2024 in Review: Building a Movement for All Working People
Dear UAW Sibling,
Across Region 6, members spent our second year as a re-formed Region continuing to build worker-led organizing at a massive scale – and winning significant gains in new organizing, bargaining, political action, and more. Just in 2024:
13,800+ workers joined UAW Region 6 by winning union recognition or voting to affiliate
11,200+ workers have filed cards to form their unions and are actively fighting for union recognition
3,100+ workers from 3 units won first contracts
8,800+ workers from 4 units went on strike to win historic contracts, and another 1,100+ workers from 2 units won historic contracts after launching credible strike threats
Thousands of UAW 4811 members at University of California struck in response to serious Unfair Labor Practices by UC administration.
Members made more than 1 million voter outreach attempts in the largest-ever GOTV effort coordinated across the UAW western states, and won many priority races and initiatives as a result.
Of course, there is much left to be done to build a just and sustainable world for all working people. Looking ahead to 2025, members are coming together at the Region 6 Leadership Conference January 10-12 in Pico Rivera to draw lessons from our collective successes and challenges in 2024, and to make plans for building an even more powerful worker-led movement in 2025 and beyond. Keep reading to review some of the impressive work Region 6 workers accomplished together in 2024 towards building a world that works for working people.
At the Region 6 Political Action & Leadership Conference, more than 450 active & retired members came together from across all areas and sectors of the region to reflect on our work together in 2023 and set key priorities for 2024, including towards advancing climate justice, advancing social justice, and fighting corporate/institutional greed.
After a snowy 3-hour strike, Academic Student Employees at Washington State University won an incredible first contract – including a 49% increase to base salary, six weeks of paid parental leave, lowered out-of-pocket costs for healthcare – and formed Local 4591.
Members in Seattle and Oakland rallied alongside fellow labor and community members demanding a ceasefire in Palestine.
Over 30 delegates from Region 6 attended the National UAW Community Action Program (CAP) Conference in Washington DC and met with elected officials from all over the Western states to discuss a number of priority issues: a worker-led just transition, more funding for science, comprehensive immigration reform, retirement benefits for all workers, and a ceasefire in Palestine.
Region 6 created the UAW Center for Manufacturing a Green Economy (UAW-CMGE), a non-profit organization connected to the UAW to drive the buildout of worker-centered training programs in new green industries like electric mobility and along the Electric Vehicle battery supply chain.
Grad Researchers & Postdocs at Caltech decisively won their union election, with over 76% of graduate students and 83% of postdocs voting yes.
Adjunct Faculty at the USC School of Cinematic Arts also overwhelmingly won their union election, with 78% of all SCA Adjuncts participating in the vote and 94% voting yes.
Region 6 participated in a trinational convening, where union leaders from Canada, Mexico, and the US met to interchange ideas and strategize coordinated organizing in auto manufacturing, app-based work, domestic work, and more.
Members continued mobilizing for a ceasefire in Palestine, including by organizing Labor for Palestine rallies in Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Over 4000 Student Workers at University of Oregon voted 97% to affiliate with UAW and launched a campaign for their first contract.
Members of the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS) also voted to affiliate with UAW as Local 1115, and launched a reinvigorated contract fight.
UAW members traveled to Sacramento and Los Angeles to give public comment at the California Workforce Development Board Meeting and demand that every dollar of public money be used to create good union jobs in green energy work on semiconductors, batteries, and electric vehicles.
Members of Local 230 joined union members from across California to successfully pressure the state Occupational Health & Safety Board to approve the new Cal/OSHA Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Standard.
UAW International President Shawn Fain visited California to meet with members doing climate/EV research at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, as well as with other members at UC Berkeley to discuss upcoming campaigns.
Region 6 participated in a conference put on by the California Energy Commission to discuss manufacturing EV batteries and other parts of the EV supply chain in California, as well as a meeting with labor leaders from independent unions in Mexico to strategize ways to build organizing & worker power in the auto industry.
