Updates

UAW Region 6 Newsletter: March 2023

sam.sumpter
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UAW Region 6 is the region of over 100,000 active & retired UAW members in Arizona, Alaska, California, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

Dear Region 6 Siblings,

UAW Region 6 is officially back! At the inaugural regional meeting in January, over 300 members came together from across sectors and geographies – from those who just started getting involved, to those who have been active for 20+ years. Through multiple levels of discussion structured to elicit everyone’s perspectives, members strategized around new organizing, building power in bargaining, fighting for social justice, and engaging mass participation at every level of the union. 

Keep reading to learn more about this ongoing work and how you can plug in. As a Region, what we’re able to achieve is a function of how many members are actively participating to build power at every level – to get involved with any of this work, fill out the Get Involved form.

Staying Connected Across the Region

Work is actively underway to establish a number of communications methods for members to share news and coordinate across the Western States, including:

  1. A monthly regional newsletter: Please help get the word out by sharing this newsletter with fellow members at your Local.
  2. Region 6 social media: Follow Region 6 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
  3. Communications Committee: Stemming from the January Region 6 meeting, a group of members from several locals has begun meeting to develop ongoing communications work, including the monthly newsletter, the Region 6 website, and more. All members are welcome to participate – fill out the Get Involved form to get looped in.

Newsletter Contest:
The name and design of the Region 6 newsletter are up to members to decide!

All members are invited to submit your idea for the Region 6 newsletter name, and/or your design for the newsletter banner. Submissions are due on March 31, 2023 at 11:59pm. Entries will be sent to members for a vote in April. Winners will receive a Region 6 swag kit, including a t-shirt, hat, and notebook.

Find entry requirements and make your submission at this contest form.

New Organizing

News & Updates

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  1. In February, 3,000 Graduate Student Workers at University of Southern California voted 93% to unionize – a landslide victory after years of work to build strong networks and participation.
  2. After filing union authorization cards from a supermajority of workers in December, Academic Student Employees (ASEs) at University of Alaska have been facing significant stalling tactics from management, but continue increasing their organizing to win recognition.
  3. In aerospace, Local 887 members are mobilizing to save jobs and increase bargaining leverage with Aerojet Rocketdyne.
  4. Grad Student Workers & Postdocs at Caltech are ramping up their organizing to form a union.

Your participation needed! Fill out this form to plug in:

  1. Growing out of the January Region 6 meeting, sub-regional groups of members havebegun meeting to continue developing plans for growing new organizing campaigns across multiple sectors. Groups that have already started meeting include Southern California higher ed and research, Southern California aerospace, and Northern California higher ed & research. A Pacific Northwest group will convene in the coming month. All members are welcome and encouraged to participate and help build this work.
  2. If you’re particularly energized by new organizing, you’re strongly encouraged to apply for the Our Labor, Our Movement organizing program! More info in the section below.

Our Labor, Our Movement: Region 6 Training Program

Applications Open!

You are invited to apply to participate in the first cohort of the UAW Region 6 training program, Our Labor, Our Movement.

The labor movement is at an exciting juncture where there is unprecedented interest in class solidarity, collective action, and worker power. In this training program, you will be working with experienced, dynamic workers, including those who formed their union and led a majority strike across the state of CA.

The training will be a three month, full-time, paid internship. Participants will receive in-person and remote training alongside other members of the cohort. Participants will also be placed on worker led campaigns in California or Washington, in order to receive hands-on experience. The industries will range from auto, to research, to higher education. For more information and to apply, check out this posting.

Applications are due March 31. 

Bargaining & Contract Enforcement

News & Updates

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  1.  In February, Postdocs and Research Scientists at University of Washington decisively passed Strike Authorization Votes at 92% and 96%. Both units have also filed Unfair Labor Practices.
  2. Ford, GM, and Stellantis members of Locals 76, 230, 492, 509, 2162, and 6645 are ramping up for negotiations.
  3. ASEs at Washington State University started bargaining their first contract.
  4. Casino Workers of Local 3555 at Wynn in Las Vegas ratified a new contract – including significant wage increases and just cause protections – by 99%. 
  5. After 2022’s momentous University of California strike, Local 2865 and 5810 members are organizing to enforce new anti-bullying provisions and fight threatened cutbacks, including by building leverage through the California State Assembly & engaging mass member participation.

