AUTOWORKERS ACROSS THE U.S. ARE JOINING THE UAW. ARE YOU READY TO STAND UP AND WIN YOUR FAIR SHARE?

September Newsletter: UAW Voter Guides and Political Action

Oct 19

Dear UAW Sibling,

The midterm elections are just a couple weeks away, and ballots in Region 6 states have dropped! Hundreds of UAW members in every sector and state have been taking action to build our biggest-ever political program, focused on building working class power to advance our issues: affordability, universal healthcare, ending ICE terror, ending war abroad, funding scientific research and education, and much more. Members have already made tens of thousands of voter contacts to get out the vote for candidates who will fight for these issues, and with a number of tight races, every additional voter contact will make a difference. 

In the final weeks before Election Day, there are many opportunities to get involved in building a working class political movement in every part of the Region – check out the links below to get connected to ongoing action in your area. And if you haven't already voted, be sure to get your ballot turned in ASAP! Check out the full list of UAW member endorsements at the links below.

Alaska

Take Action 

Endorsements 

Arizona

Take Action 

Endorsements 

California

Take Action 

Endorsements 

Nevada 

Take Action 

Endorsements 

Oregon

Take Action 

Endorsements 

Washington

Take Action - Seattle/King County

Take Action - Bellingham

Endorsements

With the elections to UAW’s International Executive Board concluded, I am honored to have been reelected. I am looking forward to working with members across Region 6 to build more power over the next four years and to carry on the work we’ve been doing to advance an agenda that improves the life for all members of the working class agenda.

Over the past four years, Region 6 members have developed a strong political program to improve the lives of workers everywhere. Workers everywhere are facing challenges: declining real wages, high gas and grocery prices, inaccessible childcare, expensive healthcare, and more. They are up against deep pockets of a billionaire class intent on serving their own narrow interests. But UAW members are fighting for something better. 

As I outlined in my message in last month’s Newsletter, our working class agenda consists of four core issues: a livable wage; universal healthcare; a just and sustainable future; and time off the job. Together we are fighting for policies, contracts, and candidates consistent with our vision. 

In recent months, UAW members have been ramping up efforts to drive turnout in the November elections. Various subregional groups have met to vet, discuss, and endorse candidates and ballot measures at every level. As we approach the elections in a few weeks, Region 6 members everywhere are joining together to get out the vote. Here are just a few important campaigns members are fighting across the Region:

In California, UAW Region 6 members are canvassing for a number of key races and initiatives. In Los Angeles, members are working hard to elect Nithya Raman mayor. She is committed to delivering a working class agenda centered on housing affordability, jobs, childcare, ending homelessness and more. Nithya has a very good chance of winning. Help secure her victory by signing up to canvass here.

In Fresno and Bakersfield, Region 6 members are mobilizing to elect Randy Villegas, a former UAW member running for congress on an agenda of affordability, Medicare for All, containing healthcare costs, bringing infrastructure jobs to the Central Valley, breaking up monopolies and supporting small businesses, raising the minimum wage, stopping endless wars, and more. Villegas is in a tight race against a MAGA Republican, but polls are giving him the edge. Help propel Randy Villegas to victory by volunteering to GOTV here.

In Sacramento, members have made nearly 5,000 voter contacts to get out the vote for Mai Vang for Congress. Mai is ready to take on the most pressing issues for working class families, from affordability to universal healthcare to abolishing ICE and more. In a tight race, every additional voter contact will make a difference – sign up for an upcoming canvass! 

There are also a number of important ballot initiatives in California. Greedy billionaires are up to no good. Silicon Valley executives are pouring millions of dollars into a deceptive campaign to defeat Proposition 40, a sensible one-time wealth tax on 250 billionaires. They are campaigning to sow doubt and division – all to protect their wealth at the expense of the poor and needy. If we pass Proposition 40, the revenues received would raise $100 billion and help to restore cuts to healthcare, food assistance, and education programs that Trump and Republicans made with their Big Brutal Bill of 2025.

Even worse: the billionaires have funded two poison-pill initiatives in California that, if passed, would nullify the voters’ will in passing Proposition 40. Therefore workers must vote YES on Prop 40 and NO on both Props 41 and 42. A related measure, Prop 43, is being pushed by far-right conservative activists and business interests. It would hamstring local government’s efforts to raise money for crucial public interventions – such as wildfire prevention and relief, childcare, and hospitals. We oppose Prop 43 and urge a NO vote.

