General Motors Aramark workers have won a historic tentative agreement that will set the pattern and raise the standard for all UAW GM members in sanitation. 

In a new video, Mike Booth, UAW Vice President and Director of the GM Department, shares some of the record gains contained in the deal and the strategy behind winning the agreement.  

Under the tentative agreement, Aramark workers will receive raises of up to 43% over the life of the proposed three-year deal. The UAW was also able to reduce the time it takes a worker to reach the top wage rate. Previously, it could take years for a worker to reach that mark. Under the proposed agreement, it would take a worker just ninety days.  

UAW Aramark workers will also receive retroactive back pay from March 15, the day the previous contract expired. 

“If ratified, this deal will be a major victory for our UAW members in sanitation, not just at Aramark,” Booth says in the video to Aramark workers. “Of the ten sanitation companies the UAW bargains with, Aramark is the largest. We took the fight to Aramark head-on to win a contract that recognizes your hard work and dedication.” 

Winning a record agreement at Aramark is part of the UAW’s strategy to put pressure on the other nine sanitation companies to negotiate similar contracts, improving conditions for all UAW sanitation workers.  

“Our strategy was to win big at Aramark so we can win big everywhere else for our GM sanitation members,” Booth says. “We’re showing these companies that the days of our members in sanitation getting left behind are over.”

Aramark workers will now vote on whether to approve the tentative agreement.  

The record deal at Aramark comes on the heels of a number of major victories for the UAW in recent months. Last fall, UAW members won record contracts at the Big Three automakers after their 44-day Stand-Up Strike. Last week, autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN, made history by overwhelmingly voting to join the UAW, the first auto plant in the South to unionize in decades.  

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CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — In a historic victory, an overwhelming majority of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, have voted to join the UAW. While votes continue to be tallied, the outcome is clear: Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are the first Southern autoworkers outside of the Big Three to win their union. 

Press can see the results of the election tonight at uaw.org/vwvote.

“This election is big,” said Kelcey Smith, a worker in the paint department at Volkswagen. “People in high places told us good things can’t happen here in Chattanooga. They told us this isn’t the time to stand up, this isn’t the place. But we did stand up and we won. This is the time; this is the place. Southern workers are ready to stand up and win a better life.”  

“We saw the big contract that UAW workers won at the Big Three and that got everybody talking,” said Zachary Costello, a trainer in VW’s proficiency room. “You see the pay, the benefits, the rights UAW members have on the job, and you see how that would change your life. That’s why we voted overwhelmingly for the union. Once people see the difference a union makes, there’s no way to stop them.”    

“This is a movement for every blue-collar worker in America,” said Doug Snyder, a body worker at Volkswagen. “Our vote shows that workers everywhere want a better life on and off the job. Fair pay is important, but so is time with our families. So is a voice for safety in our plant. We’re looking forward to getting to the bargaining table with the company and winning a contract that makes things right at Volkswagen.” 

5,000 workers at Mercedes-Benz in Vance, Ala., will have their vote to join the UAW on May 13 to 17. In the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies, over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

VANCE, Ala. –  5,000 Mercedes workers will have an opportunity to vote to form their union in less than a month.  The election will be held in-person at the Mercedes plant May 13 – 17 in Vance, Alabama. The vote will be administered by the National Labor Relations Board.  

“Workers at our plant are ready for this moment,” said Jeremy Kimbrell, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We are ready to vote yes because we are ready to win our fair share. We are going to end the Alabama discount and replace it with what our state actually needs. Workers sticking together and sticking by our community.” 

“The time is now,” said Latesha Henry, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “It’s time to regain family work life balance and make history at Mercedes. I want this to be a job that generation after generation would be proud to have.” 

The vote at Mercedes will come just a few weeks after workers at Volkswagen vote on unionizing with UAW in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That vote is currently underway, and it is anticipated that ballots will be counted Friday evening after voting ends.  

Should workers at both plants vote to unionize, nearly 10,000 autoworkers across the South will have voted to join UAW in less than a month. 

In addition to Mercedes and Volkswagen, thousands more autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns at Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala. and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at more than two dozen other facilities are actively organizing.  

