Members of UE Local 123 at Daikin Industries ratified a new four-year contract at the end of April. The contract guarantees six percent wage increases for the lowest paid workers, increases vacation days and paid time off, and improves language on other benefits. It also increases shift differential pay from $.80 to $2.30 per hour, giving second and third shift workers an additional $1.50 raise.
On Friday, May 1, UE members across the country organized and joined marches, rallies, and other actions to mark International Workers’ Day, and to strengthen their connections to other unions and community organizations. These actions were among over 5,000 organized by the May Day Strong coalition (of which UE is a part) under the banner “Workers Over Billionaires.”
In March 2026, GSU-UE Local 1103 members at the University of Chicago won unprecedented victories against unfair dismissals. By mobilizing hundreds of members to their coworkers’ defense, the local won two discharge grievances for the first time — an important victory in a moment when basic workplace protections for graduate workers are under attack by university administrators across the country.
On April 20, UE Local 115 began negotiations with their employer, Refresco. This will be the second contract for Local 115, who won their first contract in 2023.
After months of planning and coalition building, 13 unions representing bargaining units across ten different university campuses and branches around New Mexico, including UE Locals 1466 and 1498, gathered in Albuquerque for the first Higher Education Labor United (HELU) summit in the state. The summit included presentations covering legislative advocacy, New Mexico Tax Code, and successful revenue campaigns in New Mexico and Massachusetts. Participants also began to draft HELU-NM's vision statement.
Local 642 members overwhelmingly ratified a tentative agreement with Harborcreek Youth Services (HYS), a behavioral health residential facility for male juveniles, on April 23.
“We negotiated the largest raise in the history of our local, increased the agency’s retirement contribution, increased the weekend shift differential, and preserved excellent medical coverage,” said Brian Desanto, Local 642 vice president/recording secretary and a member of the local’s negotiating committee.
On April 30, nearly two dozen members of UE Locals 228 and 728 participated in a member-led steward/organizer workshop. Now over halfway through their hard fought one-year contracts, officers and stewards of both locals continue to emphasize the power of aggressive struggle rather than relying solely on the grievance process.
When management at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania threatened to cut gender-affirming healthcare for 18-year-old patients, UE Local 696 members who work there fought back. At the recent Eastern Region Council Meeting, Local 696 Vice President Nina Mulroy explained how they won continuation of this care.
Over the last week leading up to May Day, UE members have participated in three mass calls with other organizations and unions across the country. Local 256 President Lauren Chua spoke on the No War, No ICE, Free Palestine May Day Mass Call on Monday, April 20 to explain how her local is incorporating anti-war demands into their May Day plans. UE General President Scott Slawson spoke on the May Day Strong Labor Call on April 21 to explain how organized workers can not only change their workplaces but the world around them.
In his final President’s Report, at the Western Region council meeting on April 11 and 12, retiring President Bryan Martindale recounted his decades of leadership in UE, “a community that would shape my life entirely” from the moment he began working at the Stepan Chemical Company in Anaheim, California in 1980, at the age of 19. He recalled being recruited to run for chief steward when he was 20 years old, and the exhilaration of “discover[ing] at a young age that you possess a certain power when you gain the respect of the boss.”
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