As if that weren’t enough, billionaires are not stopping there. In California, several billionaires are bankrolling another ballot initiative – this one to place additional burdens on voters. The biggest backer of Proposition 39 is a far-right Republican who lives in Wisconsin who is using his vast wealth to influence political races in several states. Unable to win fairly on the issues, Republican operatives are resorting to voter suppression. We urge a NO vote on Prop 39. Send a message to the billionaires everywhere: democracy must be protected against their nefarious efforts to disenfranchise voters.

In Washington, similarly, a hedge fund manager is spearheading and pouring millions of dollars into a number of ballot initiatives that are both reactionary and repugnant. One initiative would repeal a millionaires tax already on the books. If successful, it would result in devastating cuts to schools, healthcare, and childcare. Hedge fund managers do not need tax breaks. This attempt by the wealthy to pad their own pockets must be defeated. Vote NO on measure I-645!

The same billionaire is also funding two hateful propositions: One, I-001, would put kids at risk of abuse, mental health issues, and even homelessness by making it harder for them to get help from their school counselors for issues like abuse and bullying. The other, I-638, would ban trans girls from participating in K-12 sports, and would subject all girls to invasive physical genital inspections to participate in sports. These measures are outrageous, cruel, and discriminatory – and they must be stopped with your NO vote.

To be sure, taxing billionaires and defeating their corrupt ballot initiatives are only a small step in the right direction. Our larger goal must be to elect candidates aligned with our interests and values. Fortunately, there are plenty of candidates on the ballot this November who support our interests, such as universal health coverage through a Medicare for All type system. And recent polling shows overwhelming support M4A. Region 6 members must mobilize in the remaining weeks to get out the vote for a working class agenda.

In Alaska and Nevada, members are organizing hard to elect governors who will support our organizing and bargaining efforts, in addition to many other important races in each state. And much more organizing is going on in every part of the Region. Check out a full list of endorsements and opportunities to get involved at the links at the beginning of this email, and be sure to get your ballot in ASAP!

The 2026 International Executive Board election has concluded! UAW members across the country cast their ballots by mail for the union’s top officers for the second time in the union’s 91-year history. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain and the union’s newly elected International Executive Board (IEB) were sworn into office for a new four-year term in a ceremony honoring the will of the membership and reaffirming the union’s commitment to fighting for its members and all working-class people. Region 6’s Director Mike Miller won reelection.

Speaking at the ceremony, Fain emphasized that the UAW is a democratic, member-driven organization and that the union’s future depends on members being prepared and empowered to fight for their interests. “This is a democracy,” Fain said. “We are only in this room because the members put us in this room. And we will only win what the members are prepared and empowered to fight for.” As Fain recalled, “our union built the American Dream”: “From the Sit Down Strikers of the 1930s to the Stand-Up Strikers since 2023, regular working-class people have led this union and led this country from the ground up.”

Director Miller expanded: “The working class movement, in which UAW plays a critical role, stands at a crossroads where we can fight the billionaires and their authoritarian political representatives across the country by helping millions of workers form unions, electing candidates who truly represent the interests of all workers, and aggressively engaging in collective bargain to bring greater democracy to our workplaces. I, with the members of the United UAW slate, look forward to getting to work on helping make this happen.”

Thousands of UAW members in California have spent the last year building a movement to win billions of dollars for lifesaving research that improves the lives of working people, and as of September, $7.5 billion in scientific research funding is one step closer to reality. 

Responding to the Trump administration’s savage cuts to scientific research funding, in September 2025, lawmakers introduced the California Science and Health Research Bond Act. In November, UAW members launched the Save Science, Save Lives campaign to advocate for this legislation. In 2026 UAW researchers and members organized over several months to highlight the importance of restoring funding to cancer research, wildfire prevention, and more. In June of this year, members delivered a petition to the State Assembly with 50,000 California voters supporting the bond. The State Assembly passed the measure overwhelmingly and sent it to the Governor’s desk. In September, Governor Newsom signed the bond on the Golden Gate Bridge to symbolize the importance of public funding for the public good. In the 1930s, the Bridge was built after the voters passed a $30 million bond to invest in California workers and public infrastructure.

The California Science and Health Research Bond now goes to the March 2028 ballot for California voters to approve $7.5 billion for lifesaving research. UAW members are already organizing to build the mass participation and resources to win: signing up thousands of new union members, organizing mass political action, and getting ready to mobilize millions of Californians at the ballot box in March 2028.

