UE Political Action Updates

Washington, D.C.

The battle to defend working people from the radical attacks of Republican politicians, big business, and the corporate news media is spreading all across the country. Tens of thousands of working people are demonstrating in Wisconsin and Ohio, with reports of regional actions coming in from dozens of cities and towns. UE members in several states have gone into action in defense of our wages, benefits, working conditions, and the very right of our unions to exist.

Madison, Wisconsin 

Republican politicians in Wisconsin -- and now Ohio -- have declared war on working people. They intend to eliminate collective bargaining for public sector workers, and impose pay and benefit cuts among the massive attacks now underway. Should they succeed they have a bushel basket full of attacks ready for union members in the private sector.

One candidate who survived the nationwide Republican tide in November was Bob South, a UE member at Fairbanks Scales and president of Local 234. South first ran for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives in 2006, falling short of victory, but won the election in 2008. This year the Republican Party spent heavily in its effort to oust this working-class Democrat, but South was reelected.

“I think that face-to-face contact with my constituents was really what helped me pull out a victory,” says South. “These are the same basic organizing tactics we use in UE.”

Washington, D.C.

The New Year is almost here, and both Congress -- U.S. House of Representatives and Senate -- and the respective state legislatures will convene.  Please take note of these detailed schedules as your UE Regions and Locals make plans for the coming year.