The UE Eastern Region held its fall council meeting on October 26 in Baltimore, home of Local 197-Teachers and Researchers United (TRU). Local 197, who settled their first contract in the spring, had over a dozen members in attendance, joining members of locals from North Carolina to western Pennsylvania to Vermont. Delegates and guests were welcomed by Eastern Region President George Waksmunski at the beginning of the meeting and Local 197 leader Anna Word said a few words to welcome everyone to their local’s hometown.
“We are opening the door for the next generation right now to become union leaders”
The council meeting heard shop reports from over 20 locals. Local 243 President Chris Fiorentino spoke about a new wave of members getting more involved in his local. “We are opening the door for the next generation right now to become union leaders,” he said.
Leaders of many locals spoke about new energy and knowledge coming from a revitalization among their members. When giving his shop report, Local 150 President Willie Brown addressed the leaders of new UE Locals 197-TRU and 256 (MIT-GSU) (graduate workers at JHU and MIT respectively). "When you started, you were at my feet learning,” Brown said. “You took in that information and used it. Now, I’m at your feet and I want to learn from what you’ve done and take it back to Durham."
Toby Madrone, president of Local 255, said, “We have been starting up new working groups with new ideas and energy among our members.” Madrone said this new energy has led to positive changes. “Shifts in management have occurred after getting together and standing up to bad managers. We have been holding management accountable when it comes to upholding the contract.”
A highlight of the meeting was when Local 256 President Sophie Coppieters 't Wallant reported on the local’s efforts to defend workers who were fired for protest activity. Grad workers who did not want to continue working on tech that was tied to Israel’s ministry of defense held peaceful protests on MIT’s campus last spring. After 13 protest participants were fired, the local launched a petition; 600 members marched to the president of MIT's house and delivered the signatures. The struggle energized the local’s members, with many stepping up to become new stewards. When Coppieters ended the report by saying, "Everyone who was fired was reinstated," the room erupted in a standing ovation.
John Pruss, Local 267, said that his local had also recruited new stewards thanks to some recent wins. “We are once again headed in the right direction,” he said. “We settled many grievances and the members have noticed. They want to be stewards because of these wins. An internal organizing team was created because our membership decreased for a while but now, we are picking back up. We are trying to be more vocal and are being noticed by the public.”
“Your union is growing, your union is winning”
In his report to the council meeting, Director of Organization Mark Meinster explained how the new growth in membership is allowing UE to grow its staff as well. He reported that this expansion will help members maintain their success and continue fighting. He said, “We have more resources in our national office. A lot of good things are happening in UE and we are continuing to fight for the working class.” He went on to report on the many graduate worker locals that now have first contracts and are engaging in the struggle to enforce them. “This is a constant fight,” he said. “Just because management signed a contract, that does not mean they are going to give out power. We have to take the power from them.”
Meinster asked the leaders of Local 261 and 300 to give organizing reports. Elora Greiner, president of Local 261-Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth and a graduate worker at Dartmouth College, spoke about their recent strike. She said, “From my own experience, when we strike, we win.” Jawuanna McAllister of Local 300-Cornell Graduate Students United spoke about how Cornell University is making up new forms of discipline to circumvent the union, but that because the local has proactively asserted Weingarten rights, they have gotten union representatives into disciplinary meetings which used to be closed-door. After their reports, Meinster remarked to the delegates that, “Your union is growing, your union is winning.”
Meinster also reviewed the recent General Executive Board statement on the presidential election released in September. He explained that the unio’s elected leadership believes in the necessity of organizing a labor party. However, because of the currently-existing two-party system, “The GEB begrudgingly said that they recommend Harris because that is the only way to stop Trump. Our basic line here is we are picking our enemy for the next four years.
“Not everyone agrees about this approach but this is how your elected GEB put it,” he continued. “The Biden administration continues to provide aid to a genocidal administration. Over the summer, we and seven other unions representing six million workers spoke out against this. This is the kind of independent political action that we need to begin a labor party.”
Following Meinster’s report, several members of Local 197, Wisam Awadallah, Janvi Madhani, and Sophie D'Anieri, spoke to the council meeting about their disagreement with the recommendation to vote for Harris.
Solidarity with Palestine
Solidarity with the Palestinian people was mentioned throughout the council meeting. Delegates from locals 150, 197, 255, 300 and 667 all reported taking action to support a ceasefire. In their shop report, Breezy Mueller, Local 667, said that their local has created a Palestinian solidarity committee. “The committee is reporting on all the Israeli products in the store so they can divest. This has started a good discussion.”
Nyssa Tucker of Local 150’s subsection at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill said, “We are heavily involved in Palestine solidarity and the encampment.” Local 255 President Madrone said, “Taking a stand against something can be a great way to learn from each other.”
General Secretary-Treasurer Andrew Dinkelaker gave a presentation on the General Executive Board’s recommendation to restore full financial autonomy to UE’s regions. For the past four years, after three UE geographic regions were consolidated into two, the National Union has been handling all finances for the regions. Based on the recent growth of the union, the GEB is proposing that the regions begin handling their own finances again. This is proposed to take place on July 1, 2026. The recommendation will be further discussed at the next set of regional council meetings, in the spring.
Retired Political Action Director Chris Townsend also spoke to the members, advising them to learn the history of the union, ask questions, and never settle. He said, “The union can’t just be better than nothing. You’ll sometimes have someone saying ‘it is better than nothing.’ What kind of life is that to measure things off of nothing? We reject that.”
June Stenzel, Local 256, was nominated and elected to fill a vacant seat on the region’s executive board.