Members of UE Local 150 participated in two back-to-back actions in January to demand North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) use the lapsed-salary fund of $386 million to improve pay for workers.
The UE General Executive Board’s meeting in January was the first one to be led by UE’s two new national officers — General President Scott Slawson and Director of Organization Kimberly Lawson, who took office on November 1 — along with Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker, who has served in that office since 2011.
In November, UE’s close Italian ally FIOM secured a major victory after four days of continuous and intense negotiations. The new national agreement, negotiated by FIOM and two other metalworkers’ unions with national employers’ federations, covers more than 1.5 million workers across the country and guarantees a €205 (US $237.17) increase on minimum contractual salaries over four years, which the unions say is essential to protecting wages amid rising living costs and economic uncertainty.
Members of UE Local 256, the MIT Graduate Student Union, are gearing up for negotiations this spring as their contract is set to expire on May 31. Over 1800 workers engaged in the union’s bargaining survey and sent a clear message: as higher education comes under attack from the federal government, student workers need a fair and safe workplace — one where arbitrary decisions do not uproot their futures.
In a day-long voting session, workers filed through the education building at Henry Mayo Hospital on January 29 to vote on their new collective bargaining agreement. UE Local 1004, which represents the hospital’s support staff, had reached a tentative agreement with management on January 16. The tentative agreement included both improvements to contract language and wage improvements for all job grades.
On December 16, 2025, workers with UE Local 1010-New Seasons Labor Union ratified their first contract, concluding a three-plus year struggle. The contract will protect more than 850 grocery workers at New Seasons Market, a grocery chain in the Portland, Oregon area. Local 1010 members Ava Robins and Veronica McShane wrote about NSLU’s origins, history, and successful struggle for a first contract for the UE NEWS.
UE locals across the country took part in a national shutdown against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on January 30th, joining a coordinated national effort to oppose detention, deportation, and the use of state power to terrorize immigrant communities. After federal agents murdered Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Somali and Black student organizers from the University of Minnesota led the call for “no business as usual,” encouraging people to call off from school, skip on shopping, and take off from work to make broad participation feasible across the nation.
On January 23, members of UE Local 1105 braved temperatures of 20 degrees below zero to march alongside fellow workers for the “ICE OUT January 23rd Day of Truth and Freedom.” This day of action, which was organized by a coalition of labor unions, faith leaders, and immigrant rights organizations, was a historic demonstration of solidarity. Not only did 75,000 people join in the march and rally on 1/23, but over 700 local businesses closed for the day to stand in solidarity with the action’s demands.
The day of action had four key demands:
Members of UE Local 150 joined a coalition of unions and organizations throughout North Carolina at the end of last year to take concrete action against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. The workers demanded the state divest state workers’ and teachers’ pensions from Israeli bonds. After holding rallies and speaking out at meetings at the state treasurer’s office, the coalition succeeded in pressuring the state to sell $6.7 of the $7.7 million in Israeli government bonds held in the state pension fund.
On November 7, 2025, UE Local 1477 ratified its first contract with PTI, covering rail crew drivers at the Denver and Grand Junction BNSF locations formerly operated by Hallcon, PTI’s rival company.
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