Volkswagen workers in Tennessee made history when they voted 73% to form a union – the first new union at a US automaker in decades – in a dramatic shift from two previous unionization drives that were each ultimately voted down. The campaign’s success was thanks to the adoption of an organizing model focused on building a wide, deep network of worker leaders across every area of the workplace who drove the campaign forward, supported by a number of organizers from Region 6.
Workers at California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network and Health Access California won voluntary union recognition.
Members continued taking action for a ceasefire in Palestine, including in Seattle and Los Angeles.
Student Workers at UC Law SF filed for recognition of their union, United Legal Educators (ULE-UAW).
Graduate Workers at University of Alaska won a strong, hard-fought first contract after launching a credible strike threat in late April. The contract was ratified unanimously on May 1 with over 70% of the unit voting in just 24 hours, and includes wage increases, appointment security, and more. They are now Local 1907.
After months of bargaining and escalating actions, Academic Student Employees at University of Washington (Local 4121) won a strong new contract after striking for 1 day. The new contract includes new protections for international workers, reasonable accommodations, and the largest wage increase in the Local’s history.
After more than 2 years of organizing – including successfully passing collective bargaining legislation, winning union recognition, bargaining for months, and ultimately striking for 2 days – the 1100 Educational Student Employees at Western Washington University won an incredible first contract – including a first-in-the-nation tuition-relief program for working undergrad students – and formed Local 4929.
Thousands of UAW 4811 members at University of California struck in response to serious Unfair Labor Practices by UC administration that began when the university stood by as an angry mob brutally beat peaceful pro-Palestine protesters at UCLA. UC admin subsequently made unilateral and dramatic changes to long-standing policies on protest and use of force and then used these changed policies to arrest and discipline hundreds of students and UAW academic workers across the state.
UAW members and workers on organizing campaigns from across the region came together in Oakland for the second annual Region 6 An Injury to One Is an Injury to All Conference. Together, members discussed strategies for maximizing power to win structural change on social justice issues at the workplace and beyond, including family leave, childcare benefits, Opportunity for All, inclusive union culture, and organizing for Justice for Palestine.
More than 400 UAW members and workers on organizing drives came together for Region 6 Summer School. Through classes, workshops, strategy sessions, big picture presentations, and more, workers made connections across workplaces, industries, and geographies and practiced new skills to put to use in bargaining, organizing, contract enforcement, building strong locals, and more.
The second cohort of the Region 6 organizer training program, Our Labor, Our Movement (OLOM) launched, bringing together 30 new organizers for 3 months of training and hands-on practice building skills to support worker-led organizing drives.
The first ever Youth Labor Organizing Corps (YLOC) Open Organizing School launched, bringing together more than 200 participants for biweekly zoom trainings to learn organizing fundamentals and put them into practice on a campaign at their workplace or campus, with direct support from experienced peer mentors from Regions 6 and 9A.
Postdocs at University of Southern California voted overwhelmingly to form their union URFU-UAW, with over 93% of postdocs voting yes.
Local 509 members at Senior Aerospace SSP ran a historic contract campaign – engaging high levels of member participation in escalating actions, including lunchtime rallies outside bargaining, Red Shirt Wednesdays, an overwhelming strike authorization vote, and a practice picket – and went on to win a contract with the unit’s highest-ever wage increases, doubled COLA, one fewer week of mandatory overtime, and more.
Alongside a coalition of other unions including SEIU, NEA, APWU, AFA, UE, & IUPAT, UAW sent a letter to the Biden Administration calling for an immediate halt to all U.S. military aid to Israel in the interest of securing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and lasting peace in the region.
UAW was among an increasingly loud chorus calling for President Biden to drop out of the Presidential race and pass the torch to another candidate, and as a result of that pressure, in July he ended his bid for reelection.
Members of Local 230, Local 1115/CAPS, and Local 4811 participated in the California Federation of Labor Unions Convention, where delegates voted unanimously to pass two resolutions on protecting the right to protest and one on Opportunity for All. UAW President Shawn Fain joined to give keynote remarks.
Members of Locals 4121, 4591, and 4929 participated in the Washington State Labor Council Convention, and helped pass resolutions on ceasefire in Gaza and the right to protest, expanding state funding for university labor centers, raising the minimum wage, and a resolution calling for unions to align contracts for May 1, 2028.
