Durham and Charlotte Chapters of Local 150 Win Largest Wage Increases in Years

After over a year of organizing and turning members out to actions, city worker chapters of Local 150 successfully pressured Durham and Charlotte City Councils to approve millions in raises for public workers in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. On average, full time workers in Durham on the general step plan will receive a raise of over $8,000. Workers with more years of service will receive higher wage increases with some totaling over $15,000. In Charlotte, members won a six percent raise and an increase in the minimum starting salary, which is now $23 dollars an hour.

Service Contract Act Locals Fight for Jobs, Effective Immigration Process

Members of UE Locals 1008 in California and 808 in Nebraska held a series of rallies in June to protest the mass layoffs currently ongoing within US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Four hundred and fifty Local 1008 members in California who process immigration applications have been laid off or have received notice that they will be laid off. More layoffs are expected in Nebraska, home of Local 808, and Vermont, where UE Local 208 represents several hundred workers.

UE Local 712 Reaches Wage Goals, Gets Record Increase in First Year

Local 712 Recording Secretary Daniel West writes, “In an ever-changing culture and economy, we found ourselves at the bargaining table again. Not only were we seeking another contract to secure our employment, we were hoping to achieve higher wages to alleviate some of the blow of these high inflation rates.

“Our team was able to lock in a ten percent wage increase over three years, with the first year being front-loaded at 5.5 percent. Along with that we were able to win more money for our yearly uniform allowance, the ability for newer employees to earn vacation days sooner, higher caps on health care costs, and some various strategic language changes to the contract to benefit our members for the future. All in all, I would consider this a solid win for the local.”

Local 261-GOLD Wins Strong First UE Contract at Dartmouth After Strike

In late June, Local 261-GOLD members voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first UE contract. Gains in the contract include an immediate stipend increase of 17.5 percent (from $40,000 to $47,000), which will be increased by a COLA based on the Consumer Price Index or three percent, whichever is greater.

The contract also includes a full union shop, the right to arbitrate Title IX harassment grievances (Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in higher education), and innovative just-cause language that will give the local solid ground to stand on if the College continues to try to use “academic” discipline as a way to get around union protections. Read Bargaining Committee member David Freeman’s account of the strike »

Local 642 Members Ratify One-Year Contract after Difficult and Complicated Negotiations

After difficult and complicated negotiations, UE Local 642 members, who work at Harborcreek Youth Services (HYS) ratified a one-year contract on June 20. HYS is a behavioral health residential facility for male juveniles. The one-year agreement includes a 2.75 percent wage increase. Read more »

Who is J.D. Vance? And What is Project 2025?

In April, former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for President, chose Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. The UE NEWS takes a look at Vance’s close ties with the “elites” he claims to disdain and at “Project 2025,” a comprehensive wishlist for expanding corporate power under a Trump-Vance administration.

Texas Court Hands Elon Musk Dangerous Ruling Against Labor Board’s Constitutionality

On July 24, a Texas federal district court issued an injunction in a case brought by billionaire Elon Musk’s company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) against the National Labor Relations Board. The injunction prohibits the NLRB from proceeding with a trial charging SpaceX with committing unfair labor practices. In a troubling decision, the court found that SpaceX was likely to win its case arguing, in essence, that the authority of NLRB Administrative Law Judges, and that of the five members of the NLRB, to whom ALJ decisions can be appealed, is unconstitutional. Read more »

UE, Six Other Unions Call on Biden Administration to Immediately Halt All Military Aid to Israel

On July 22, UE and six other unions sent a letter to President Biden calling on him to “immediately halt all military aid to Israel” in advance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. The letter received coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, and In These Times, which declared, “UE, especially, deserves credit here. Their elected leadership was putting forward this demand on October 13, and was well positioned to do so because of its longstanding strength on the issue of Palestinian rights.”

Palestinian Trade Unionists Describe Living, Working Conditions in Gaza and West Bank

“I keep on asking are they alive or are they dead?”

Shuruq As’ad, a journalist in the West Bank and a member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, described the constant worry of checking in on her colleagues in Gaza to a webinar hosted by the National Labor Network for Ceasefire on Tuesday, July 9. Due to lack of electricity and internet connection in Gaza, she often doesn’t hear back for several days or a week, and her fear is not unfounded: as she reported, 151 journalists have been killed by the Israeli military in the past nine months. Read more »

Mexico Elects Pro-Worker President, First Woman to Hold Office

In June, Mexico held federal, state and local elections. Claudia Sheinbaum, who had been the mayor of Mexico City, was elected the country’s first woman president. Sheinbaum has pledged to continue the progressive reforms that the current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, popularly known as AMLO, has put into place. These include improved rights in the workplace, requirements for democratic union elections, and strengthening social safety nets, like reforming the pension system to better support lower income workers when they retire. Read more »

Labour Party Wins Power in UK, French Workers Defeat Far-Right

In July, both the United Kingdom and France held national elections. In both countries, parties representing “labour” or working class perspectives did better than expected. Read more »

Bulletin