Bills to Raise Minimum Wage, Protect Workers' Rights Introduced in Congress

The Raise the Wage Act, which would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 over the next four years, was re-introduced into Congress on January 26. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 has not been increased since 2009 — the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938. On February 4, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, a bill to restore workers’ right to organize unions and bargain collectively, was re-introduced. Both bills passed Congress in recent years, but were blocked by then-majority leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate.

Call your representatives and senators today at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they co-sponsor these important pieces of legislation!

General Executive Board: Hold Biden Administration Accountable to the People

*Local 506 President Scott Slawson’s camera wasn’t working, so he chose to be represented by a popular meme.

UE’s General Executive Board meet over Zoom on January 28 and 29. They reviewed the union's organizing work and finances, and issued a statement, “Hold the Biden Administration Accountable to the People,” in which they declared that “Our nation is at a crossroads. Forty years of continued assault on working-class living standards have eroded working people’s faith in government,” and called for “a bold program that can draw broad support from working people by addressing our urgent needs.”

Read the full statement on ueunion.org »

Take Action: Support UNM Graduate Workers Organizing with UE

Nearly 1,000 graduate workers at the University of New Mexico — a clear majority — have joined United Graduate Workers of UNM/UE, and have petitioned for recognition with the state labor board. But the university administration has filed a motion seeking to strip graduate workers of their right to form a union under state law, reneging on its prior public commitment to respect graduate workers’ right to organize. Sign the petition calling on UNM to respect their workers’ right to join a union »

Local 155 Members at Portescap Demonstrate They Are Worth More Than the “Bare Minimum”

When new managers at Portescap met with the UE Local 155 last fall to begin negotiations for a new contract, they declared their intention to make wages, paid time off, and even overtime dependent on improvements in productivity and attendance. They said they didn’t want to give raises to workers who were just doing “the bare minimum.” Read more »

Strike Threat Wins Dollar-an-Hour Raise for Chasen Workers

UE Local 155 members who work for M Chasen and Son made it clear that they were willing to walk off the job if they didn’t secure significant raises — and instead they walked away from the bargaining table with a $1/hour raise. Read more »

UE Mourns Loss of Deb Gornall, Anne Feeney

Retired Eastern Region President Deb Gornall passed away on Sunday, January 17. Gornall was a UE member for 45 years. She began working at the GE locomotive plant in Erie, PA as a timekeeper in 1972, and soon became active in UE Local 618, which represents the salaried workers in the plant. After being laid off in the 1980s, she joined the UE staff as a field organizer, and later international representative. In 2011 she was elected president of the Eastern Region, a position she retired from in 2017. Photos of Deb, and remembrances from UE members and friends, can be found on this Facebook post »

Pittsburgh “frontline” singer Anne Feeney, who performed at UE rallies, picket lines and conventions for over 35 years, passed away on February 3, from COVID-19. Feeney told the UE NEWS in 2017, “I love going to picket lines,” and she could often be found wherever workers were in struggle.

MLK Holiday Won From Struggle

In January, the UE NEWS online explored how the existence of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday, and as a holiday in many UE union contracts, was itself a product of struggle, one that began shortly after Dr. King was assassinated while supporting striking municipal workers in Memphis. Read more »