August Newsletter: Fall Political Action, Vote in IEB Election

Sep 14

Dear UAW Sibling,

Over the past month, thousands of UAW members across Region 6 have been taking action to build a movement to advance working class needs through mass political action, contract campaigns, and new organizing. This fall across Region 6, members are taking action on priority political campaigns to shift power at all levels of government to the working class. Keep reading to learn more about recent updates and plug in to ongoing work!  

The UAW International Executive Board election is also underway. You should have received your ballot in the mail – submit your vote ASAP! If you haven’t received your ballot, request a replacement TODAY to make sure you get it in time to vote. Find more info and deadlines in the section below.

Across the U.S., more and more working class people are taking action to demand that the government work for the working class, at every level. We need elected leaders who are ready to ensure affordable housing for all, end the homelessness crisis, expand affordable transit, ensure healthcare as a right, advance climate justice, and so much more. And as recent progressive wins have shown, all of this and more is possible when we engage in strategic political action, including by electing working class candidates who have the political will to advance working class needs. 

This year, UAW members in Region 6 are joining together to tip the scales in favor of the needs and interests of workers from the local to state and federal levels of government. In Los Angeles, UAW members are ready to build a city that works for the working class, and have been turning out in force at regular neighborhood canvasses to elect Nithya Raman mayor. At the Congressional level, members are fighting to elect candidates like Randy Villegas, Mai Vang, Marni Von Wilpert, and Mary Peltola to shift power in Congress and advance a working class agenda of affordability, healthcare, housing, childcare, climate policy, and putting an end to the country’s endless wars. In Nevada and Alaska, UAW workers are also fighting to elect governors who will support workers in forming unions and bargaining strong contracts. And many more priority campaigns are ongoing around the Region.

There is much at stake in the upcoming elections. UAW members know that the status quo isn’t serving us. The Trump administration has been remarkable in the scope of its cruelty and disregard for the working class. The catalog of anti-union and anti-worker measures is too long to list here, the effects are too familiar: higher prices for food, gasoline, housing, medical care, college tuition, and all kinds of goods and services. Meanwhile, the administration continues to squander resources on war and violence both domestically and abroad. As of this moment, the Iran war alone has cost consumers well over $106 billion in added fuel costs due to the disruptions in gasoline and diesel – all while the administration has stripped and defunded alternative energy programs.

It is time we not only fight back against the anti-worker agenda pursued by the current administration on behalf of the billionaire class it faithfully serves, but also advance a positive working class vision of society. This political season UAW members have a real chance to turn things around. Trump’s anti-worker agenda is deeply unpopular, but we cannot assume the elections will just take care of themselves. We must create the wave. Join fellow UAW members in mobilizing the vote for a working class agenda. Sign up here to get involved in Region 6’s GOTV efforts.

Ballots are out for the UAW International Executive Board election! All UAW members in good standing should have received your ballot in the mail. If you haven’t yet, submit your vote ASAP. If you didn’t receive your ballot, request a replacement at uawvote.com. September 23 is the final day to request a replacement, but don’t wait! It can take time to receive and return your ballot, and all must be received by October 5 to be counted. Find more information at uawmonitor.com/elections.

Summary of upcoming election dates: 

• On or about August 21, 2026: The first distribution of mail-in ballots to the electorate.

• September 23, 2026: Final date by which replacement ballots can be requested from the Election Vendor.

• September 30, 2026: Deadline by which members must be in good standing in order to have their vote counted in the 2026 Election.

• October 5, 2026: Deadline for all ballots to be received by the designated U.S. Post Office.

• October 6, 2026: Vote tabulation begins (Rosemont, IL).

This month lawmakers in California approved a $7.5 bond measure, which includes $750 million in facilities for CSU and $250 million in facilities for University of California. UAW members fought hard for the measure (SB 895) and have been taking action for months to help restore science funding cut by the Trump administration. Allies in Sacramento, including Scott Wiener, José Luis Solache, and Darshana Patel, moved the measure through both houses, passing the Assembly 60 to 6 and the Senate 28 to 9. Lifesaving research funding is one step closer to reality. It is now upon Governor Newsom to sign the bill, which would place it on the March 2028 ballot.

On September 1, 2026, Educational Specialists at UC (those working in Community Education Specialist, Public Education Specialist, and K-14 Academic Program Specialist titles) filed a union representation petition with the California Public Employment Relations Board. By doing so these workers continue to strengthen the collective voice of UC staff, more than 13,000 of whom have organized with UAW since 2025. Last year's historic contract for UC Research Public Service Professionals and Student Service Advising Professionals established a new step-based wage scale for UAW-represented titles, but important details still must be negotiated in 2027. Staff who are organizing now hope to build power to address long-standing compensation issues amongst staff: years of service, external market comparisons, and equity among similar positions among other issues.

