A new five-year study released last week reveals that private sector employer opposition to the efforts of American workers to form unions has intensified and become more punitive in recent years.
The members of UE Local 1174 are telling Wells Fargo & Co. not to put their plant out of business. Today they are visiting Wells Fargo’s corporate offices in Davenport, Iowa, demanding a meeting with bank officials and a plan to keep Quad City Die Casting open.
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| Delivering Our Message: From left, Director of Organization Bob Kingsley, Local 222 President Marie Lausch, Local 1103 President Lauro Bonilla, Eastern Region President Andrew Dinkelaker, UE General President John Hovis and UE Political Action Director Chris Townsend. |
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| UE Local 1110 President Armando Robles speaks as Vice President Biden (right) and Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace look on. |
UE Local 1110 members proudly welcomed Vice President Joe Biden to their old — and new — workplace today, as the Vice President toured the former Republic Windows and Doo
Despite the economic crisis and rumors that organizing would result in layoffs, on April 21 the 33 tutors in who work for the Farmington Board of Education (BOE) voted 17 to 7 to join UE. They’ll become part of Sub-local 60 of Connecticut’s statewide UE Local 222. The sub-local already includes the paraeducators, education secretaries, clerks, custodians and maintenance workers in the Farmington public schools.
“We believe this contract is a win/win for all parties involved,” said Local 896/COGS Mark Salisbury.
Negotiating with the State of Iowa in the midst of a budget crisis and the worst recession in decades, the members of UE Local 893 – Iowa United Professionals still managed to negotiate a new two-year agreement that provided modest gains. Members of both the social services and science bargaining units ratified the new contract on February 26 by margins of more than 20 to 1. The new agreement goes into effect on July 1, 2009.
Region 13 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a decision agreeing with UE’s allegations that Republic Windows and Doors violated federal labor law in moving work out of the Chicago facility, where workers have been members of UE Local 1110, and closing the factory in early December. Workers responded with a five-day plant occupation that drew national attention and support for their fight and won them the pay that Republic had denied them.
Specifically the Region has found that:
Raleigh City Sanitation workers, whose courageous job action on September 13-14, 2006 shook the state and energized UE’s fight for public employee rights in North Carolina, on Friday called a press conference and rally at the same spot where they launched that strike, to make the public aware of continuing problems. They were joined by Raleigh city workers from other departments, and their event received major coverage in Raleigh-area news media.
UE members at Graham Packaging have been hard-hit by the economic downturn, with two-thirds of them laid off, some since September. Yet when the company came after them in negotiations with a determined attack on their pension, healthcare, and their civil liberties, Graham workers responded with a high level of unity and militancy, and turned the tide of battle.
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