“We’re tired of Mercedes executives rolling things back,” said Billy Guyton, a Mercedes worker at the Vance plant. “We’re going to roll our union forward.”  

For more information, visit uaw.org/join

DETROIT – The UAW just released “Leftover Money,” a new video detailing Daimler Truck’s record profits and their intentions to reward Wall Street, not the workers, with the spoils. It features testimony from workers reviewing the eyepopping profits and their demands to no longer play “second fiddle” when it comes to getting their fair share and raising standards.  

The video can be accessed at this link, and the media is invited to use the footage.  

The video digs down into statistics showing how UAW members have been left out in the cold as Daimler has funneled their record profits to CEOs and wealthy investors.  

In March, Daimler announced record results in 2023 and a robust outlook for 2024, including:  

  • Daimler made nearly $6 billion in 2023  
  • Profits increased 39% over 2022  
  • Over half of those profits were generated in North America  
  • The company plans to spend $2.1 billion on stock buybacks and intends to increase stock dividends by 46%  

After those announcements, Daimler’s stock jumped 18% in just one day. In interviews, Daimler CEO Martin Daum has bragged that:  

  • The company’s profits are “red hot”  
  • The “leftover money” belongs to the company’s stockholders  

Speaking direct to camera, the workers shared their message to the company: “We make the product. We make the profits. And it’s time to make things right. Our wages have fallen far behind. Our job security is on the chopping block. Our families and communities deserve better. And we’ve sacrificed long enough. We’re done playing second fiddle. It’s time for Daimler to invest in the American worker. The money is there. The cause is just. And the time is now.”  

The video launch comes just weeks after 7,000 Daimler Truck North America workers voted by 96% to authorize a strike if necessary. This overwhelming support shows the workers are determined to secure the record contract they’ve earned.  

Daimler Truck workers from six different local unions in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee have been holding practice pickets to demonstrate they won’t tolerate unfair labor practices like refusing to provide information, and that they are strike-ready. Practice pickets are not work stoppages; no entrances will be obstructed and workers will report to their shifts as usual. (Dates, times and locations of all practice pickets can be found here.)  

Bargaining with Daimler Truck management began on Tuesday, April 2, and the workers’ contract expires on April 26. The workers who build Freightliner trucks, Western Star trucks, and Thomas Built Buses are facing declining real wages and job security even as Daimler Truck tallies record profits and makes massive payouts to shareholders. Over the past six years, Daimler Truck’s profits have increased by 90% while workers’ buying power has fallen 13%.  

On the heels of the UAW’s historic Stand Up Strike and record contracts with the Big Three automakers, and as tens of thousands of workers across the country continue organizing to join the UAW, Daimler Truck workers are standing up in their fight for fair pay, cost of living adjustments (COLA), job security and a better future for working families.  

New York, New York – Seeking to strengthen high-quality free legal services for New Yorkers and fight high turnover, union members of Mobilization for Justice (MFJ), a nonprofit legal services organization, hit a historic landmark this week as their strike enters its seventh week. The strike is the longest legal services walk-out in New York City history since 2003, when unionized MFJ staffers held a nine-week long strike.

The Union is fighting for a fair and dignified contract to maintain its quality of free legal services to New Yorkers by addressing MFJ’s unprecedented staff attrition rate. The strike has garnered support from state and national elected officials, such as U.S. Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who joined the picket line last week. Labor leaders have also joined the strikers in their demands that MFJ offer a fair contract. In a rally in North Carolina last week, UAW International President Shawn Fain issued a stern rebuke against MFJ Management’s union busting: “the management at MFJ is a disgrace and they are betraying the values that they claim to hold dear. But I know one thing: our members are strong, that the community’s behind them, and that they are going to win!”

