When the UE General Executive Board, the union's highest decision-making body in between conventions, met on May 28 and 29, General President Scott Slawson opened the meeting with a round of introductions. The introductions reflected the wide geographic and sectoral range of UE's membership: manufacturing workers from Pennsylvania and Connecticut, food co-op workers from Vermont and Wisconsin, federal contract workers from Chicago and Kentucky, and graduate workers from Minnesota, New Mexico, and California, as well as members who work in the rail crew and health care industries.
For over a third of the UE members in the room, it was their first GEB meeting, including the newly-elected president of the Eastern Region, Janet Gray. Both newer and older members brought energy and enthusiasm to the job of leading the union.
In addition to discussing UE’s organizational, educational, political action and international work, GEB members debated and approved a statement on the use of “Artificial Intelligence” (AI) technology. Originally drafted by a group of rank-and-file members from UE’s higher education locals, the statement “AI for Public Good, Not Private Profit” calls for “public and worker control of Artificial Intelligence technologies, and for the end of their use for mass surveillance and as weapons of war.”
“It’s important to remember that [AI is] made by humans,” said Western Region President Ramona Malczynski, and that working people have the power to demand that AI tools be used to benefit humanity, rather than just create profits for CEOs and investors. President Slawson added “You’re got a lot of taxpayer dollars that are being funneled into” AI development, while corporations are reaping the benefits. Eastern Region Vice President Sophie Nighswander, Local 696, pointed out that AI data centers, whose massive needs for water and electricity drive up utility bills in surrounding areas, are mostly being built in poor and rural areas.
Strong May Day Participation Positions UE to Meet Challenges Ahead
As Director of Organization Kimberly Lawson reported, UE’s major focus in the recent period was involving UE locals and members in local coalitions organizing May Day events. This work has strengthened UE’s connections to other unions and progressive forces, she reported. These alliances and relationships will be critical to mobilizing community support as UE locals in higher education begin bargaining second contracts this year and next.
That bargaining will be more difficult than normal, Lawson said, because the National Labor Relations Board under Trump has signaled its intention to withdraw NLRB protections from graduate workers. UE locals in the sector are concerned that their employers will use this as an excuse to withdraw recognition or demand givebacks. At MIT, where Local 256’s contract expired at the end of May, Lawson reported that “Before we even sat down to bargain, MIT made it clear that they had no intention of engaging in serious bargaining.”
Overall, she said, contracts covering more than 18,000 UE members will expire over the next two years, not only in higher education but also in other sectors, including UE’s national contract with Hallcon and Local 506’s contract with Wabtec. “It is crucial that we have offensive plans to win these contracts.”
Membership Involvement Critical
Throughout the meeting, a common theme emerged: the importance of membership involvement.
Following Lawson’s Organizational Report, Eastern Region Secretary-Treasurer John Miles, Local 506, Western Region Secretary-Treasurer Michael Tomaloff, Local 1186, and Toby Madrone, Local 255, all spoke about their locals’ interest in being involved in organizing, whether that is sending members to talk to workers at sister shops or forming an outreach and new organizing committee to look for organizing leads in their areas.
President Slawson reported that UE’s new member-run education committee has been constituted. The union is planning to revamp its educational materials, and “we want members helping develop that,” he said. “We want to start with the core issues” like contract bargaining, grievance handling, and shop-floor organizing, and “make it more accessible to everybody.”
Board members also heard a report about the third cohort of the UE Leadership and Staff Development Program, and discussed ways to expand the union’s efforts to develop members’ leadership skills. “Everybody should have the opportunity to become a leader,” said John Miles.
Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker gave a financial report and reviewed a proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which the board adopted unanimously. The board also voted to renew UE’s annual donation of $1,000 to the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, and to establish a task force to explore the possibility of reorganizing the union’s geographic regions to create additional ones.