UE in the News

[UE Local 1186 President Mike] Tomaloff, who helped organize the forum, said Tuesday’s event was just the beginning. “We got to work with a lot of people like OPEIU and SEIU and other local unions and organizations. I think that’s ... one of the real stories here, on top of this great forum where they answer to us while they’re asking for our votes,” Tomaloff said. “A lot of great labor leaders and organizers in the community came together and we’ve done this and we hope to keep going and doing more and bringing in more people – more local labor organizations, more unions, and more working people because we need to have our voice heard.”

Organizers say this year's events have an added level of significance. May 1 is often recognized as International Workers’ Day, calling attention to the challenges and gains workers have made through organized labor. If they can, Minnesotans are encouraged to avoid shopping and going to work. It mirrors a similar "economic blackout" in January during the height of the federal immigration crackdown around the state.

Since the beginning of the year, said Ben Lewis, a Ph.D student and president of the University of Minnesota Graduate Labor Union Local 1105, he feels more people have realized the collective power they have.

New York State unions are honoring May Day, or International Workers’ Day, by marching for labor rights.

These actions come after the Trump administration terminated collective-bargaining agreements for federal workers and certain higher-education unions. Graduate student workers at Cornell University are protesting certain campus changes that they view as bending to the federal government's demands.

Ewa Niżałowska, president of Cornell Graduate Students United Local 300, said that's why her union is rallying today.

"To show our power," she said. "To assert to Cornell that workers are the people who make this institution run, and that we demand better from our employers. To protect us, to actually stand up to the federal government, to essentially assert that they’re standing with higher education, standing with democracy."

As the war in Iran continues, some labor unions in Pennsylvania are mobilizing to speak out against it.

Members of United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America Local 667 in Pittsburgh, which represents workers at the East End Food Co‑op, say they’re expanding anti‑war and what they call "anti-imperialist" organizing.

Union President Fritz Geist said the union’s Eastern Region has passed a resolution urging members to join protests, partner with anti‑war coalitions and press elected officials for action.

On October 31, the UE National Officers published an op-ed in In These Times on Palestine and Gaza. They explain why, even beyond the prospects of a ceasefire, UE is calling for an end to US military aid to Israel — and why other unions should be working towards the same thing.

Hundreds of postdoctoral scholars and research associates at Northwestern University voted to unionize this week, nearly two months after petitioning school officials.

“It’s beyond exciting to be part of something like this,” said Julia Fadjukov, 36, a postdoctoral fellow researching ophthalmology.

Members of the Northwestern Postdoctoral Union, or NUPU-UE, said they are seeking higher wages, workplace protections and job security. The vote paves the way for the collective bargaining process with the university.

“This job is our dream job. We love to do research and science for a living, but with everything going on in the U.S. at the moment, it has definitely felt like there’s this strong sense of fear,” said Fadjukov, who is from Finland. “I think many of us feel that with (the union), we can have a safe space to do our work.”