The 2020 presidential primary and general elections will be of historic importance for workers, our union, the labor movement, and our country. The issues that will define these elections are already becoming clear. Union members and locals need to inform ourselves about the issues and the candidates, their records and visions for the community and the country.
The UE General Executive Board encourages UE members and locals to participate fully in discussions about the challenge of climate change and the eventual replacement of fossil fuels by renewable energy, and participate in the movements and organizations proposing solutions. We have an incredible opportunity to transform our society to a more worker-supportive and community-controlled economy and nation. We must not waste this opportunity.
On Friday, May 24, Local 1107 Vice President Joni Anderson, Local 1121 Financial Secretary Charlene Winchell, Local 1161 President Sharry Neidfeldt and Field Organizer Jason Whisler took the UE policy of “Healthcare for All” to the office of Congressman Ron Kind. Following up on UE members’ attendance at Congresswoman Gwen Moore’s “Congressional Cafe” earlier this month, a delegation consisting of Local 1135 President Malik Grant, Local 1111 Retiree Association Vice-President Ted Krukowski and Western Region President Carl Rosen met with the congresswoman’s Milwaukee staff on Tuesday, May 28.
On Saturday, May 18, UE members from Milwaukee-area Locals 1135 and 1172 attended a “Congressional cafe” hosted by Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Milwaukee to urge the congresswoman to support HR 1384, the Medicare For All Act of 2019.
UE leaders have been taking UE’s message that the Green New Deal must include action for good, union jobs to Green New Deal meetings. On May 4, UE General President Peter Knowlton spoke at a town hall meeting in Philadelphia organized by the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. In Erie, PA Local 506 Vice President/Recording Secretary Tom Bobrowicz was a featured speaker at a May 6 town hall meeting on “The Road to the Green New Deal.”
On Wednesday, April 24, State Representative Zack Hawkins Durham) and State Senator Wiley Nickel (Wake) announced that they are introducing legislation to overturn North Carolina's ban on public-sector collective bargaining, a goal long sought by members of UE Local 150. “We need to end this Jim Crow-era public-sector employee law,” said Nickel. “Public employees deserve equal treatment under the law and now is the time to give it to them.”
Since the 2018 midterm elections, the “Green New Deal” — a comprehensive approach to addressing climate change that would create millions of new jobs — has gained both visibility and popularity, as well as a certain amount of controversy.
When Bernie Sanders made a campaign stop in Pittsburgh on Sunday, April 14, all three of the local speakers on his program were from labor, and the last of them was from UE. Retired UE NEWS Editor Al Hart warmed up the crowd by reminding them that Sanders doesn’t just talk about being a supporter of labor, he has a long history of supporting UE and other union members.
On Wednesday, April 10th, longtime UE ally Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2019. The bill complements the Medicare for All Act of 2019 introduced by Representative Pramila Jayapal in the House of Representatives in February. “The American people want, and we are going to deliver, a Medicare for All, single-payer system,” said Sanders, echoing long-held UE policy.
On February 27, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced H.R. 1384, the Medicare for All Act. Jayapal introduced the bill with over 100 original co-sponsors and the “unprecedented support” of many major unions, who have finally joined UE’s longstanding support of a Medicare for All single-payer healthcare system.