California State Scientists of Local 1115/CAPS mobilized support for AB 2335, a bill aimed at ending the gender pay gap between State Scientists and Engineers.
UAW members and UAW-CMGE met with acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su along with Unite HERE Local 11, Worker Power, Jobs to Move America, Organized Power in Numbers, Lucha, and Chispa for a round table discussion on creating good union jobs
Local 3555 Casino Workers from multiple units of Caesar’s Properties in Las Vegas bargained new contracts that include improvements to rights and conditions.
Student Workers at UC Law SF won certification of their union, United Legal Educators (ULE-UAW).
Hundreds of UAW members participated in the Region 6 Political Action Conference. Across states and sectors, members discussed and practiced strategies building political power by increasing participation, pooling collective resources, and mobilizing strategically to build leverage to advance our pro-worker, pro-labor agenda. And together, members made plans to turn out hundreds of coworkers in a region-wide effort to talk to voters about members’ issues locally, and to turn out a strong vote in Arizona and Nevada.
Members of Local 509 at Monogram Aerospace spent months building a participatory contract campaign, and when their contract expired on August 3 and management had still not agreed to fair terms, they began striking, fighting for livable wages and affordable healthcare.
California State Scientists of CAPS/Local 1115 overwhelmingly ratified a new contract after years of negotiations, and a renewed campaign to build mass member participation.
As part of their campaign for a first contract, Graduate Fellows at Pardee RAND held a rally to demand fair pay, fair working conditions, immediate tuition relief, and institutional respect.
Thanks to the power of the Big 3 Stand Up Strike in 2023, members won contract provisions that Stellantis would re-open a closed plant in Belvidere, Illinois and that members have the right to strike over product and investment commitments. But in August, Stellantis informed UAW they did not plan to follow through on the agreements laid out in the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement, launching the Stellantis Keep the Promise campaign across the country.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Investing in America” agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded UAW Region 6 and UAW-CMGE $2 million to further develop the High Road Battery Training Program in partnership with the Sparkz corporation.
Research Coordinators & Consultants at University of Washington filed to form their union and join Local 4121 with majority support.
Through coordinated efforts at the Local and Regional levels, members launched the most aggressive political program in UAW Western States history, including canvassing, phonebanking, and other voter outreach on priority races in every subregional area. In addition, members from California traveled to Nevada to both support the organizing efforts of Grad Student Workers at University of Nevada, and to canvass voters on priority member issues; and the Region 6 Gender, Civil, and Human Rights Committee began hosting weekly phonebanks to call women voters in Arizona.
Members of Local 2162 held a training focused on activating member participation in their GM Parts Distribution unit. After learning strategies for engaging fellow members and practicing effective member-to-member conversations, members then made plans for engaging more members around several strategic actions.
Members of Local 887 at Aerojet Rocketdyne L3Harris ratified a new contract including improved 401(k), increased holidays, improved layoff language, future work secured, and no concessions from the union.
Members continued building an historic political program, including by spending significant time canvassing and phonebanking in Arizona and Nevada about members’ issues, including with a mass-action weekend where hundreds of members traveled from across the Region to knock doors in person in Phoenix, Reno, and Las Vegas, weekly phonebanks, and textbanks and phonebanks to every UAW member in both states. In addition, members in every state knocked tens of thousands of doors and made hundreds of thousands of phone calls getting out the vote for critical local, state, and federal races.
After 69 days on strike, Local 509 members at Monogram Aerospace ratified an historic new contract, including wage increases, lowered healthcare costs, language improvements, & no concessions from the union.
And UAW 509 aerospace workers at Adel Wiggins rallied to call for management to come to the table and bargain in good faith.
More than 60 members from across the Region came together for the Education & Communications Conference in Seattle to learn new skills and develop concrete plans for using comms and education to help build leverage around active efforts in their Local or organizing campaign.
After months of organizing, staff at the Greenlining Institute won voluntary recognition of their union, Greenliners United, and immediately started gearing up to bargain a first contract.
