Can green locomotives get rail industry back on track? UE leaders in Erie say yes

The Erie Times-News published a story in July on legislation written by UE Local 506 that would provide financial incentives to railroads that replace older, inefficient locomotives with newer, low-emissions models — and create jobs in Erie, PA.

“Scott Slawson, president of UE 506 at Wabtec, said Tier 4 emissions locomotives that the company makes now generate dramatically less pollution than previous generations. Yet only a fraction of the locomotives in use meet the most recent emissions standard. Of the roughly 30,000 freight locomotives in service today, more than 7,500 of what the Environmental Protection Agency would call Tier 0 are still in service.

“If enacted, the bill also has the potential to create thousands of jobs, including many in Erie, Slawson said.”

Tell Congress: Expand Medicare Now!

We have a real opportunity RIGHT NOW to win serious improvements and expansion of Medicare, and to do it in a way that will help us win Medicare for All in the long term. The Senate will decide in the next few days what will be included in their massive budget bill, we need to tell them they must strengthen and expand Medicare and lower prescription drug prices at this critical time.

Call your Senators at 202-509-9128 and tell them: the time is now to improve and expand Medicare.

UE political action alert »

NJ Bottling Plant Workers Overcome Aggressive Anti-Union Campaign to Join UE

“I’ve worked here for 22 years and have the scars to prove it,” said Licinia Ochoa, a machine operator, explaining why she “jumped into” the UE organizing campaign at the Refresco bottling plant. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did all these years.”

Almost 250 Refresco workers, mostly Latin American immigrants, voted on June 24 and 25 to join UE. Their victory was the largest National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) win in the U.S. by a group of blue-collar workers in the first half of 2021, and came over a year after workers at the plant staged a walkout to protest the utter disregard for their safety shown by management during the pandemic.

Read UE NEWS coverage of the latest UE organizing victory »

New Local 735 Contract Preserves Healthcare, Overtime Premium

After working under contract extensions for almost two years, Local 735 successfully negotiated a new one-year contract with auto parts maker CJ Automotive in Butler, IN in July. The new contract will raise wages between 2½ and 4.75 percent for workers in various classifications, while adding new classifications to give workers the ability to learn new skills and get more money. However, the contract is most notable for what it doesn’t include: a laundry list of concessions demanded by the employer, including a $2 per hour across-the-board wage cut for first-shift workers, the replacement of health care benefits by a stipend, and the elimination of overtime after eight hours. Read more »

Local 683 Contract Extension Guarantees Money For All Members, Including Those Still on Layoff

UE Local 683, whose members process and transport scrap metal for Liberty Iron & Metal in Erie, PA, ratified a one-year contract extension on Saturday, July 24. Negotiating with an exiting employer amid the recent sale of their plant, and with a majority of their members on layoff since last March, the local secured a $1,000 lump sum for all bargaining unit employees and took zero concessions. Read more »

City Workers Across North Carolina Win Better Wages in Budget Campaigns

Over the past several months, UE Local 150 chapters have waged campaigns which won wage increases for municipal workers in cities across North Carolina. Although the state of North Carolina bans collective bargaining in the public sector, Local 150 members circulated petitions, held press conferences, and spoke at city council, winning significant improvements for municipal workers. Read more »

Week of Action to Protect the Right to Organize

From July 17-25, labor and allied organizations held a national Week of Action to demand that the Senate pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, long overdue labor-law reform that would make it easier for workers to join unions and bargain with their employers for fair wages and working conditions. Bosses are working overtime to prevent this legislation from becoming law — working people need to get busy and make our voices heard. Read more »

UE Healthcare Workshop Featured in Labor Notes

UE Director of Education Kari Thompson was asked by the publication Labor Notes to write about UE’s “How to Fix Healthcare” workshop. “Using kitchen table economics is critical for winning workers over to Medicare for All. Before this training, members may be wary of trading something they’re familiar with for something that’s unknown. But in the workshop, they see for themselves that what they have now is robbing them blind—and that Medicare for All would bring them real economic gains.” Read more »

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