UE NEWS Updates

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Local 1160 Pumps Up the Volume

February 10, 2024

UE Local 1160 members at Roth Pump manufacture pumps for oil rigs, chemical plants, and refineries. On November 18, those members ratified a new four-year agreement. After a period of relatively little activity, members elected a new executive board and decided to send a message to management that they were done with concessionary bargaining and would not settle for a contract unless it addressed rising inflation, healthcare, increased vacation, and safety.  

Local 1121 Members Fight Back Union-Busting Attack and Win New Contract at Aramark

February 10, 2024
UE members wearing union t-shirts at work in an industrial laundry
Local 1121 members wearing union t-shirts at work.

The members of UE local 1121 at Aramark/Vestis ratified a new five-year agreement on October 13, after fighting back a bitter attempt to break the local union by the boss. Despite the employer’s illegal tactics of threats, lies, and outright bribes to break their local union, members voted by a two-to-one margin to reject an attempted decertification.

Locals 718 and 777 Win Improved Severance in the Face of Plant Closing

February 10, 2024

On November 29, 2023, Post Consumer Brands called a meeting to notify the 160 UE members who maintain the facility (Local 718) and manufacture cereal (Local 777) at the Lancaster cereal plant that they would all be out of a job in six months to one year. The officers of both locals got this terrible news via a PowerPoint presentation from the Post corporate officials in a hotel conference room a few towns over, and halted further discussions until they could get back to the plant and inform the membership of both locals in person.

Connecticut Paraeducators Secure 25 Percent Wage Increase

February 10, 2024

After their last contract with the Windsor Locks Board of Education, members of the UE Local 222 Sublocal 4 negotiating committee continued to meet every six to eight weeks to see how things were going and what they would fight for in the next contract. When it came time to negotiate a new contract in 2023, these seasoned veterans all brought their stories to the table, did their research, and stood firm with management when they would question them on an issue.

Local 150-Sponsored MLK Day Event Supports Fired City Worker

February 10, 2024

Close to a hundred people came out on January 15, 2024 for the 34th annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration at the Bloomer Hill Community Center and heard keynote speaker City Councilman Andre Knight address the topic, “Workers Want Justice.” The Carolina Auto, Aerospace and Machine Workers Union (CAAMWU) chapter of UE Local 150 has co-sponsored the annual MLK Day event since 1991.

Durham City Workers Union Leaders Meet with Mayor to Advance Fight for Fair Pay

February 9, 2024

On the first day of Black History Month, February 1, 2024, members of UE Local 150’s Durham City Workers Union chapter from the Solid Waste and Public Works departments met with Mayor Leonardo Williams and Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton to discuss their demands for the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget, to be voted on in June.

Member-Run Unionism, Building Diverse Leadership Top GEB Agenda

February 6, 2024

“No one is born saying I want to be a union president,” Local 506 President Scott Slawson reminded his fellow members of UE’s General Executive Board during the board’s meeting on January 25 and 26. Throughout the two days, board members and national officers repeatedly emphasized the importance of giving UE members the skills to run their own local unions without relying on staff — and the measures that the National Union, and many locals, are taking to make that happen.

Second Cohort Graduates from Leadership and Staff Development Program

February 6, 2024

The second cohort of UE’s Leadership and Staff Development program graduated in December. At the conclusion of the year-long program, participants reviewed their goals and progress towards them and reflected on their shared experiences.

Over the course of the program, members engaged in online workshops on everything from UE’s history, structure, and core principles to how to write a grievance. Most participants also attended the Building Union Power online course, and many went to the national convention. 

UE Members March on MLK Day

February 2, 2024

Over the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, UE members in Virginia and North Carolina held marches honoring Dr. King’s fight for civil rights and workers' rights. Workers spoke about the lack of progress for workers since the 1960's, and called for the right to collective bargaining — a basic right restricted in both states.

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