Local 3555 Dealers at the Wynn in Las Vegas began bargaining a new contract.
After months of organizing, the November general election results were counted. Members’ efforts directly contributed to many important wins at the Local, State, and Federal level – e.g., winning historic tenants rights measure in Berkeley; winning abortion access in Arizona and Nevada; electing at least three members and former members to office; winning numerous priority races in state legislatures, Congress, Senate, and more. Meanwhile, the re-election of Donald Trump marks a serious setback for workers, migrants, the climate, women, people of color, and trans people – everyone but the billionaires – and comes with a call to build a stronger-than-ever worker-led political program going forward.
Husbandry Workers at the Aquarium of the Pacific decisively won their election to form their union, Fish & Invertebrates United (FIU).
Postdocs at Washington State University won union recognition and immediately began building their first contract campaign.
Since launching their drive in September, Grad Student Workers at the University of Nevada Las Vegas & University of Nevada Reno organized a supermajority of their coworkers to sign union authorization cards, and delivered them to management to demand recognition.
Student Services and Advising Professionals at University of California filed for union recognition with strong majority support.
Over 150 members of Local 872 at University of Southern California rallied to demand admin uphold important contract provisions for international workers and those with families, including dispersing contractual support funds and restoring the agreed-upon amount of paid vacation time.
University of California Academic Student Employees of Local 4811 held their first ever bargaining convention to set priorities for their contract campaign.
Valle Unido Por Beneficios Comunitarios, a coalition of community, environmental, and labor groups including Region 6, launched a campaign to build a community-centered Lithium Valley where local residents play a central role in the green energy transition. The coalition calls on lithium companies to agree to community benefit agreements that guarantee fair wages, safe working conditions, environmental safeguards, and respect for Indigenous rights.
In November, Grad Researchers and Postdocs at Caltech held a mass meeting to discuss progress on bargaining their first contract, and hundreds of workers decided to hold a strike authorization vote. That vote was held in early December, with workers voting decisively to authorize a strike if circumstances warrant.
Faculty and Staff at New York Film Academy Los Angeles won their union election with an overwhelming 96% yes vote to form their union, the Association of Teachers and Staff Los Angeles - UAW (ATSLA-UAW).
Non-tenure-track full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty at University of Southern California filed for union recognition with overwhelming support of faculty across USC.
A supermajority of Faculty & Staff at CalArts filed for union recognition.
Members across the Region held sub-regional meetings to debrief the election season, develop collective analysis, and discuss potential priorities for coordinated work at both the Regional and sub-regional levels.
And much more work is ongoing. Numerous units are actively bargaining first contracts – at Caltech, USC, Pardee RAND, University of Oregon, UC Law SF, and more. Still others are bargaining or preparing to bargain successor agreements – at University of Washington, Adel Wiggins, Cal State, University of California, and more. Onward!
Upcoming Events
Region 6 Gender Justice & Civil Human Rights Committee meeting: January 6 at 6pm via Zoom.
Region 6 Leadership Conference: January 10-12 in Pico Rivera, California. Contact your Local for more information.
Region 6 Education & Communications Committee meeting: TBD on the week of January 20. Fill out this form to get looped in!
Region 6 Political Action (CAP/PAC) meeting: January 16 at 6pm via zoom.
UAW Job Openings
Interested in finding a job working for your union? A number of positions are open in various departments and levels of the UAW, and UAW members are especially encouraged to apply. Find open positions and information about how to apply at the UAW Indeed site.
Stay Connected & Share Your Updates
The Region 6 Newsletter is produced by the Region 6 Education & Communications Committee (ECC). If you have updates or stories from your Local/Organizing Campaign to share in a future newsletter, email region6newsletter@uaw.net. All Locals & Organizing Campaigns in Region 6 are strongly encouraged to send members to participate in the ECC on an ongoing basis. For regular updates and information, you can also check out Region 6 on Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, TikTok, and our website. Not already receiving the Region 6 newsletter, or know someone else who isn’t? Fill out this form to subscribe!