »

Senator Sanders Introduces Legislation to Establish 32-Hour Work Week

On Thursday, March 14, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) convened the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to discuss new legislation he has introduced to establish a 32-hour work week with no loss in pay. UE has long supported shortening the work week, and UE policy includes the demand for just such legislation. Read more »

Eastern Region President Denounces Effects of Train Derailment on Working People in Ohio

In March, UE Eastern Region President George Waksmunski traveled to East Palestine, Ohio to hear from residents affected by the February, 2023 train derailment and toxic chemical spill. “Look at East Palestine and you see the effects of capitalism and greed and profit and devastation in its wake,” Waksmunski said, after hearing the testimony. Read more »

FEATURE

Fifty Years Ago, Union Women Founded New Organization to Fight for Equality

In March 1974, 3,200 women gathered in Chicago to found the Coalition of Labor Union Women to fight for equality in their unions and in society. UE members played a prominent role in the founding of this organization, which both encouraged women to become more involved in their unions, but also fought for the recognition that women’s issues, including reproductive rights, are union issues. Read more »

Vermont Subregional Event Focuses on Member Mobilization

More than a dozen members from six UE locals gathered on Friday, March 22 for a subregional education event to exchange ideas and plan for next steps in member mobilization. For most of the participants, many of them newly-elected stewards or local officers, it was their first UE event outside of their own local. Read more »

Labor Network for Ceasefire Webinar Recording Now Available

On February 22nd, the National Labor Network for Ceasefire held its first public event, a webinar with UAW president Shawn Fain, NEA president Becky Pringle, and Congresswoman Summer Lee, and others. A recording of this powerful webinar is now available. Read more and watch the recording »