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Preparation, Unanimous Strike Vote Win New Three-Year Contract for Local 625

December 2, 2024

UE Local 625 ratified a three-year contract on November 16 following a contract campaign which directly confronted the greed of their employer, Hitachi Energy. The vote was held in a crowded room of union members at the Kosciuszko Club in Mt. Pleasant. The workers, who build high-quality circuit breakers and high-voltage equipment at locations in Greensburg and Mt. Pleasant, had been working without a contract for over two weeks.

Company Denies Life Insurance Benefit; Local 625 Wins It Back

December 2, 2024

UE Local 625, whose members build equipment for the electric grid, recently won an important grievance filed on behalf of a deceased member.* Despite the member paying premiums on supplemental life insurance throughout his time on disability, the company, Hitachi Energy, argued that a policy change disqualified his beneficiary from the insurance benefit upon his death.

Chasen Workers Force Boss to Pay Severance After Surprise Plant Shutdown

November 15, 2024

Four hours after beginning the process for negotiating a new union contract with their employer, members of UE Local 155 at Chasen Fiber Technologies were notified that their parent company, Integreon Global, intended to shut down their plant on November 1.

A New Jersey law requires that companies pay severance when they shut down a plant, but the Chasen facility’s small size exempts it from the law. Integreon attempted to take advantage of that loophole to avoid providing any severance to its workers.

UE Members Picket Hitachi Corporate HQ Demanding Fair Contract

November 13, 2024

Members of UE Local 625, who work for Hitachi Energy at plants in Greensburg and Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, picketed the company’s North American headquarters yesterday, demanding that the company drop its concessionary demands and bargain a fair contract with the union. They were joined by members of UE’s North Carolina Local 150 and community allies.

Rising Tide of Solidarity: WHOI Workers Unite for Fairer Conditions

November 9, 2024

The graduate student workers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reached a significant milestone on October 1, when they participated in their first bargaining session to negotiate a union contract. These workers, part of a joint program between WHOI and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have been organizing their union since early 2023. Inspired by successful union drives by graduate workers at other institutions, particularly MIT, the WHOI workers were determined to secure better protections and benefits.

Preparations Key to Winning Biggest Wage Increases Ever for Local 319

November 8, 2024

UE Local 319 members who work for Battenfeld Grease and Oil Corporation ratified a new three-year contract on October 29 which includes the biggest wage increases ever negotiated with Battenfeld. Depending on their labor grades, members will receive five to nine percent wage increases in the first year of the agreement, which took effect on November 1. Wages will increase 11 to 22 percent, depending on labor grade, over the life of the agreement.

New Energy on Display at Eastern Region

November 8, 2024

The UE Eastern Region held its fall council meeting on October 26 in Baltimore, home of Local 197-Teachers and Researchers United (TRU). Local 197, who settled their first contract in the spring, had over a dozen members in attendance, joining members of locals from North Carolina to western Pennsylvania to Vermont. Delegates and guests were welcomed by Eastern Region President George Waksmunski at the beginning of the meeting and Local 197 leader Anna Word said a few words to welcome everyone to their local’s hometown.

New Mexico and Colorado Locals Learn While Organizing at Sub-Regional Meeting

November 7, 2024

Members from UE locals 1466, 1498, and 1477 gathered on October 25 and 26 in Las Cruces for their sub-regional meeting. In total, around 30 workers met at New Mexico State University, where Local 1498 members work, to discuss UE principles, how to develop new leadership, and how to use their locals’ bylaws and constitution as a way to build power.

Local 115 Wins Reinstatement of Fired Union Leader

November 1, 2024

On Wednesday, October 30, UE Local 115 member Licinia Ochoa, who was terminated last summer in retaliation for her leadership in the union, returned to work at the Refresco bottling plant at her same machine, seniority, and pay. The local had circulated a bilingual petition demanding her reinstatement which was signed by hundreds of people, including both workers in the shop and supporters from the community and around the country.

Union Elections on the Rise

October 29, 2024

In a recent report, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced a significant rise in union election petitions in fiscal year 2024 compared to the year before. From October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024, the NLRB received 3,286 union election petitions, up 27 percent compared to the 2,593 in the previous fiscal year. The increase is more than double when compared to the 1,638 petitions submitted in 2021.

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