Tag Archive for: health & safety

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Fighting for Better Patient Care, Mercyhealth East UAW Members Mark 100 Days on Strike

JANESVILLE, WI – UAW Local 95 Unit 14 members at Mercyhealth’s East Clinic have reached a major milestone — 100 days on strike. Since July 2, these dedicated health care workers have been standing up not just for themselves, but for their patients. They’re fighting to restore quality care and fair jobs at Mercyhealth, where high-level decisions have turned what should be good, stable caregiving jobs into overworked, underpaid positions that put patient care at risk. On Friday, workers took a moment to celebrate their strength and unity as they continue to push back against an employer that is putting profits before patients.

“There’s no question that our members at Mercyhealth East are stronger today than they were on July 2 when they first walked out,” said UAW Local 95 President Judy McRoberts. “They’ve held the line for 100 days because they know what’s at stake — the quality of care their patients receive and the dignity of their own work. Mercy East UAW members take pride in caring for their community, and they understand that you can’t deliver quality patient care when management keeps turning good jobs into low-wage, high-stress positions. Mercyhealth needs to start valuing both its workers and its patients.”

UAW members at Mercyhealth East provide care in many roles from nurses to x-ray techs, receptionists to building maintenance. If Mercy runs, it’s because of these dedicated workers. Among the key issues keeping the picket line going is the employer’s proposal to increase health care costs, which are already a strain on the workforce. Low wages and a lack of safety are other issues that mobilized the walk-out in July.

“Mercyhealth is denying us any sense of security — even those of us working late into the evenings,” said Anna Farrington, one of the UAW members on strike at Mercyhealth. “We never know who might come in at any hour, and there are so few of us on staff. We want to give our patients the bestcare and comfort we can, but how are we supposed to do that when we don’t even feel safe ourselves? Mercyhealth didn’t seem to have any trouble finding security guards once we started our picket line — I guess it was possible after all.”

Between 2020 and 2023, Mercyhealth System brought in over $2 billion in total revenue — more than enough to ensure safe staffing and quality patient care. Yet instead of investing in patients or frontline caregivers, President and CEO Javon Bea pocketed $36.2 million during that period, including $11.5 million in 2023 alone. At a rally on Friday, community and political allies joined the Mercy East strikers to call out the hypocrisy and greed of one of the region’s largest employers.

RECAP: 2025 Contract Enforcement Boot Camp

Last week, 176 delegates came to this institute to sharpen their skills as grievance handlers. What they got was so much more…

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Unprocessed Unemployment Claims, Frozen Medicaid, and Public Safety Risks: UAW Members at the State of Michigan Outline Alarming Risks of Looming Shutdown

UAW Local 6000, representing 16,000 State of Michigan employees across 1,200 worksites, sounded the alarm with Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) in the Capitol as October 1 shutdown deadline looms.

LANSING — With October 1’s deadline for a Michigan government shutdown looming large in Lansing, the UAW sounded the alarm today about the critical State of Michigan (SOM) services that are in jeopardy. UAW Local 6000 represents 16,000 SOM employees across 1,200 worksites in Michigan, including the Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary of State, and state corrections offices, among other critical departments.

“UAW Local 6000 members are on the front lines of ensuring the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable populations, providing critical services to people who depend on basic necessities essential to their survival,” said UAW Local 6000 President Rachel Dickinson. “When UAW Local 6000 members aren’t on the job, Michigan feels it fast—unemployment claims don’t get processed, SNAP and Medicaid slow down or grind to a halt, public safety is put at risk. This isn’t just paperwork; it’s people’s lives and the stability of our state.”

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with UAW Local 6000 members in Lansing today, Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) further elaborated on the stakes of the House’s bad budget that is spiraling Michigan towards a shutdown.

“As the daughter of two proud UAW retirees, I am proud to stand with UAW Local 6000 today and every day,” said Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing). “When we support our state employees, we support the very fabric of Michigan’s success. Senate Democrats will keep standing with our state workers and working around the clock until we pass a balanced state budget that funds essential human services, protects our workers, and invests in the future of our state.”

This week, SOM employees are expecting to see two-week notice letters in their mailboxes warning of the imminent shutdown on October 1. The ominous deadline comes following the Republican-majority Michigan House’s passage of a ruthless slash and burn budget that would impact working-class communities the harshest.

“It’s time for House Republicans to quit messing around with people’s livelihoods and the core services on which Michiganders rely,” said Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids). “These folks do the oftentimes unglamorous work of keeping our state running, yet have been maligned as ‘waste, fraud, and abuse.’ We won’t stand for it. In this moment, they deserve honest leadership from the legislature and nothing less.”