In 2003, Mobilization for Justice (then known as MFY Legal Services) staffers struck for nine weeks when Management offered a contract which would eliminate spousal/partner health coverage. Chaumtoli Huq, an Associate Professor at CUNY School of Law and former MFJ staff attorney, was part of the 2003 strike. Professor Huq said that the proposed healthcare cuts would have disproportionately affected lower-paid, BIPOC workers. “I was pregnant with my son during the 2003 strike. Cutting my spousal health care would have meant that I would have had to pay more out-of-pocket expenses for family care. Legal services workers should have a right to support our loved ones, especially when we make so little money.” Professor Huq said that she “absolutely” supports the ongoing strike and Union members’ demands for a fair contract. “MFJ’s corporate board has forgotten an important lesson from the 2003 strike. You cannot strip frontline workers’ healthcare benefits and pay and expect them to take it without a fight.”

The current strike comes in the context of the worst homelessness crisis in modern New York City history, increasing evictions of poor and working-class tenants, and the unprecedented need for legal services for immigrants given recent waves of mass migration of asylum-seekers and refugees. Striking workers from MFJ include attorneys, paralegals, and social workers who advocate and represent these individuals in courts and in front of city, state, and federal agencies every day when working. “MFJ Union members are at the courts multiple days each week as part of our strike-focused Court Watch. We’re watching, with heartbreak for our clients, as MFJ managers clearly cannot handle the caseloads,” said Craig Hughes, social worker at MFJ’s Bronx office. “Executive Director Tiffany Liston has prolonged a strike on the backs of the clients MFJ is sworn to support. She is clearly indifferent to what happens to our clients, frontline staff, middle management, and the sustainability of the organization as a result.” He continued, “seven weeks in and MFJ is falling apart. Where is the leadership?”

Union members say that MFJ Management has delayed resolution of their contract negotiations, engaged in unfair labor practices, and mounted an aggressive union busting campaign. MFJ Management terminated staff healthcare without notice to staff hours after the Union declared a strike. This sudden, unannounced interruption in benefits caused Union members significant problems, including a Senior Staff Attorney whose three-year-old child was hospitalized with Leukemia. MFJ Management did not return to the bargaining table until the fourth week of the strike. MFJ Management also hired temporary strikebreakers to cover the labor shortage. Union members say that the untrained strike breakers are unable to adequately cover the organization’s caseload, which reached over 15,000 last year. Members expressed concerns that MFJ Management’s prolonged refusal to bargain in good faith will negatively impact their clients.


The MFJ Union will be picketing at the following locations this week:

– Wednesday, April 10, 1pm to 3pm: Bronx Housing Court (1118 Grand Concourse)
– Friday, April 12, 9:30am to 11:30am: MFJ Manhattan office (100 William Street)





New Jersey – For 18 years casino workers in Atlantic City have been excluded from New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act – in violation of their Constitutional rights. New Jersey has allowed casinos to knowingly force employees to work in toxic conditions that have caused life-threatening illness and death.

Together the UAW and C.E.A.S.E. (Casino Employees Against Smoking’s (Harmful) Effects) represent workers at every casino in Atlantic City. They ask the Court to void the exemption in a lawsuit which seeks immediate injunctive relief, filed today by Nancy Erika Smith, Esq., of Montclair’s Smith Mullin.

“For almost two decades casino workers have been fighting for the same legal protections that other New Jersey workers have, the right to work in a place free of toxic smoke,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “UAW and C.E.A.S.E. members have fought tirelessly to get lawmakers to do the right thing, but politicians have chosen to protect corporate profits over workers’ health. Today, we put an end to that and ask the court to respect the right of workers to breathe clean air on the job.”

Today’s lawsuit argues that the current exemption for casino workers from the Smoke-Free Air Act violates the New Jersey State Constitution on three grounds:

First, the New Jersey Constitution guarantees that “all persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are… pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” Casino workers have been denied their right to safety.

Second, the Constitution also makes clear that the “Legislature shall not pass any special laws… or grant to any corporation … any exclusive privilege [or] immunity…” In this case, rich corporate casinos are excluded from the Smoke-Free Air Act, giving them the exclusive right to endanger the lives of their workers.

Third, this exemption from a law designed to protect workers from smoke also denies casino workers their right to equal protection.