Retirees are the backbone of our union, and last week, retired members from around Region 6 came together in Pico Rivera for the Region 6 Retirees Council Meeting to connect and discuss how to advance a just future for all working class people. Retirees learned about threats to Medicare, discussed upcoming political action to address these issues and advance working class needs, and strategized ways to regularly connect across the Region. Congratulations to the Region 6 Retirees Council Executive Board elected at the meeting! 

This month, Seattle passed a major win for housing affordability: a ban on landlords charging “junk fees” like pet rent, administrative fees, and other hidden charges. With landlords’ junk fees sometimes adding up to hundreds of dollars each month on top of rent, the junk fee ban is a major win for housing affordability in Washington’s most expensive city. This victory for renters was made possible by UAW members in Local 4121 who helped to elect Seattle mayor Katie Wilson and a slate of progressive candidates committed to improving the lives of the working class. All over the country, UAW members are showing what’s possible when we elect local leaders who are committed to transforming city politics to focus on the needs of the workers, not the billionaire class. UAW members in Region 9 helped elect Zohran Mamdani in New York, and this fall, UAW members in Los Angeles will help elect Nithya Raman mayor of LA. 

• California State Scientists hold the State accountable for salary raises: CAPS-UAW 1115 members have been holding escalating actions across the state to urge the state government to honor the 2026 salary increases specified in the CAPS-UAW 2024–2027 contract. As revealed in an August Senate Budget subcommittee meeting, CalHR and the Department of Finance made a unilateral decision not to include raises in the CA 2026/27 Budget proposal. Union members have been working hard with allies in the California Senate and State Assembly to right this wrong. Raises were reinstated in the Budget Bill (AB & SB 113) that passed both houses on September 1 and is now headed to Governor Newsom’s desk.

• NYFA members ratify first contract: Staff and faculty at NYFA Los Angeles voted 142 to 2 (98.6% yes) to ratify their first-ever union contract, securing an agreement that will make NYFA a better place! Among the many provisions workers won guaranteed severance pay for layoffs, protections against bullying, abuse, discrimination, and harassment, protections from overwork, and more. Now, workers at NYFA are in the process of joining UAW 2103, beginning their membership drive, and getting ready to return to the bargaining table next fall.

• CalArts Faculty and Staff ratify first contract: Just as Staff, Regular and Technical Faculty, and Special Faculty at the Calarts were about to take a strike authorization vote over the employer’s unlawful unilateral changes, management finally agreed to a fair Tentative Agreement. The TA includes significant wage increases, a pathway to multiyear appointments for adjunct faculty, improvements to healthcare, and more. Faculty whose appointments were unlawfully reduced to 2 years upon renewal will also be given amended 3 year appointments. Staff and faculty just voted to ratify the agreement in overwhelming numbers: Staff 145 to 3 (98% Yes), Regular and Technical Faculty 93 to 1 (99% Yes), and Special Faculty 174 to 1 (99%). CalArts workers may use this link to join as members.

• USC NTT Faculty fight to start bargaining: In June, non-tenure-track faculty at USC voted overwhelmingly to form a union, United Faculty-UAW. Instead of bargaining with them, USC has appealed to Trump’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in an attempt to undo their vote. Faculty and their allies came together for a rally on campus with Nithya Raman, Marissa Roy, and Lola Smallwood-Cuevas to urge USC to do the right thing and come to the bargaining table.

• UW Postdocs & Research Staff escalate contract campaign: Members of Local 4121 have been in bargaining for successor agreements for months, and have been facing significant pushback from management on priority issues. After engaging in college-level actions over the last several weeks, members are now organizing for a mass meeting later to continue escalating pressure on administration.

Duration of Status policy for F-1 and J-1 visas as of September 15, 2026. This discriminatory policy will cause disruption to international students and scholars and will further complicate the visa renewal process. When this policy change was announced in 2025,  UAW International and hundreds of UAW members were among tens of thousands of organizations and individuals submitted comments to the Trump Administration in 2025 in opposition. 

As UAW members assess ways to push back against these unfair changes, it’s important to understand how they are impacting or may potentially impact UC workers.

If you are on an F-1 or J-1 visa please fill out this form - your answers will be kept confidential.