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UAW Marks 90th Anniversary with New Video Highlighting Legacy of Struggle and Victory

Detroit, MI – This year, the United Auto Workers (UAW) celebrates its 90th anniversary. Founded in 1935, the UAW has been at the forefront of the labor movement, winning historic gains for working people and standing at the center of major struggles for civil rights, social justice, and economic fairness.

To mark the occasion, the union has released a new video highlighting the UAW’s nine decades of bold action—from the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936 to the Stand Up Strike of 2023 and beyond. The video lifts up the UAW’s proud tradition of fighting for fair wages, strong benefits, dignity on the job, and broader social and political change that has improved the lives of all working-class Americans.

“Our members have always understood that our fight is bigger than any one contract or workplace,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “For 90 years, the UAW has taken on billionaires and corporate power, and we’ve raised the standards for the entire working class. Our mission remains to fight the bosses, build worker power, and win a better world for working people.”

The full video is available here.

UAW 90th Anniversary Video Script

They said it couldn’t be done. But in 1935, autoworkers came together to form the United Auto Workers. Just a year later, they took bold action and changed American history when they launched the 1936 Flint sit-down strike. For 44 days, they refused to leave the GM plants until their voices were heard. Their actions set off a wave of strikes nationwide, igniting a new industrial labor movement.

From those first bold strikes to the Stand-Up Strike of 2023, the UAW has never stopped fighting. We won what no one thought possible: good wages, health care, pensions, a voice on the job, and dignity at work. We didn’t just raise the floor for autoworkers—we raised the bar for working-class Americans.

And we didn’t stop at the workplace. We marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit’s Walk to Freedom, helped organize the March on Washington, and stood with him in Memphis in 1968. We fought alongside Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa—pushing for sanctions against apartheid when others stayed silent. And we’ve stayed true to these same principles — whether in South Africa, Palestine, or beyond.

We stood with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers, joined the fight for women’s rights, and defended immigrant workers. We backed the G.I. Bill for returning veterans, helped pass the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and fought for the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

When trade deals like NAFTA threatened our jobs, we sounded the alarm, and we have remained vigilant in fighting to protect our communities and our jobs. When the auto industry was on the brink in 2009, we sacrificed to save it—and then fought to win back what was ours. 

Today, as billionaires try to take more and make us settle for less, the UAW is on the rise again: We’re organizing higher education, battery plants, and new sectors of the economy. Winning record contracts at Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Daimler Truck, Cornell University, and more. And proving—once again—that nothing moves without workers.

Ninety years in, our fight is far from over. But our spirit? Unbreakable. UAW. A fighting spirit. Since 1935.

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In New Video, BlueOval SK Workers Link Union Drive to Ford Workers’ 20th-Century Fight for Safety

GLENDALE, KY—Today, the UAW released a powerful new video featuring BlueOval SK workers calling for a union to win a real voice on the job, especially when it comes to their health and safety. The video ties the effort by workers at Ford Motor Company who pushed for safer factories nearly a century ago to the high stakes fight today as workers at its joint venture battery plant in Kentucky gear up for an NLRB election in a few weeks.

The new video, “BlueOval SK Union Drive Echoes Workers’ Historic Safety Fight at Ford” is available for use by the media here.

After months of an aggressive union-busting campaign driven by the company, production and maintenance workers at BlueOval SK, Ford’s joint venture battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky, will finally have their chance to vote in a union election on August 26 and 27. The vote will be conducted by the NLRB, with ballots counted starting at 8 p.m. on August 27.

In the video, BOSK workers connect their fight for basic protections today to the UAW’s historic fight at Ford to make auto plants safer in the 20th century. “It’s our time to sit across the table from management as equals,” narrates several BOSK workers in the new video. “We want a legally binding contract that guarantees our wages, health care, PTO policies, and health and safety.

“Workers in Michigan began a wave that changed America,” the video’s narration continues. “Battery workers in Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana have already taken this step and won. Now, it’s our turn.”

Currently, BlueOval SK is the only battery plant involving the Big Three that is non-union. GM’s Ultium plants in Ohio and Tennessee already operate under a UAW contract, and Stellantis’ StarPlus Energy plant in Indiana joined the union and ratified their local agreement earlier this year.

“A supermajority of BOSK workers filed for this election back in January because they were done with broken promises and unsafe working conditions. They were done being left out of decisions that impact their health and their futures,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “Just like Ford workers in the 30s and 40s, these workers are seeking safer working conditions, the affordable health care they were originally assured, and a voice on the job. They’re ready to get it.”

Kentucky taxpayers have poured millions of public dollars into this plant, and workers have expressed they should have a fair shot at choosing their union. Every elected official in Kentucky who claims to stand on the side of the working-class should look at BOSK right now to see what courage looks like.

Despite illegally firing and retaliating against union supporters and holding unlawful closed-door meetings to intimidate workers, the company has not stopped BOSK workers from moving forward. Workers remain determined to vote for a union and have a voice on the job.

