UE Local 1466-United Grad Workers (UGW) at the University of New Mexico ratified their second contract on October 27 after seven months at the negotiation table. Graduate workers at the University of New Mexico fought long and hard to secure six percent raises to minimums and across the board for their bargaining unit, the highest wages won across university union negotiations this year.
Robert L. Clark, who served as UE’s general secretary-treasurer from 1994 to 2001 and was generally known as “Bobby,” passed away on October 10. He was UE’s first Black national officer.
As secretary-treasurer, Clark strongly supported UE’s commitment to independent political action. He was also a strong supporter of the union’s international program, seeing international working-class solidarity as the only solution to the deluge of plant closings which decimated the union’s ranks during his time in office.
General President Carl Rosen, who will retire in November after over four decades in UE, walked his first picket line at age five, when his father joined his fellow members of UE Local 1114 in a four-month strike at Goodman Manufacturing on Chicago’s south side. In college, Rosen spent his summers working at factory and warehouse jobs represented by the Steelworkers union and his time on campus helping organize the student movement against apartheid in South Africa.
Negotiating a wage increase with an employer is one of the most common things that most union locals do. But since an anti-union law went into effect eight years ago, UE Local 896-Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, which represents 2,000 graduate workers at the University of Iowa, has been forced to simply accept the maximum arbitration award mandated by that law — as has every other union which bargains with the state’s Board of Regents, which governs the Iowa’s higher education system.
It has always been a point of pride for members of UE Local 255, which represents workers at Hunger Mountain Co-op, that they have never paid anything towards their insurance premiums. However, a 26 percent increase in the cost of their health care plan and the limited number of insurance providers in Vermont put them in a difficult position during their most recent negotiations, which took place from April through August of this year.
Twenty-seven members from four UE locals attended the Labor Notes Troublemakers School which was held at the Steamfitters Local 601 Hall on October 4. Locals 1103, 1122, 1177, and 1186 each contributed members to the UE delegation, which was by far the largest of any union in attendance. The Troublemakers Schools are all-day conferences that cover organizing skills and highlight real-world examples of taking on the boss.
A group of UE Local 1122-Northwestern University Graduate Workers members has created a monthly grassroots newsletter called “What’s Up Doc?” to educate the public about science and healthcare — and they want to hear from UE members. Their goal is to provide answers in accessible language to bring scientific knowledge to the broader public, and they encourage UE members to send in any questions they have about the doctor’s office, public health, or biomedical research by submitting questions to whatsupdocchicago@gmail.com.
Passaic Library workers, members of amalgamated UE Local 155, won four percent wage increases in each year of their new three-year contract. This was the first multi-year contract in many years; for some time, the local has been negotiating one-year extensions due to issues with the library’s finances. In addition to the wage increases, which are higher than they have historically received, the workers won an extra early closure day (with pay) and increased the travel reimbursements.
After the University of Vermont (UVM) announced an audit in July to verify the eligibility of workers’ dependents to be on their health insurance plans, UE Local 267, which represents UVM’s service and maintenance workers, took immediate action. The local filed a step three class action grievance, demanding that UVM bargain over the unilateral change, and joined with other unions on campus to hold a rally to protest the audit.
On July 31, 2025 my wife and I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Japan for the International Trade Union Forum for Peaceful and Just World without Nuclear Weapons. At this International Solidarity conference, we met with several different trade Unions from around the globe including Zenroren — Japan, Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses (General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers, CGTP) — Portugal, Confédération Générale du Travail (General Confederation of Labor, CGT) — France, Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU) — South Korea
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