UE NEWS Features

Employers loudly proclaim that their workforces are not interested in belonging to unions, speaking for them by claiming that they are satisfied with their unorganized status. This, even though poll after poll shows that workers across all demographic groups and industries indicate wide support for unions. They further express in large majorities a willingness to join a union if that were possible. What stops these workers from organizing is the fact that employers will — and do — resist with every legal and illegal means when workers try to exercise their right to organize.

Gathering at the historic Franklinton Center at Bricks in the eastern part of the North Carolina, UE’s statewide Local 150 held its 12th biennial convention on August 20 and 21. Nearly 70 delegates and guests gave reports on important victories and struggles across the state, discussed the role of community-faith-labor coalitions in winning broad social changes, and celebrated 25 years of struggle since Local 150’s founding in 1997. Bishop William J. Barber II of the Poor People’s Campaign gave the keynote address.

Juneteenth is an opportunity to reflect on the ways that the history of slavery still shapes our country’s politics and economy. It is also a reminder of how our history — including the history of all labor struggles — is shaped by the conflict between our human desire for freedom and our bosses’ demand to control our labor.

In one of the largest NLRB election wins for any union in recent years, 3800 graduate workers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology voted on April 4 and 5 to join UE. The MIT Graduate Student Union/UE (MIT-GSU) prevailed by a margin of almost two to one. Following the decisive 1785-912 victory, the MIT administration indicated their intention to begin bargaining with the union in an email to all graduate students.