“The CDC has found that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that the harmful effects are felt within 60 minutes of exposure. Casino workers have been sickened and died as a result of that exposure while other workers in New Jersey are protected against being poisoned at work,” said the workers’ lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith Esq. “We have taken this fight out of back room ‘money talks’ politics and put it in the courts where we are confident that the judge will find that casinos cannot knowingly poison their employees in the pursuit of profits. It’s immoral and legally indefensible.

“Attorney General Matt Platkin bravely refused to defend an unconstitutional law recently – we ask him to do the same here. We also ask Governor Murphy to restore these workers’ right to safety, which he can do today. Finally, Acting Commissioner of Health Baston enforces the Smoke-Free Air Act and, as the Commissioner of Health, she can refuse to enforce a law that endangers the health of workers.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure, with harmful, inflammatory and respiratory effects produced within 60 minutes

“For casino executives, if you put on the uniform of a dealer, slot tech, bartender, server, maintenance person or housekeeper, the bosses are fine with you getting cancer and dying. It’s the cost of doing business,” said Daniel Vicente, Director of U.A.W Region 9. “The UAW will never be able to out-spend these executives, some making more than 10 million dollars a year. We can, however, take the fight for working people’s health and safety to a fairer playing field – one unbeholden to campaign donations or big money PACs. We are proud to stand with C.E.A.S.E. NJ and bring this fight out of the legislature and into the judiciary. We look forward to seeing all of you coming out publicly and telling the people of New Jersey why our lives don’t matter as much as yours.”

Statement of support from Senator Joseph Vitale can be found here.

Related economic materials proving there is no financial excuse for casinos to poison their workers can be found here.

VANCE, Ala. – A supermajority of Mercedes-Benz workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote to join the UAW. The over 5,000 workers at the Mercedes plant outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., are the second group of Southern autoworkers to call for a union election in less than three weeks. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., filed for their election in mid-March and will have their vote to join the UAW April 17–19.  

new video announcing the election filing at Mercedes features the Alabama autoworkers at a recent rally with UAW President Shawn Fain. In the video, Mercedes workers speak out on why they’re voting yes to join the UAW. (The media is invited to use footage from the video.) 

In a statement today, Jeremy Kimbrell, a measurement machine operator at Mercedes, said, “We are standing up for every worker in Alabama. At Mercedes, at Hyundai and at hundreds of other companies, Alabama workers have made billions of dollars for executives and shareholders, but we haven’t gotten our fair share. We’re going to turn things around with this vote. We’re going to end the Alabama discount.” 

“We are voting for safer jobs at Mercedes,” said Moesha Chandler, an assembly team member at Mercedes. “I’m still young, but I’m already having serious problems with my shoulders and hands. When you’re still in your twenties and your body is breaking down, that’s not right. By winning our union, we’ll have the power to make the work safer and more sustainable.” 

Mercedes management is running an aggressive anti-union campaign, but that has not blunted the workers’ momentum. By late February, less than two months after Mercedes workers went public with their drive to join the UAW, a majority of them had signed union cards. The Mercedes workers hope to be voting in their union election by early May. The NLRB is expected to quickly set the date for the election.  

The UAW has filed federal labor charges against Mercedes for illegal union busting, as well as charges in a German court for labor violations that could net billions in penalties for the German automaker. 

“We’re going to make Mercedes better with this vote,” said Jacob Ryan, a KVP team member at Mercedes. “Right now, the company keeps losing good people because they force them to work Saturdays at the last second, to take shifts that mess with their family lives. And the only choice people have is to take it or quit. With the union, we’ll have a voice for fair schedules that keep workers at Mercedes.” 

The Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join. 

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced its final rule for energy conservation standards for distribution transformers, preserving over 1,000 good union jobs in Western Pennsylvania, after UAW members spoke out about the impact of the DOE’s actions. 

