After three weeks of very difficult contract negotiations and the rejection of the company’s last, best, and final proposal, members of the Joint Bargaining Committee (JBC) unions at GE Appliances Factory Service, which include UE Locals 270, 335, and 707, approved a new three-year agreement on June 24. JBC union members repair home appliances; the JBC includes IBEW, UE, IAM, and the Steamfitters.
The members of UE Local 741, who are paraprofessionals, cooks, custodians, bus drivers, mechanics, and maintenance workers in the Highland Local School District, are used to difficult times. Despite being essential to maintaining safe and learning conditions and often being responsible for students’ lives, such “classified staff” in public schools are often overlooked and underrespected. The situation is made worse in Ohio, with 31 years of a Republican supermajority in the Ohio General Assembly failing to rectify Ohio’s inadequate and unlawful school-funding situation.
In June, members of the Japanese union Zenroren, an important UE ally, flew into Chicago for the Labor Notes Conference and extended their stay to visit important labor history sites and meet with UE members. The Zenroren delegation included Vice President Ritsu Takagi, Secretary General Koichi Kurosawa, and Deputy Secretary General Keisuke Fuse.
The members of UE Local 690 ratified a new five-year contract on May 27. The workers, employed by Kenson Plastics, produce plastic components and fixtures for sectors ranging from the aerospace to medical industries. The new agreement includes hourly wage increases of $1.45 in the first year and $1.00 in each of the remaining four years. Fabricators, which make up the majority of the local’s membership, will receive an additional $1.10 per hour with completion of four years of service.
From June 12-14, thousands of union members from across the country, including over 30 from UE, gathered in Chicago for the 2026 Labor Notes Conference. The conference this year focused on the labor movement taking an offensive stance against not only the boss but broader authoritarianism.
Retired UE Washington Representative Chris Townsend joined representatives of National Nurses United (NNU), Global Health Partners, Code Pink, and four pro-worker members of Congress on June 30 to denounce the U.S. blockade of Cuba. Despite the 100-degree heat wave, about 100 people attended the action in front of Congress.
One hundred and twenty-five years ago today, 82 metal workers, guests, and allies gathered in the city of Livorno to found the Federazione Impiegati Operai Metallurgici (Federation of Metalworkers), Italy’s militant metalworkers’ union, which, over the past eleven years, has become one of UE’s closest international allies. UE General President Scott Slawson sent a letter to FIOM General Secretary Michele De Palma congratulating FIOM on their anniversary.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union and a close UE ally, joined 27 other Canadian unions and faith and civil-society organizations in calling for peace, sovereignty and solidarity with the people of Cuba. The joint statement, released on Monday, calls on the Canadian government to oppose threats of military intervention by the U.S. and to speak out against unlawful measures harming Cuban people.
UE General President Scott Slawson sent a letter today to members of the Metal Workers Union of the Argentine Republic (UOM), expressing UE’s solidarity with UOM members after the government removed their democratically-elected leaders. In May, the National Labor Appeals Court ordered a 180-day judicial intervention in UOM, annulling the re-election of General Secretary Abel Furlán.
After a five-month, well-organized campaign, UE Local 255 won an important battle with Hunger Mountain Co-op, pressuring management to uphold the internal hiring procedures specified in our contract.
“When we fight, we win,” said Toby Madrone, our local’s president. “We led an intentional and thoughtful internal campaign that included educating our coworkers, which helped them understand and unify around our fight. And it worked!”
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