UE NEWS Updates

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New Erie Jobs Initiative Originated with Local 506

January 18, 2019

UE Local 506 was instrumental in the development of a new initiative, launched this week, to bring jobs to Erie, PA. The Choose Erie website features Local 506 prominently. In contrast to many "economic development" programs which seek to attract companies by promising low wages, union-free environments, or lax regulation, Choose Erie highlights the skilled workforce and the quality of life in this working-class city, with affordable housing, opportunities for outdoor recreation, and a proud manufacturing history.

UE Offers Solidarity to GM Workers

January 11, 2019
Windsor, ON

UE General President Peter Knowlton traveled to Windsor today to express UE’s solidarity with thousands of GM workers facing layoffs.

“When any group of workers is ready to fight to keep their jobs and preserve strong communities, they deserve UE support and solidarity,” says Knowlton. “UE has a long tradition of fighting plant closings and doing whatever is necessary to keep our members’ jobs.”

Two New Books Examine How Working People Have Changed (and Can Still Change) the World

December 14, 2018
Review by Jonathan Kissam

In Can the Working Class Change the World? economist and labor educator Michael Yates makes the case that the working class — and only the working class — can indeed overcome economic inequality, eliminate racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and meet the challenge of environmental degradation and climate change. Historian Erik Loomis’s A History of America in Ten Strikes is an original and engaging way to re-learn U.S. history through the lens of working-class struggle.

UE Joins Unions from Four Countries at North American Solidarity Project Conference in Ontario

December 7, 2018
Port Elgin, Ontario

More than three dozen UE leaders and staff traveled to Port Elgin, Ontario on November 9-11 to discuss key challenges and issues facing the labor movement with trade unionists from across North America, along with allies from Europe and Australia. The North American Solidarity Project Conference brought together 140 delegates from six unions in four countries.

Northeast Region Hears Speakers on History, Healthcare, Strikes

December 7, 2018
Portsmouth, NH

“I do not have to tell you we are in horrifying and shocking times,” said Northeast Region President Elizabeth Jesdale as she welcomed delegates to the regional council meeting on November 2. “Our rights and the rights of our sisters, brothers and comrades are being stomped on and diminished daily… It is up to us to gain the education and skills to not only fight for ourselves, but for us to reach out and pull up the unorganized so they may break their chains.”

Local 150 Members Join Protest for Voting Rights

December 7, 2018
Raleigh, NC
By Aubrey Lauersdorf, UE Local 150 Recording Secretary

On Tuesday, November 27th, UE members stood alongside their allies in the Poor People's Campaign, the NAACP, and Repairers of the Breach for a Moral Day of Action in Raleigh, North Carolina.

After North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Florence this fall, the state legislature called a special session to pass a hurricane recovery bill. However, Republican legislators also decided to ram through a last-minute voter ID bill, since they will lose their veto-proof supermajority in January.

UE President Addresses Sanders Institute Gathering

December 3, 2018
Burlington, VT

UE General President Peter Knowlton was one of four labor leaders who addressed the inaugural conference of the Sanders Institute, “The Gathering,” last weekend. The Sanders Institute brings together organizers, educators and progressive elected officials to promote progressive solutions to economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues.

Local 506 Sports Committee Has Raised over $300K for Veterans

November 11, 2018
Erie, PA

The UE Local 506 Sports Committee takes their commitment to veterans seriously — but not too seriously to have fun. Since 1996, they have raised $319,873 for the Erie VA Medical Center with a variety of events that bring UE members and their families together, honor veterans’ service, and raise money to meet the needs of local veterans.

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