UE Locals March, Rally for Workers’ Rights on May Day
On Thursday, May 1, UE locals across the country participated in International Workers’ Day actions to stand up for workers’ rights. Local 667 joined a march in Pittsburgh and Local 1498-GWU held a series of actions throughout their campus in Las Cruces, New Mexico, including a screening of the film UNION, which tells the story of how Amazon workers in Staten Island won their union. Local 896-COGS in Iowa City, Iowa participated in a mass march to stop deportations and to keep families together. Read more on ueunion.org »
Eastern Region Celebrates Union Growth
In the largest council meeting since the Eastern Region was founded in 2006, over 100 delegates, guests and staff from 27 UE locals gathered on April 26 to share experiences, hear from the union’s national officers, and celebrate the union’s growth. Read more »
Local 243 Wins Big on Insurance Again
Local 243 ratified a new three-year contract with Sargent Lock in February. This is now the fifth contract the local has won that retains their 100-percent company-paid medical plan. The highest priority for the members during bargaining was to win a contract without any increases or raises to their premium and they accomplished it. Read more »
New Local 1077 Contract Includes Raises and Full-Time Work for Members
Members of UE Local 1077 have ratified a new contract with rail contractor PTI, which went into effect on April 15. The contract includes immediate wage increases between 2.25 and 4.5 percent for members who have worked at PTI for over six months. The members also won yearly wage increases between two percent and 3.75 percent depending on seniority, and secured strong language ensuring full-time employment. Read more »
Local 1105 Rallies to Demand UMN Administration Discuss Federal Threats With Union
On Monday March 31 members of UE Local 1105, the Graduate Labor Union of the University of Minnesota (UMN), gathered at the UMN Twin Cities campus to speak out against the university administration’s inaction in the face of a broad range of threats from the federal government against workers, students, and faculty. The rally was held jointly with AFSCME 3800 and featured speakers from both unions as well as the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, UMN Students for a Democratic Society, and other campus and local organizations. Read more »
FEATURE
A Fighting Union’s Path to Renewal: The UE Story
The UE NEWS asked retired UE Political Action Director Chris Townsend to write a summary of how UE’s membership base has changed over the years. Brother Townsend joined the UE staff in the late 1980s, when the membership was primarily (though not exclusively) manufacturing workers, and retired in 2013, after the union’s membership had expanded to include significant numbers of public-sector, higher education, federal contract and rail crew workers. He supplemented his own experience with detailed research from UE convention proceedings and interviews with participants.
The ongoing organizational renewal and substantial growth of the United Electrical Workers (UE) is one of the most distinctly remarkable stories in the U.S. labor movement in decades. Few other unions have suffered such losses from state repression, raiding attacks by opportunist unions, and the catastrophic effects of corporate job relocation — and survived. Of the original 42 unions who comprised the founding roster of the Congress of Industrial Unions (CIO) in 1938, a grand total of eight survive intact today. UE is one of them. The remainder have passed out of existence, been destroyed by repression and employer attacks, or been merged into larger unions and lost forever. Read more »
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