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ORGANIZE Join UE to win justice at work RESOURCES For taking on the boss TAKE ACTION For Medicare for All

76th UE National Convention
August 25-29, 2019
Pittsburgh, PA

UE News Updates

Local 274 Members on Strike to Preserve Healthcare

UPDATE, AUGUST 15: Local 274 members returned to work at 11pm last night after a successful three-day “warning strike,” and the company has agreed to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

UE members at Kennametal's Greenfield Tap & Die plant in Greenfield, MA are on strike today against the company's unfair labor practices. They are also protesting the company's demands for healthcare concessions, mandatory overtime, and allowing temp workers to do union members' jobs.

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UE Political Action Updates

House Passes Bill to Raise the Wage, Time to Demand the Senate Take Action

Last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Raise the Wage Act, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour over six years. It would also phase out the degrading “tipped minimum wage” of $2.13 for tipped workers, and ensure that the minimum wage would continue to keep pace with inflation by automatically increasing the minimum wage in line with the median wage increase of all workers.

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UE News Features

General President Peter Knowlton to Retire (but Stay Active in the Union)

UE General President Peter Knowlton has announced that he plans to retire when his term ends on October 31, and he will not seek reelection at this year’s convention.

He will be retiring with over three decades of service to UE as a field organizer, district and then regional president, and national officer, though as Knowlton is quick to remind anyone he's around these days, this is not the end of his contributions to the union — he plans to stay active as a retiree.

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Information for Workers

More than 80 years of experience. Information for stewards, officers, and workers who want to know more about their rights, workplace issues and our union. Click here to subscribe to the UE Steward, our monthly publication for stewards. Click here to view more resources.

Duty of Fair Representation

In UE we know that a big part of our job as a steward is to protect the gains we have won in our contracts, to fight to improve our wages, hours and working conditions, and to defend workers against injustice from management.

We also know that sometimes we have to defend workers that we or others may not personally like, because we must defend a principle bigger than the individual person.

Throughout the years a legal principle has been developed by the National Labor Relations Board called “the duty of fair representation” (DFR). This legal principle quite simply states that a union must represent all workers equally and without prejudice. A union cannot refuse to represent or improperly represent a worker due to the worker’s age, race, creed, nationality, sex, religion, political beliefs, union status or personality. If a union fails to represent a worker due to prejudice, or hostility, the union can be charged.

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Fighting "Right to Work"

UE has put together this collection of resources for doing political education about "right-to-work" and building effective unions in "right-to-work" conditions.

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Preparing for and Conducting a Strike: A UE Guide

A strike is always our last resort. As UE members we know that there are hundreds of ways to put pressure on an employer to settle a good contract. But the strike — or the threat of one — remains the single most powerful inducement to force employers to deal with the demands of workers. Remember - only your local membership can decide to strike - not UE Officers, staff or workers from other locals or shops.

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