September 15 marks the three-year anniversary of the Stand Up Strike against the Big Three automakers in 2023. Today, it is worthwhile to recall the principles that animated the movement. The Stand Up Strike was the next episode in the movement that built our union in the 1930s in a series of Sit-Down Strikes. Then as now, society was fractured by massive inequalities in wealth and economic and political power. The Sit-Down Strikes inaugurated a new form of collective action to fight for workers’ wages and well-being. During the Stand Up actions, UAW members updated our strategies of collective action across the Big 3. With 150,000 autoworkers ready at a moment’s notice to walk out, UAW members won historic contracts that benefit everyone in the auto sector and beyond.

The success of the Stand Up Strike demonstrated the power of collective action to define the issues that matter to workers and pursue them in an effective way. Four core issues emerged from these struggles and continue to unite workers into a movement for a more just and equitable society. Across all sectors, these principles animate our bargaining, organizing, and political action as a movement of working people. 

A Livable Wage 

Workers deserve fair compensation. For far too long, workers’ wages and well-being have taken a backseat to corporate greed and the financialized economy. The neoliberal ideology of shareholder value extracts from workers’ labor, suppressing wages, stripping benefits, and leaving people unable to afford life’s basics: food, childcare, housing, recreation, and more.  The era of shareholder supremacy must come to an end. As workers, we fight for a livable and dignified existence. This includes bargaining for fair, rising pay that outpaces inflation, eliminating divisive tiered wage systems, and securing ample benefits.

But this fight goes beyond wages alone and includes support for public programs that benefit the public at large, such as public education and college, public funding of scientific research, and more. In California, thousands of UAW members took action for several months to pass the California Health and Science Research Bond Act. This measure is an example of legislation that achieves many of our goals simultaneously: it funds research carried out by UAW members; it advances scientific inquiry in cancer and climate research that benefits everyone; and it fosters vibrant and innovative universities and research centers that contribute to everyone’s quality of life.

Universal Health Care 

At the bargaining table, we negotiate lower premiums, better co-pays, paid family and sick leave, and more. But our struggle for a politics of care extends beyond the bargaining table: we need to fight for healthcare as a fundamental human right. Healthcare shouldn’t be a corporate-tied luxury. Universal healthcare, such as Medicare for All, is ultimately our goal.  Medicare for All is estimated to save 114,000 lives and $1.3 trillion annually compared to our current profit-based system, which rations health according to insurance companies’ bottom lines and CEO’s exorbitant salaries. Moreover, the struggle for Medicare for All frees up bargaining space to fight for better wages and pensions.

And Medicare for All is now a real possibility if we win the midterm elections. It is more popular than ever, with some 64% of Americans in favor of it, and many politicians campaigning to bring it to D.C., such as UAW-endorsed Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and UAW-endorsed Pramilla Jayapal in Washington, who has introduced the Medicare for All Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Just & Sustainable Future 

At the table we bargain to protect and expand traditional pensions and dependable post-retirement support. Away from the table we need to fight to fully fund public programs like Social Security and reject political attempts to cut benefits or force people to work even longer. Work isn’t everything and people deserve to enjoy their life outside of the workplace. This also means solving the climate crisis so that we have a sustainable planet to enjoy on weekends and in our retirement. This includes fighting the tech oligarchs who are intent on defiling our landscapes, consuming our water and energy, and invading our privacy and peace and quiet with the construction of data centers to run technology that will render us jobless. It also means promoting peace across the globe and ending fossil fuel imperialism so that all workers have a future free from armed conflict and the loss of innocent life. 

Time Off the Job

At the bargaining table we need to win control back over workers’ personal time by ending forced overtime, grueling hours, and lives consumed in absurd commute times. Politically, we need to fight to ensure that workers reap the benefits of any technological innovation in productivity by working less for more money. 

To help workers and their families live less hectic, more rewarding lives together we must fight for fast and efficient public transit, universal childcare, free lunches in public schools, and much more. As UAW-endorsed Mayor Zohran Mamdani showed in New York City with a pilot program to provide four hours of free babysitting, parents used the time to reconnect with each other. As Mamdani noted, “Making New York City more affordable isn’t just about lowering costs; it’s about giving people back their time.” 

The 32 hour work week is one of our important goals. The labor movement pushed for the eight hour work day and the 40 hour work week. It’s time to update the chant “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest and eight hours for what you will” for the twenty-first century. In some countries where workers have already won shorter work weeks, the reactionary forces of capital are pushing back: in Germany, corporate greed is driving a push to repeal the 35 hour work week and reinstate 40 hours without extra pay – all while Mercedes Benz launches a €1 billion ($1.2 billion) share buyback program.