“Today’s announcement from the Department of Energy is a victory for the 1,100 members of UAW Local 3303 in Butler, Pennsylvania,” said Jamie Sychak, President, UAW Local 3303. “It has been a very long and trying year for Local 3303 and our plant. At the outset of this rule, we faced a plant closure. As they say, that which does not kill us makes us stronger, and we’re a testament to that. We fought to protect our jobs, our plant, and our community. And today, we won. The DOE’s final rule ensures a viable pathway for UAW-made steel to supply the transformer market long into the future. Throughout this process, we worked closely with Cliffs, our UAW leadership, local, state, federal officials, and the DOE to provide feedback on the proposed rule. Because of the strength of our union, labor is recognized today as a key stakeholder on the policies and decisions of our government. We are grateful that the highest levels our federal government recognize that the workers of America — the people that make this country go — have a voice and must be heard on the matters that affect them and our nation.” 

“Today’s announcement of the final rule from D.O.E. regarding electrical steel is an absolute win for U.A.W. Local 3303 and Cleveland-Cliffs,” said UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente. “Labor and Management don’t always see eye to eye — like all relationships, disagreements exist. But when it comes to protecting American jobs and producing U.S.-made electrical steel for our critical infrastructure, UAW and Clevland-Cliffs stand shoulder to shoulder. We thank the Department of Energy for listening to the voices of our members in Butler, PA, and having a willingness to learn from our subject matter experts who actually make these products. When American working people stand together, we win.”

The UAW filed charges today against Mercedes-Benz Group AG for violating Germany’s new law on global supply chain practices. Mercedes-Benz’s aggressive anti-union campaign against U.S. autoworkers in Alabama is a clear human rights violation under the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains. If found guilty, Mercedes-Benz faces billions in penalties, including significant fines and bans on government contracts.

The UAW’s charges are an important early test of the act, which took effect on January 1, 2023, and applies to German-headquartered firms with more than 1,000 employees. The UAW is the first American union to file charges under the act, which is also known by its German acronym LkSG.

The law sets standards for global supply chains that German-based firms must adhere to, and it clearly prohibits companies from disregarding workers’ rights to form trade unions. Workers at Mercedes-Benz’s sprawling assembly and battery plant in Vance, Ala., are organizing to join the UAW and have faced fierce backlash from company management.

The Alabama plant is operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI), a subsidiary of Stuttgart-based Mercedes-Benz Group AG. The UAW complaint details how MBUSI has intimidated, threatened and even fired Alabama workers in violation of U.S. labor law and International Labour Organization Conventions. The complaint documents seven violations of the German act, including:

  • The firing of a union supporter with Stage 4 cancer. The employee had been allowed to have his cellphone with him at work so he could receive updates on the availability of his scarce chemo drug. But a supervisor who has intimidated union supporters claimed there was a zero-tolerance policy on cellphones and had him fired.
  • A January letter from MBUSI CEO Michael Göbel to employees that attempted to chill union activity and violated their freedom of association. The letter was filled with stock phrases used by anti-union consultants designed to stoke fear, uncertainty, and division.
  • A mandatory plant-wide meeting Göbel held in February to discourage workers from unionizing. At this meeting, Göbel told workers “I don’t believe the UAW can help us to be better” and that they “shouldn’t have to pay union dues that generate millions of dollars per year for an organization where you have no transparency where that money is used.”
  • Another mandatory plant-wide meeting in February that featured former University of Alabama football Coach Nick Saban. Before and during the meeting, MBUSI supervisors attempted to stop union supporters from passing out UAW hats.

Despite the company’s anti-union campaign, a majority of MBUSI workers have signed union cards and recently rallied with UAW President Shawn Fain.

In addition to the charges against Mercedes-Benz in Germany, the MBUSI workers have filed multiple charges with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. Last week, the workers requested an injunction against MBUSI to put an end to the company’s retaliation against workers for standing up for their rights at work.

MBUSI’s actions not only violate U.S., German and international law, they also violate Mercedes-Benz’s Principles of Social Responsibility and Human Rights. Those principles state: “In the event of organization campaigns, the company and its executives shall remain neutral; the trade unions and the company will ensure that employees can make an independent decision.”

Every Mercedes-Benz plant in the world is unionized — except the company’s two plants in the United States. 

Mercedes workers are part of the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Mercedes, Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tenn., Hyundai in Montgomery, Ala., and Toyota in Troy, Mo. Workers at over two dozen other facilities are also actively organizing. For more information, visit uaw.org/join.