“Shenanigans” Get Results in Contentious Local 1107 Negotiations

Despite the company’s lawyer’s assertion early in negotiations that UE members’ “shenanigans” would have no effect on the outcome of negotiations, it was only at the last moment, with members taking action and the expiration looming, that the company began making wage proposals that members could begin to consider as fair.

Local 625 Members Speak Out About ABB’s Substandard Healthcare

UE Local 625 member Sharon Johnston calls her company’s healthcare plan “The Don’t Get Sick Plan,” because of the high out-of-pocket expenses. “I’d like to go to the dermatologist because my father had cancer,” says Johnston, but “that’s a six-hundred dollar bill there. I can’t afford that, that’s my paycheck.”

In addition to speaking out on their healthcare, members of UE Locals 625 and 626, whose contract with ABB expired on October 31, recorded a video message for the company, held a one-day warning strike, and picketed the company's corporate offices in Pittsburgh. They ratified a new contract on Saturday, December 21 with healthcare improvements, three-percent annual wage increases, and no concessions (details will be published in the next UE NEWS Bulletin).

New Local 203 Contract Raises Wages and Improves Grievance Procedure

After three months and a marathon, almost 19-hour final bargaining session, Local 203 reached a new three-year contract with City Market in the early hours of October 1. The contract will increase the starting rate for the lowest-paid job classifications from $11 to $13, with a new wage scale that significantly increases wages for the lowest-paid workers. Read more »

Local 1161 Wins Fair Contract Despite Loss of Business, Insurance Company Greed

Only a couple of months prior to negotiations with the 70 members of UE Local 1161, the manufacturing company Spartek, Inc. lost their second-largest customer. The health insurance industry’s greed compounded the situation, with premiums for the company set to increase by more than 15 percent. Nonetheless, Local 1161 members demanded a fair contract and wore UE Local 506-inspired t-shirts reading, “The company whispers you can’t handle the storm” and “UE replied, WE ARE THE STORM.” Read more »

New Local 1160 Contract Pumps Up Wages

Member involvement paid off in this year’s contract negotiations for Local 1160 — their new four-year contract with Roth Pump includes hefty first-year wage increases, as well as improvements to the 401(k) and the way that members move through the pay scale. Read more »

UE Urges NO Vote on US-Mexico-Canada Agreement

UE's officers issued a statement on December 13 on the proposed US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The statement notes that “The USMCA will still allow corporations to move their work to the locations with the lowest standards for workers and the environment while limiting the abilities of democratically-elected governments to uphold the interests of working people. Unless we demand that the rights of workers to organize and live in dignity are upheld everywhere, American workers will see no relief from their fears of jobs moving overseas or to lower-wage communities in their own country.”

Retired UE Director of Organization Bob Kingsley joined labor rights activists at the U.S. Capitol in November to demand justice for recently murdered Mexican unionists and highlight the shortcomings of the USMCA in protecting workers' rights in Mexico.

UE, Global Unions Take Action Against Violent Repression of Trade Unions in the Philippines

On Human Rights Day, December 10, UE joined hundreds of other unions throughout the world in taking action to support the working people of the Philippines, where trade unionists and activists are facing increasing repression and violence. UE’s officers sent a letter of protest to Philippines President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, condemning the recent raids and arrests of trade union leaders in the Philippines and urging him to stop the attacks on trade union organizations and labor activists. Over 250 people took action on the Action Network letter-writing campaign set up by the UE Research and Education Fund, sending their own letters to Duterte. Read more »

UE Condemns Coup in Bolivia

UE's officers issued a statement condemning the removal of Bolivia’s elected president Evo Morales by the military in mid-November, noting that this coup is just the latest example of an attack on a progressive Latin American government by big business forces supported by U.S. administrations, attacks which have as their goal the fattening of corporate profits at the expense of the region’s workers and environment. Read more »

Northeast Region Hails Women’s Leadership, Reviews Tough Bargaining

Welcoming UE local leaders to the Northeast Region council meeting on November 1, Region President Autumn Martinez noted the abundance of strong women leaders in the room. UE locals from across New England reported on contract negotiations and workplace struggles and discussed building cross-local solidarity and the challenges of climate change. Read more »

North American Solidarity Project Unions Meet to Advance Work on Climate, Other Campaigns

UE’s national officers, the presidents of the Eastern and Western regions, and several senior staff met in Chicago the weekend of November 1-3 with leaders from other unions participating in the North American Solidarity Project: UE’s Canadian partner Unifor, National Nurses United, and the Inland Boatmens’ Union/ILWU. The group reviewed the project’s work and made plans for next steps in five core areas: Workers’ Rights and Workers’ Power, Equity and Anti-Racism, Medicare for All, Climate Change and Just Transition, and Trade and Migration. Read more »