UE Local 506 Leader Tells PA Town Hall: Green Rail Can Create Jobs, Address Climate Change

John Miles, a member of UE Local 506’s executive board, addressed a “Thriving PA” Town Hall meeting held over Zoom on the evening of March 31. The topic was what the THRIVE Act, a plan to create tens of millions of good, union jobs while addressing the threat of climate change through a Green New Deal, means for the state of Pennsylvania.

Western PA Planned Parenthood Workers Join UE

A group of 36 workers at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania formed UE’s newest local, Local 696, when they voted overwhelmingly to join UE in February and March. Workers organized for better wages, benefits, and working conditions; improved staffing levels and staff to patient ratios; a voice on the job and improved communication; a grievance procedure and union representation; and prioritization of the health, safety, and wellness of staff.

Read coverage in the Pittsburgh City Paper »

Local 896-COGS Refuses to be Destroyed by Anti-Union Law

Although their ability to negotiate contracts has been severely limited by anti-union legislation, the members of UE Local 896-COGS are still engaging in aggressive struggle to improve the lives of the 2,000 graduate employees at the University of Iowa. The Local 896’s executive board “has really been ... racking our brains” said Local 896 President John Jepsen, trying to figure out “if we can't get power at the bargaining table, because of the laws in Iowa, where do we get power? The answer of course is membership and organizing.” Read more »

UE Condemns Georgia Voter-Suppression Bill, Encourages Passage of Voting Rights Act

In a statement issued on Friday, April 9, UE's officers condemned the voter suppression bill passed in Georgia last month, as well as the hundreds of similar bills being pushed in state legislatures across the country. They note that “The right to vote is fundamental to democracy, and restrictions on the right to vote harm the entire working class. The voters who will be disenfranchised by these bills are predominantly working-class people and people of color. Like the Jim Crow segregation laws of the 20th century, the purpose of these bills is to undemocratically keep a wealthy white elite in power, at the expense of everybody else.” Read the full statement »

Kenyon College Student Workers Strike for Recognition

Student workers at Kenyon College held the first known campus-wide undergraduate student labor strike in the United States on March 16, to demand recognition of their union, Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee/UE. UE Local 712, which represents maintenance workers at Kenyon, has been supporting their campaign. Read an interview with KSWOC and UE Local 712 leaders in Jacobin magazine »

Together for Racial Justice

UE joined allies in the North American Solidarity Project on March 20 for the webinar Together for Racial Justice. UE was represented on the webinar by Reid Magette of UE Local 667 in Pittsburgh, whose recently negotiated contract includes groundbreaking language on diversity and inclusion. Asked by the moderator what it meant to be a good ally, they said it meant listening, not trying to speak for workers of color. “Be out there and be at those protests – and let the white power structure that exists know that you will not be complicit in their games.” Read more »

New Medicare for All Bill Introduced

The Medicare for All Act of 2021, H.R. 1976, was introduced into Congress on March 17 by Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell. The bill was co-sponsored by more than half of the House Democratic Caucus, including 14 committee chairs and key members of the Congressional leadership. Moving this important piece of legislation will require constant pressure from working people. Read more and take action »

What the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Meant for Workers in Canada and Japan

As the first anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic approached, the UE International Department asked two of our international allies, Unifor (Canada) and Zenroren (Japan), to share with UE NEWS readers a glimpse into what work and life is like now in their countries. We asked these allied unions to share what their government’s response to the virus had been like, as well as how these unions were organizing or in other ways helping workers to protect themselves during these new health and economic challenges. Read Canada’s Workers and the COVID-19 Pandemic and Japanese Workers: Raising the Standard of Living All the More Essential Due to Pandemic »

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