UE NEWS Updates

Pages

California Renzenberger Drivers Ratify First Contract, Uniting Them with Chicago Members

October 15, 2014
Los Angeles

After a four year struggle for a real union and four months of negotiations, including 13 days at the bargaining table, Renzenberger drivers in California have ratified their first UE contract by a margin of more than 96 percent. In a major breakthrough, the union won the company’s agreement that drivers in California and the Chicago area – two of the company’s biggest markets – will be under the same contract, which will expire August 23, 2018.

UE Intl. Rep. Ed Bloch, Activist for Labor and Peace Over Six Decades, Dies at 90

October 15, 2014
Colonie, NY

Retired UE International Representative Ed Bloch died in his sleep on Sunday, August 24 at his home near Albany. He was 90 years old. Bloch joined UE in 1950 when he got a job in a UE shop, and was hired onto the UE staff in 1951 in New York City. He spent most of his long career with UE in Upstate New York, assisting UE locals and organizing the unorganized. He retired in October 1984 but continued to assist UE locals, especially Local 332 at GE in Fort Edward.

California Renzenberger Drivers Ratify First UE Contract

September 19, 2014
Los Angeles

On Thursday, September 18 the bargaining committee of new UE Local 1077 reached a tentative agreement for a labor agreement covering 600 Renzenberger rail crew drivers at more than 30 rail yards around California. In meetings in 24 locations around the state over 10 days, finishinig on October 3, members voted over 96 percent to ratify the contract. We will have details of the new contract here soon.

Ferguson Affects Us All: Statement of the UE General Executive Board

September 19, 2014
Pittsburgh

The UE General Executive Board, in its triannual meeting September 18-19 in Pittsburgh, adopted the following statement on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri.

Ferguson Affects Us All

UE activists are joining members of labor, civil rights, religious and community groups around the country in expressing outrage over what transpired in Missouri. Members of Local 150, UE's statewide organization in North Carolina, have participated in prayer vigils, protests and public discussions. UE members have been active in other states as well.

Hispanic Heritage Month: Humberto Camacho

September 18, 2014

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated annually in the United States from September 15 to October 15 to recognize the contributions of people of Hispanic or Latino heritage to our country. With this issue of the UE NEWS, we’re launching an annual feature that will highlight what Latino members have done to built the labor movement, and our union and helped win important victories.

Local 799 School Workers Win Wage Increases, Holds Down Insurance Costs

September 12, 2014
Delaware, OH

UE Local 799 members, who work for the Delaware City Schools, approved a new two-year contract on August 7. The new agreement improves wages by 2.25 percent in the first year and 2 percent in the second year, and includes a 25 cent “bump” to increase the hourly wage rates of workers in several classifications, including cooks, cashiers, custodians, assistant head cook, assistant head cashiers and assistant head custodians.  The bump raises the rates for steps 1 through 10 of the wage schedule, the lowest-paid workers in the unit.

Local 1121 Members Preserve Health Plan, Win Raises in Aramark Negotiations

September 12, 2014
LaCrosse, WI

Local 1121 has negotiated and ratified a new three-year agreement with Aramark Industrial Laundry. The old contract expired at the end of April, but bargaining on a new agreement was not completed until July 11, and four days later the members ratified the new contract by 2 to 1.

The major issue was health insurance, where the company wanted to replace the existing 80/20 plan with a 70/30 plan, which would also impose higher employee contributions and a 25 percent co-pay on prescriptions. It also would have increased the out-of-pocket maximum from $4,000 to $8,000.

The Story of Working People That Needs to be Told

September 8, 2014
By Al Hart

Over the past six decades, it has probably been the most popular history of American labor, teaching thousands of workers and students about the struggles of working people in this country. It’s been translated into other languages, including Spanish and Italian, and enabled workers and readers in many countries to see the United States differently than the way it’s portrayed in the media. What many UE members may not realize is that, since 1970, their union has been the publisher and distributor of this very important book about the workers’ movement in our country.

Pages

Subscribe!

If you like what you read, please consider subscribing to the UE NEWS — for as little as $5/year you can support great labor journalism and receive the print edition of the UE NEWS four times per year.

You can also sign up to receive monthly UE NEWS Bulletins via email, or follow UE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.