On Friday, May 1, UE members across the country organized and joined marches, rallies, and other actions to mark International Workers’ Day, and to strengthen their connections to other unions and community organizations. These actions were among over 5,000 organized by the May Day Strong coalition (of which UE is a part) under the banner “Workers Over Billionaires.”
In the weeks leading up to May Day, UE members helped lead mass calls and worked with other unions and organizations to plan actions. Local 255 held a “Gearing Up for May Day” party on April 23 where members got energized for the following week’s actions. Local 1103 hosted an “art build” to screenprint shirts and signs. Other locals took time at their general membership meetings in the weeks leading up to May 1 to educate their members about the history of the holiday and the importance of taking collective action on May Day this year.
Members of Local 1107 demand “Abolish right to work!” at the May Day rally in Madison, WI.
Across the country, UE members took the opportunity to highlight their workplace struggles. Peggy Briggins, the president of UE Local 150’s chapter at the Caswell Developmental Center, a state health facility, told a North Carolina rally, “It is not fair that we give all these years to the state and we are not reaping what we deserve. My reason for being here is to let you all know we must continue to fight… In order for changes to be made, we must come together and do it together. We must fight for what we all deserve.”
Her fellow Local 150 member Shante Jackson from the Murdoch Developmental Center added, “Why do we have to work a second job just to make ends meet while we’re giving the rich tax breaks? Is this a job/career or is this imprisonment? The higher ups get paid to run their mouths, we should get paid just as much to run the floors.”
Local 150 members march in North Carolina.
In Albuquerque, Local 1466-UGW President Lexi Kenis spoke to a large contingent of unions from the area about her local’s current fight at the bargaining table with the University of New Mexico (UNM). Kenis said, “Instead of investing in the people who can help students complete their degrees and enter the workforce, UNM is investing in stadiums, paying off their many creditors, and inflating administrative salaries.” She went on to explain that all bosses are the same. “Ultimately, the struggles of graduate workers are the same that all of us are facing at our jobs. What we are asking for is what all of us here are asking for: to be paid a living for doing what we love and not have to worry about putting food on the table. To be able to put roots down and start and care for our families and to be treated with dignity and respect.”
UE’s other graduate worker locals, many of which will be facing tough battles to renegotiate their contracts under a hostile legal environment over the next two years, took the opportunity to put demands on their universities to move forward, not backwards. Local 256 (MIT-GSU) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology marched and rallied with signs demanding “MIT Protect Your Students and Workers.” Local 1105-GLU at the University of Minnesota marched in Minneapolis with signs that read, “Freedom to teach, freedom to learn, freedom to research.” Local 300-CGSU organized a rally at Cornell which then joined hundreds of community members in Ithaca. Local 1498-GWU at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces set up a table on campus to educate workers about International Workers Day and their local’s current fight at the bargaining table. In Chicago, a large contingent of members from Locals 1103-GSU at the University of Chicago and 1122-NGWU at Northwestern University marched alongside members of UE Local 1110 and other unions, along with community members and allies.
Top: Local 256 (MIT-GSU). Center: Local 300-CGSU leads a march through Ithaca, NY. Bottom: Members of Locals 1103-GSU, 1110, and 1122-NGWU march in Chicago.
At City Hall in San Jose, California, members of Local 1043-SGWU participated in a large rally defending worker rights. “The power of our labor cannot be overstated,” said Tori Varlack, a graduate worker at Stanford and Local 1043 communications secretary. “Recently, we have been burdened with fear and dangers as funding cuts from the Trump administration and his billionaire cronies target what they cannot stand: that there are young, intelligent people of color working at Stanford, receiving a Stanford education so we can return to our communities that have been abused and exploited for centuries.”
Local 197-TRU at Johns Hopkins University staged a rally and a sit-in inside the building that houses the Office of Institutional Equity to protest the administration’s ongoing surveillance and investigations into union members for their commitment to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The members also called on the university to publicly disclose where their $13 billion endowment is invested. During the rally, members carried signs demanding union power, economic security, and collective safety.
Left: Members of Local 696 in Pittsburgh. Right: Members of Local 203 in Burlington, VT.
However, it wasn’t just graduate worker locals who participated in the actions. Local 696 members who work at Planned Parenthood of Western PA marched through the streets of Pittsburgh. In Vermont, Local 255 participated in a march and rally that took place outside of an ICE data center in Williston, while Locals 203 and 267 marched together in Burlington. Local 203 Vice President Thomas Case spoke at the rally and said, “Our union believes in justice for food chain workers and justice for all. We are here in solidarity with the work of Migrant Justice and the immigrant farmworker community that is under threat from ICE. We are here in solidarity with all the unionized laborers and workers in Vermont.”
UE Local 1186 President Mike Tomaloff.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Local 1107 and 1186 members marched to the state capitol together. At the action, Local 1186 President Mike Tomaloff said, “Let the powers that be tremble at the sight of working people coming together in solidarity. There is no greater force for change in the world than this, right here, today. When we break down the barriers between us, we lay the foundations of a better world.” He ended his speech by declaring, “Alone the struggle is hard but together we will overturn the old ways and build a new world for, of, and by the workers regardless of gender, age, skin color, faith, or what side of an imaginary line you were born on. We leave no one behind.”