UE in the News

One current flashpoint for labor and private equity centers around the Refresco bottling factory in Wharton, New Jersey. Refresco is the largest independent bottling company in the world, producing brand name drinks from Gatorade to Arizona Iced Tea.

Anthony Sanchez is a machine operator who has worked at the Wharton plant for over 16 years. He told Truthout that working conditions at the plant — especially the 12-hour shifts the company imposed, he says, to avoid paying overtime — have had ruinous impacts on his life. He’s also suffered injuries that he says are work-related but that Refresco won’t take responsibility because they want to avoid paying workers’ compensation.

A new study done by the Keystone Research Center found that if Wabtec produced more green locomotives at their Erie plant, it could bring thousands of more jobs to the area.

Scott Slawson, the President of the U.E. Local 506 explained, "It was a report we had commissioned and what we wanted to see was if we increase locomotive production, what that would look like for the Erie facility. And, you know, as we move forward, everybody is looking towards cleaner and greener forms of energy and locomotives play a big portion in that."

In its first 24 hours, the new union—affiliated with the United Electrical Workers (UE)—gathered more than 1,700 authorization cards representing nearly half the entire bargaining unit. Eight days in, they had a strong majority. And this week they filed for election with 65 percent support.

Such a first day bodes well for the success of the campaign, despite five—count ’em, five—previous election losses in graduate union drives at the University of Minnesota.

The timing couldn’t be better. In a space of just a few months, graduate employee unions across the country have won tremendous victories, by margins that would be the envy of dictators holding sham elections.

Irma Ibarra has worked as an ultrasound tech at the hospital for 19 years without taking a day off, she said in a phone interview Monday from the picket line. However, she said she joined the protest because she didn’t feel like the hospital was treating its workers fairly. 

“I need to support my co-workers and we really need to be heard by the hospital and our management,” said Ibarra, who added that since the pandemic, she regularly works about 30 hours of overtime each pay period.

“They have refused to continue bargaining with us and won’t come to the table to hear our proposals,” said Stacy Suarez, a surgical tech at the hospital and a member member of union negotiating committee.

Workers say the hospital is experiencing high turnover because of low wages and chronic chronic understaffing — factors that undermine patient care.

Suarez said some of the lowest paid workers at Henry Mayo earn less than $17 an hour, while management has offered to boost that to $17.50.

“These are poverty wages,” she said. “In-N-Out pays its workers anywhere from $17 to $19 an hour, and some of our employees went to school for their jobs and carry carry professional certifications.”

Housekeepers across campus have been organizing with The Workers Union [a chapter of UE Local 150] since October to fight for their two demands. Their petition had received over 2,000 signatures as of November, and they were invited into a Board of Trustees meeting where Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz expressed support for their cause and thanked them for speaking.

In December, housekeepers received a 90-cent raise, bringing their hourly wage up to $16.81 — and falling $3.19 short of their request for a $20 hourly wage. Their demand for free parking was also left unaddressed. 

Many housekeepers, organizers and students alike have said these actions by the University have felt superficial and inadequate to their requests.