Full transcript of the newly released UAW video featuring BlueOval SK workers ahead of their union election this month: 

[Narrated by several different workers from BlueOvalSK in Glendale]

In 1941, Ford auto workers changed history.

Facing workplace injuries, exhaustion, and deaths on the job, Ford workers took a stand that would echo generations. 

They came together and organized and—as United Auto Workers—won the right to negotiate for all of their working conditions. 

This history is not just a source of pride; it’s a lesson in solidarity to show what’s possible when working class people stand together. 

Today, Kentucky is the center of the battery belt. We’re building the future of the auto industry, and this transformative moment requires the same worker power that guarantees our safety and job security.

Whether in Dearborn, Michigan or Glendale, Kentucky, the technology may differ, but the risks remain the same. 

Wherever corporate greed puts our lives at risk, the fight for a safe workplace binds us together. 

 It’s our time to sit across the table for management as equals. 

We want a legally binding contract that guarantees our wages, health care, PTO policies, and health and safety. 

Workers in Michigan began a wave that changed America. 

Battery workers in Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana have already taken this step and won. 

Now it’s our turn. 

I’m ready to have a voice at BOSK. 

I’m ready to have a voice at BOSK—as United Auto Workers.

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BOSK Workers Call on NLRB to Step In: “We Deserve a Fair Shot at a Union Vote”

GLENDALE, KY – The UAW is calling on the National Labor Relations Board to investigate Ford and BlueOval SK (BOSK) for violating federal labor law before it sets the date for an election to ensure a fair and democratic vote — one free from illegal employer intimidation, retaliation, and coercion.

A supermajority of workers at BOSK — the electric vehicle battery joint venture between Ford and SK On — filed for a union election with the UAW in January, demanding safer working conditions, the affordable health care they were originally promised, and a voice on the job. But since then, BOSK and Ford have launched a scorched-earth anti-union campaign designed to scare workers and chill support.

Instead of respecting the legal process or workers’ right to choose, BOSK has illegally fired and retaliated against vocal union supporters, unlawfully forced workers into closed-door meetings, and threatened to shut down the plant. The company has bought up anti-union ads, distributed anti-union swag, and brought in high-priced consultants to expose workers to non-stop anti-union campaigning.

“Ford knows better. For over 80 years, Ford workers have had a union and a voice. But at BOSK, they’re doing everything they can to stop these workers from having the same thing,” said Laura Dickerson, UAW Vice President and Director of the Ford Department. “You can’t have a fair vote when the company is flooding the plant with fear and propaganda.”

Workers say the company’s actions have poisoned the atmosphere around the election — especially in a workplace already plagued by serious safety concerns. A recent Louisville Courier-Journal investigation revealed that BOSK workers have faced toxic chemical exposure, broken bones, and faulty safety equipment.

“BOSK wants to act like there are no safety issues here. But the chemicals we work with are dangerous.  We want the ability to speak up and make things safer in a contract. That’s what a union is about,” said Rob Collett, a Production Associate.

Other workers described being told to work without proper gear and warned not to talk about forming a union.

“These BOSK workers are brave as hell,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “They stood up and organized because they want what everyone deserves — a safe job and a voice at work. Battery jobs are growing fast here in Kentucky, but they should be good, safe union jobs — not jobs where workers get hurt and silenced. We need a fair shot to vote without the company trying to rig the outcome. Elected leaders can’t look the other way while this industry grows — they need to have workers’ backs. Who are we? U-A-W!”

Workers and the UAW are calling on the NLRB to hold the company accountable until the Board can begin investigating the company’s actions and restore the conditions for a free and fair vote.

“We are excited to vote yes! We have been waiting for this for a long time. However, we are asking the NLRB to ensure a fair playing field,” said Emily Drueke, Quality Department.

The campaign at BOSK is part of a growing wave of worker organizing in the EV battery industry, including major wins at Ultium Cells in Ohio and Tennessee. Workers across the South are standing up — and demanding what they’ve earned: a union and a voice on the job.

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Important Update for UAW Stellantis Members from Director Kevin Gotinsky

UAW Stellantis Members,

After the previous Stellantis leadership pursued a misguided race-to-the-bottom strategy—leading to plummeting sales and thousands of layoffs—the company is now working to regain its footing. The board has appointed Antonio Filosa, former head of North American operations, as the new CEO. UAW leadership will continue to meet with Filosa to push for honoring commitments to increase investment in American workers.

But we’re not just taking management at its word. We have a responsibility to enforce our contract and ensure our laid-off members are brought back to work. Contract enforcement is strongest when our members are actively involved. You are the first line of defense on the shop floor against any violations of the agreement. That’s why the UAW Stellantis Department regularly updates you on important contractual issues.

If you believe the company is violating the contract, contact your steward or committee person immediately.

