In one of its largest arbitration awards, UE Local 506 won nearly $136,000 in back-pay and interest for one of its members who was terminated without just cause while he was employed by GE Transportation at its locomotive facility in Erie, PA.
When workers at Augie’s Coffee demanded recognition of their union last summer, their bosses responded by shutting down all five coffee shops, effectively firing 54 workers. Taking to heart the old Industrial Workers of the World slogan, “The boss needs you, you don't need him,” the workers have now formed a worker co-operative, Slow Bloom Coffee.
UE’s Eastern Region council met virtually on Saturday October 17, with delegates joining an all-day Zoom conference. The regional meeting featured the first joint UE-Unifor presentation of a new workshop, “Solidarity for Racial Justice,” developed as part of the North American Solidarity Project’s equity and anti-racism work. UE Co-Director of Education Kari Thompson and Unifor Director of Human Rights Christine Maclin led the workshop.
Workers in the US may be focusing on our own upcoming elections, but the results of this week’s Bolivian presidential election are worthy of our attention. On Sunday, the Bolivian people elected Luis Arce, ending the brief reign of a far-right government installed by a military coup and backed by the Trump administration. UE’s officers condemned this coup last November.
Addressing a COVID-19/Medicare for All town hall with Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia on Monday, UE Local 1077 President and Western Region Vice President Larry Hopkins told the town hall that “I will continue to fight for Medicare for All.”
Joni Anderson, a recently-retired member of UE Local 1107 in Necedah, WI who served that local in many capacities over the years, is running for state senate in Wisconsin’s 14th senate district. Her pro-worker program includes workers’ rights, healthcare for all, and stronger democracy. Her website proudly displays a photo of Anderson wearing a UE shirt at the state capitol, and she has been endorsed by both UE’s Western Region and the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. The UE NEWS spoke with Anderson earlier this week.
UE’s General Executive Board, newly expanded by elections held at July’s regional council meetings, met over Zoom on September 21 and 22. Under the regional reorganization carried out over the past few months, each of UE’s two geographic regions is now represented on the GEB by the region’s president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer, along with five at-large members elected from the regional executive board.
As racial-justice protests swept our country in response to the murder of George Floyd, many of the protesters began calling for governments at various level to “defund the police” — a phrase that few in the U.S. were familiar with.
Local 222 Vice President and General Executive Board member Margaret Dabrowski addressed a virtual town hall on Medicare for All organized by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) on August 26. Dabrowski, a 911 dispatcher for the City of New Britain, spoke both about how the for-profit health insurance system affects people who call her as a 911 operator and about her own experiences with the healthcare system.
Two of UE’s top officers were invited to join Senator Bernie Sanders for virtual “town hall” meetings in early September. Both events addressed the issues facing working people, the need for urgent Congressional action on the many crises facing the nation, and the upcoming presidential election.