UE NEWS Updates

On Monday, April 26, around thirty “apprentice teachers” at Kenyon College went on strike. The teachers, undergraduates who help teach classes in exchange for an hourly wage of just over $10, were joined the next day by more than 140 more members of the Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee (K-SWOC), a UE affiliate.

Early 2021 has been an active time for member education, although the pandemic has reshaped the size, frequency and format of many of the events. In coordination with regional presidents, the UE Education Department led virtual subregional education events for California, Vermont/New Hampshire, Wisconsin/Minnesota, and North Carolina, and also held a similar event for Rail Crew Transport locals. More than 85 members participated in these events.

At the beginning of negotiations with UE Local 123 this spring, the new plant manager at Daikin Industries — who had never negotiated with UE before — presented the union with proposals that would have completely rewritten and gutted the contract’s provisions on seniority, hours of work and overtime.

The members were having none of it.

UE Local 667 continued to gain ground in its ongoing fight for living wages at the East End Food Coop in recent contract negotiations. In addition to winning substantial wage increases over the life of the three-year contract, the local negotiated pathbreaking contract language on accommodations, diversity and inclusion in hiring, on-the-job protections, and bereavement.