We will not shy from our goal: UAW members will continue to fight to reclaim their lives from work along with allies, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, who has championed legislation to shorten the work week to 32 hours. Indeed, in addition to a 4-day work week, there are a plethora of measures we can take to reclaim our time for living.

Get involved in get-out-the-vote activities this fall to tip the scales for the working class in the upcoming elections. Sign up here to get involved in a race near you.

Upcoming Events

• UAW IEB election ballots are out - VOTE TODAY! See above for more info and to request a replacement ballot ASAP if you haven’t received it. 

• Labor conferences around the country: Contact your Local for more info! 

  • UAW Bargaining and Contract Enforcement Bootcamp, September 20-25, Onaway, MI.

  • Coalition of Labor Union Women Education Conference, September 24-27, Washington, D.C..

  • UAW Member Mobilization, September 27-October 2, Onaway, MI. 

  • UAW Standing Committees & EAP Conference, October 4-9, Onaway, MI. 

  • UAW Health and Safety Conference, October 11-16, Onaway, MI

July Newsletter: Building an Independent Working Class Political Movement

Aug 6

Dear UAW Sibling,

In late July, nearly 600 UAW members from Locals and organizing campaigns all across Region 6 came together at Cal State Los Angeles for Summer School 2026 to build skills, make connections, and plot a course for building a powerful working class movement in the coming year. Keep reading to learn more about this ongoing work and other updates from around the Region – and how you can plug in. 

Important reminder: Ballots for the UAW International Executive Board elections will be mailed to members later in August. Make sure your contact info is up to date so you receive your ballot: https://myinfo.uaw.org. More info in the section below!

Summer School 2026 was one for the books! Through classes and workshops, members learned from each other, assessed the current political moment, and developed practical skills focused on the three main areas of work we do as a union movement: helping more workers organize, building working class political power, and winning ambitious contract campaigns. UAW International President Shawn Fain and LA Mayoral Candidate Nithya Raman joined, and each gave powerful remarks that situated Region 6 members’ work in the broader fight for economic and social justice. 

Left to right:

1. (Video) UAW President Shawn Fain speaks on the need for a political movement driven by working people - not party elites.

2. (Video) Region 6 Director Mike Miller discusses the need to organize 56 million people in the US and the role of UAW members in making that happen.

3. (Video) Check out the first-ever Summer School Kid Organizing Committee!

Building Independent Working Class Political Power 

At the end of Summer School, members brought all their new skills, connections, and analysis together to make strategic political action plans for the next six months, including: 

• Alaska: Elect pro-worker candidate Mary Peltola to US Senate, including through phonebanking and door knocking. 

• Washington: Build political power for a Washington science bond campaign, including by electing supportive legislators and defending the Washington millionaires’ tax. 

• Nevada: Build a campus canvassing program to elect Aaron Ford Governor of Nevada and advance organizing priorities. 

• Northern California, Central Valley, and Bay Area: Elect UAW member Randy Villegas and pro-worker candidate Mai Vang to Congress, including with coordinated canvassing, phonebanking, and voter registration drives. 

• Los Angeles: Elect Nithya Raman for LA Mayor, including by turning members out to weekly neighborhood canvasses and campus organizing. 

• Orange County: Expand membership and leadership to build power for workers in municipal politics, including by winning rank choice voting in Irvine and electing former UAW members to office in Aliso Viejo and Costa Mesa. 

• San Diego: Get out the vote to elect Marni Von Wilpert to Congress and shift political power in Congress to advance pro-worker legislation. 

• Strategic Comms: Start a Regional Communications Organizing Committee to build a clear working class perspective, combat the billionaires’ narratives, reach more members, and inspire more people to take action.

For decades, the ultra-wealthy have been building a political system that advances their needs – amassing wealth and power off the backs of working people. This includes systematic efforts to weaken unions, which are the most impactful source of collective power working people have to influence politics at the highest levels. 

But the one thing the bosses cannot take away from working people is our ability to organize ourselves. According to a 2025 EPI survey, there are 56 million people in the U.S. who would vote to form a union if they had the chance. Just doing that would dramatically improve the politics of the U.S. at every level. 

Across Region 6, UAW members and workers on organizing campaigns are building an independent working class political movement to meet the needs of this moment. We don’t rely on political parties – we have a political program, a vision, and a strategy that's our own and that responds to our issues. And as part of this approach, members are building bold campaigns to advance our issues and inspire more people to take action – from science funding to collective bargaining rights to affordable housing and beyond. It's by engaging in the campaigns, engaging the candidates on our issues, doing interviews, talking to our coworkers, our friends, our neighbors, that UAW members are going to build the movement to win on our issues. 

