schwindt@grinnell.edu
Members of the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers (UGSDW) have until May 21 to vote on whether the union should move forward with affiliating with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).
UE is an independent union – a union not associated with a larger organization – that operates on the national level, often referred to in short interchangeably as a national or international. Their operation is a “rank-and-file union” which emphasizes its members to be the force behind democracy in collective business. Member unions set polices of the larger UE and make all decisions on the local level as well.
UVM Moves to $15 minimum wage effective immediately
An agreement between The University of Vermont and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, Local 267 (“UE”) has been ratified by the UE membership. The union represents over 330 service and maintenance workers at UVM. The three-year contract includes wage increases and a $15 minimum wage or so-called “wage floor.”
“The university greatly appreciates the contributions that its employees make, which are integral to UVM’s continued success,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella. “I am pleased that we were able build on the progress we have made toward ensuring that all employees earn a livable wage. The increase to a $15 per hour wage floor in this contract is an important milestone.”
Undergraduate student workers at Kenyon College are continuing a strike this week and putting more pressure on administrators to voluntarily recognize their union.
Vermont Business Magazine An agreement between The University of Vermont and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, Local 267 (“UE”) has been ratified by the UE membership. The union represents over 330 service and maintenance workers at UVM. The three-year contract includes wage increases and a $15 minimum wage or so-called “wage floor.”
“The university greatly appreciates the contributions that its employees make, which are integral to UVM’s continued success,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella. “I am pleased that we were able build on the progress we have made toward ensuring that all employees earn a livable wage. The increase to a $15 per hour wage floor in this contract is an important milestone.”
Black Worker Centers: Building Workplace Power in the Communities
Even in anti-union terrains, the centers have found ways to change public and corporate policies.
As organized labor grapples with the consequences of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Unionâs landslide defeat at the Amazon mega-warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, one potential direction for the labor movement lies in the types of power- and base-building activities of Black worker centers.
That African American workers need to amass the power to better their conditions is beyond dispute. The American working class is in serious trouble, and Black workers most particularly. The median net wealth of Black families is just $24,100 (lower than any other racial group in America today), while that of white families stands at $188,200. Ongoing institutional and systemic racial discrimination against Black workers persists in housing, health care, education, and employment.