Your participation needed! Fill out this form to plug in:

  1. Members at Ford, GM, and Stellantis Locals are encouraged to join ongoing work to grow member engagement and plans for national and local Big 3 bargaining.
  2. A number of Locals are actively bargaining or preparing to start contract campaigns in the coming year. Get involved with your Local to help build powerful campaigns to win!
  3. Apply to participate in the UAW Collective Bargaining Conference, April 23-28 at the UAW Education Center in Onaway, Michigan.
  4. Participate in upcoming Region 6 workshops, trainings, and strategy conversations.

Upcoming Trainings, Workshops, & Conferences

Your participation needed! Fill out this form to plug in:

  1. Apply to participate in upcoming UAW-wide conferences at the UAW Family Education Center in Onaway, Michigan:
    1. UAW Community Services Conference, April 16-21
    2. UAW Collective Bargaining Conference, April 23-28
    3. UAW Health & Safety Training Institute, May 7-12
  2. Plan to participate in Region 6 Summer School, coming up in the last week of June in Los Angeles.
  3. Join or start an Education Committee in your Local, or join the newly forming Region 6 Education Committee.
  4. Participate in, and/or help plan, a Region 6 conference on issues of social justice, April 29-30 in Seattle. More info in the section below.

Political & Community Action

News & Updates

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  1. ASEs at Western Washington University have been pushing for legislation enshrining collective bargaining rights, which recently passed floor votes in both chambers of the state legislature.
  2. Members of Locals 2865 and 5810 are pushing for California legislation that would ensure public sector workers have the right to respect picket lines in their workplaces. 
  3. Local 509 members are fighting job threats by mobilizing around a bill requiring autonomous trucks to always have an operator.
  4. Local 4121 members organized to help pass Seattle initiative I-135, which establishes publicly-owned housing that caps individuals’ rent based on income to prevent rent burden.
  5.  Local 4121 members also mobilized to support Seattle city legislation banning caste discrimination – the first such legislation to pass in any city in the U.S.
  6. Stories from UAW members were featured in Senator Elizabeth Warren’s report on the impacts of student loan debt – a crisis for millions that has only become worse during the pandemic.

Your participation needed! Fill out this form to plug in:

  1. Western States CAP/PAC meetings are our monthly political action meetings, and are open to all members. Meetings are held via Zoom on the third Saturday of the month at 10am. You’re invited to participate in the next meeting on March 18th.
  2. Subgroups are actively meeting to develop political work between monthly meetings. One group is developing candidate questionnaires and another is developing strategies for VCAP fundraising.
  3. Participate in, and/or help plan, a Region 6 conference on issues of social justice, April 29-30 in Seattle. More info in the section below.

Region 6 Conference: 

An Injury to One is an Injury to All

Members are encouraged to participate in an upcoming Region 6 conference on issues of social justice, planned for April 29-30 in Seattle. The conference will aim to address a number of pressing issues of social justice that impact members in intersecting ways and in different dimensions of our work, relationships, and communities. Conference topics may include issues such as reproductive justice, family & childcare, addressing sexual harassment, racial justice, disability justice, international & immigrant justice, and more.

The conference will be open to all members. Members who are active, or would like to become active, in their Local’s committees on Civil & Human Rights, Women’s Issues, LGBTQ issues, International Solidarity, and related topics are strongly encouraged to participate. To receive updates about details and registration, fill out the Get Involved form (under Trainings, Workshops, & Conferences).

Members are also invited to participate in the conference planning committee to help develop the structure, content, facilitation, and logistics for the conference. An initial planning meeting will be held via zoom in mid-March. Fill out the Get Involved form to get connected!

Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller

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As UAW Region 6 members, we find ourselves at an historic moment. The One Member One Vote movement which many of us in Region 6 supported and advocated for nearly a year-and-a-half ago has, or will soon, lead to the first-ever International Executive Board  elected directly by UAW members. You can find more information about the election & results at the Election Monitor’s website.

Regardless of who you supported in the recent election, we all have a great opportunity to work hard to strengthen the union by increasing membership participation–the real measure of union democracy and power.

I encourage every member to get involved in their local and the region’s organizing, collective bargaining, and political action programs to build a stronger, more dynamic, and democratic union that makes the world a better place for working people.

If you have any feedback or questions or just want to say hello, please email me. Finally, I’d like to welcome the 3,000 Graduate Employees at USC who just voted to be part of the Region 6 family!

California Health & Safety Updates

  1. California's Exclusion pay has come to an end. If you were sick or in quarantine you were eligible for lost wages, up to $225 a day. Check out CA Covid Exclusion Pay FAQ for more information.
  2. Cal/OSHA Non-Emergency COVID-19 final ruling Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Non Emergency Standard took effect on February 3. For Previous versions of the COVID ETS Orders check out Past COVID ETS & Pay orders.