It will take every members’ participation to make this a reality – to get involved with political action in your area, fill out this form.

On Sunday, Region 6 members joined a national UAW phone bank to support Abdul El-Sayed for U.S. Senate, who is running on Medicare for All, expanding workers’ rights, and taking on corporate and billionaire power.

Member Takeaways from Summer School 

• “I learned so many practical skills to bring back to my campaign! I also just love being able to connect with folks in other locals, troubleshooting together, and discussing how we can strengthen our union power.”

• “I feel more confident and reinvigorated – I believe even more that we can make a difference.”

• “The personal connections made with key people was the best. Building these relationships is something that is unparalleled, and very difficult for me as someone very remote from the region I work in. These connections have set our campaign up for success in a way that would have been far more difficult/nearly impossible to achieve without this.”

• “I think I gained the most from the individual conversations and from learning more about the work the union does. My father was a member of the Pipefitters and Welders Union in Las Vegas, so I grew up seeing the strength and importance of union solidarity in his life. His union family truly became part of our family. This experience reminded me of that connection and inspired me to become more involved.”

One thousand Science, Technology, and Engineering Professionals (STEPs) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have won their union! STEPs are a diverse group of professionals who are responsible for supporting the Lab’s research mission through software and systems development, engineering, IT support, safety and environmental health, and facilities management. Yet many struggle with increasing costs of living in the Bay Area, unstable funding, and uncertainty regarding employment stability. STEPs began forming a union last year to improve their working conditions in the face of layoffs, funding cuts, reductions in project scope, and changes to visa policies, and are part of an ever-growing wave of organizing in higher ed, national labs, and other research institutes. Onward!

Region 6 members in California are joining the Region 6 Just Transition Committee for a lobby day on August 6th to pass three important bills UAW members have been leading on this year: SB 954 to protect manufacturing workers and support manufacturing organize; AB 713 to enable undocumented students to work at CA state schools; and AB 2516 to build and manufacture the electric grid of the future with union jobs, climate justice, and affordable electricity rates. Find more info and RSVP for the Lobby Day here. No prior lobbying experience required!

This year, UAW members across the country will vote in the quadrennial UAW International Executive Board elections for President, Secretary Treasurer, Vice Presidents, and Regional Directors. Check out the election notice here, and official election rules here. Candidates may choose to send information about their campaign to members through the federal monitor overseeing the election, so you can expect to see more information from candidates in the coming months. These elections are a critical part of our democratic processes as a union, and all members are strongly encouraged to actively participate and closely follow election-related information. 

To ensure that you receive your ballot and information about the election, please provide or confirm your mailing and e-mail address information to your Local Union or complete the form on https://myinfo.uaw.org as soon as possible, and advise fellow members to do the same.

Summary of upcoming election dates: 

• On or about August 21, 2026: The first distribution of mail-in ballots to the electorate.

• September 23, 2026: Final date by which replacement ballots can be requested from the Election Vendor.

• September 30, 2026: Deadline by which members must be in good standing in order to have their vote counted in the 2026 Election.

• October 5, 2026: Deadline for all ballots to be received by the designated U.S. Post Office.

• October 6, 2026: Vote tabulation begins (Rosemont, IL).

Find more information at https://www.uawmonitor.com/elections.

In July nearly 600 UAW members from Region 6 met for our fourth annual Summer School at Cal State Los Angeles. Region 6 Summer School is inspired by other social movement education centers, like the Highlander Folk Center, which was founded in 1932 as a place where workers and the oppressed could meet to develop civic and political strategies to improve their lives through collective action. At Region 6’s Summer School, we create a context in which some of the most active worker leaders in the Region come together to share their experiences and learn from each other about how to create a more just and equitable society by helping other workers to organize unions, engaging in independent working class political action, and bargaining collectively to improve working conditions for all.

Workers in Region 6 and around the country face a challenging environment shaped by decades of neoliberal policies. The decline in union density, together with the decline in workers’ wages relative to employers and the billionaire class, has led to a concentration of wealth among the top 0.1%, with negative consequences for us all. As recent Fed research documents, workers today are struggling to make ends meet for less pay, merely surviving as they are faced with rising costs of living, stagnant wages, and limited economic mobility. This is due in no small measure to the greedy plutocracy of billionaires and their elected representatives united to protect and serve their narrow class interests through self-dealing, repressive labor policies, dismantling social welfare programs, and outright plunder of the public purse. 

Amidst this return to a political economy of the Gilded Age, UAW members at Region 6 Summer School committed to redoubling our efforts to bring about a just and sustainable future for all workers. Rebuilding the labor movement from the ground up is key to this struggle to take on the billionaires from the shop floor to Washington D.C. 

The moment is ripe for concerted worker action. As the Economic Policy Institute has shown, 43% of workers surveyed said they would vote to unionize their workplace if given the opportunity. With roughly 130.2 million wage and salary workers in 2025 who were not represented by a union, that amounts to roughly 56 million workers who are ready to organize right now!

This is our challenge and our aim. Since 2022, 42,225 workers in Region 6 have won recognition – 8,800 in 2026 alone. And with members voting at the Constitutional Convention to dedicate $100 million to new organizing, we will have more resources to organize more workers in more sites and more states. For instance, at Panasonic and Lucid, workers are fighting to make the idea of a just transition a reality: transitioning away from fossil fuels and making sure workers have a voice and seat at the table with their employers. 

Time and again, UAW members have demonstrated the power of collective action, from the Sit Down Strikes in the 1930s to the Stand Up and other strikes in the 2020s. When we combine the power of large-scale organizing with mass participation in contract campaigns, UAW members have won historic improvements to wages and benefits across entire sectors. Core to having powerful contract campaigns is having the capacity to use workers’ ultimate weapon: the strike. That’s why members at the Constitutional Convention voted to increase the strike fund to $1.3 billion and increase strike pay to $550/week. Now and in the leadup to May Day 2028, it is critical to continue building powerful campaigns to win and enforce record contracts. Doing so not only improves members’ working conditions, it inspires workers who are not yet part of a union to form one at their workplace.

In addition to organizing more workers and more workplaces and continuing bold and participatory collective bargaining, we must commit to independent working class political action. Now, more than ever, as many electeds pursue endless war – padding the profits of weapons manufacturers while nearly two-thirds of workers live paycheck to paycheck – UAW Region 6 members must build a movement to press our agenda independently of electeds that have too often demonstrated their indifference to workers and the poor. Furthermore, we must elect working class candidates, build independent resources that don’t rely on party politics, and build a coalition of elected representatives who will support our interests – and move them to be champions.

Several of the Region 6 endorsed candidates in Washington state fared well in the primary – including longtime champions Pramila Jayapal, Teresa Mosqueda, Vandana Slatter and Rebecca Saldana. One notable showing was State Senate candidate Eamonn Collins, who has made affordable housing, strong labor rights, and progressive taxation cornerstones of his campaign while running in the politically moderate 42nd district (where Local 4929 student workers have been tirelessly canvassing for him). As of the August 6 vote count Collins is surging to overtake the establishment-backed moderate Democrat in the race (he’s only down by 2 votes!). If this trend continues he will advance to the general and take on Erika Creydt, a Republican candidate campaigning to roll back the millionaires tax that passed in the last session.

And in Michigan, the “indomitable UAW” helped Abdul El-Sayed win that state’s hotly-contested Democratic U.S. Senate primary. He and two other working class champions, U.S. House of Representatives candidates, Will Lawrence and Donavan McKinney, will move to the general election to advance a working class agenda of Medicare for All, affordable housing, a living wage, funding public schools, reigning in data centers and AI, and more.

Upcoming Events

• Alaska Primary Elections: August 18

• UAW IEB election ballots mailed: on or about August 21. See above for more info and to make sure your contact info is up to date! 

• UAW Region 6 Retirees Council meeting: September 10, Pico Rivera, CA. A meeting for Region 6 Retiree Council Board members and International Area Council Chairs will be held September 9 at 5:00pm. 

• Labor conferences around the country: Contact your Local for more info! 

  • UAW Veteran’s Conference, August 9-14, Onaway, MI. 

  • UAW TOP and Women's Conference, August 9-14, Houston, TX. 

  • Union Hall Arts Residency, August 10-September 7, Detroit, MI. UAW members who are selected to participate will be sponsored by the UAW Education Department. 

  • UAW Civil and Human Rights Conference, August 23-28, Onaway, MI. 

  • UAW Bargaining and Contract Enforcement Bootcamp, September 20-25, Onaway, MI.

  • UAW Member Mobilization, September 27-October 2, Onaway, MI. 

  • UAW Standing Committees & EAP Conference, October 4-9, Onaway, MI.