Indefinite Layoffs are Decreasing

While we still have a way to go, we’re making real progress in getting our membership back to work. We hit a peak of 3,228 indefinitely laid-off members on February 1. On June 1, we saw that number decrease to 2,425 indefinitely laid-off members. We expect that number to decrease further in the coming months. The company has agreed to backfill an additional 423 vacant positions in June, due to workers taking separation packages (VTEPs and IPRs). That will bring us close to 2,000 indefinitely laid-off workers across Stellantis, a reduction of around 1,200 workers on indefinite layoff. While this progress is meaningful, we know that even a single member on indefinite layoff is one too many. We remain fully committed to using every tool at our disposal to end these layoffs and ensure all our members return to work.

Be Vigilant: Summer Replacements

There has been confusion about the company’s ability to hire summer replacements, while our members are laid-off. The company has posted some ads and held hiring events in certain locations for new, off-the-street hires. Some members are asking whether this is a violation of our contract. Our contract requires the company to recall all laid-off full-time employees on a plant’s recall list and in a plant’s labor market, before hiring new full-time employees (M-16). However, the company is currently able to bring on new temporary part-time employees, if there is no business need for a full-time position. We need to make sure that the company follows our agreement. If you know of any new full-time hires, please notify a union representative immediately, as we will want to take swift action.

Welcome New UAW Members at Stellantis StarPlus Battery Plant

Welcome to our new UAW sisters and brothers at StarPlus, the Stellantis Battery Joint Venture with Samsung, in Kokomo. Our 2023 agreement brought these battery workers under our Stellantis master agreement for the first time ever and they just successfully completed the card check process to join UAW Local 1166. Let’s give these 400 plus workers a warm welcome to the UAW. We are all stronger when every Stellantis worker negotiates under one master agreement, so it’s important for all of us that StarPlus is now part of the UAW.

Update on Dundee Temporary Layoff

Due to the length of the temporary layoff at Dundee Engine, healthcare coverage expired for 238 workers who were temporarily laid-off at Dundee. The Stellantis Department successfully negotiated the reinstatement of these benefits for the affected members, beyond what was contractually required during a temporary layoff. We are in regular communication with Stellantis about Dundee and are pressing the company to finish their retooling, while ensuring that the health and safety of our members is the top priority.

Belvidere Reopening Progress

As part of the process of bringing Belvidere Assembly back online, we have learned that the company has selected a lead launch coordinator. They have also started to select launch coordinators for various departments. The company is having teams walk through the plant to determine what work will need to be done by Skilled Trades prior to opening. This is positive news that shows that plans to reopen the plant are moving ahead. We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that we are on track and the contract is followed.

Our strength as a union comes from our membership. We appreciate you staying informed about these important issues and helping us enforce our contract.

In solidarity,

Kevin Gotinsky

Director, UAW Stellantis Department

Download the full letter:

VIEW PDF
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StarPlus Workers in Indiana Win Union as Majority Sign Cards to Join the UAW

KOKOMO, Ind. — A majority of workers at StarPlus Energy in Kokomo, Indiana, have signed cards to join the UAW, and the company has agreed to recognize their union. StarPlus, a joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI, stayed neutral during the process and did not stand in the way of the 420 workers who chose to organize. With no threats or pressure, workers came together and won their union as soon as a majority signed cards.

“This is a big deal for StarPlus workers in Indiana,” said Frank Bush, a worker at StarPlus. “We were able to decide our future without intimidation, and now we’re on a path to the good pay and benefits, and respect on the job that other autoworkers in battery are winning.”

StarPlus workers are joining a growing wave of union wins across the Midwest and South. Their success follows major victories at other battery plants, including Lordstown, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee, where workers unionized with the UAW and won strong agreements.

“The UAW members at StarPlus stood up to make sure battery jobs are good union jobs,” said Dave Green, Director of UAW Region 2B. “Workers in Indiana and across the region, know they deserve fair wages, workplace protections, and the dignity that UAW members have been fighting for the last 90 years. As a union family, they need to know that we’re going to have their back every step of the way.”

The Kokomo plant started production earlier this year and is part of a larger expansion of electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the U.S. The victory in Kokomo adds to the momentum sparked by the breakthrough contracts won by UAW members at the Lordstown and Spring Hill plants, which included major wage increases and strong health and safety protections.

“Joining the union is going to help us build a better life,” said Anna Deweese, another StarPlus worker. “We’re not asking for the moon—we just want decent pay, affordable healthcare, and to have protections in an uncertain economy.”

Sara Kidwell, also at StarPlus, added, “When you’re on your own, it’s hard to speak up. But when we stand together, they’ve got to listen. That’s what being in a union is all about.”

The protections won through the Big Three agreement provide a powerful framework for workers at new EV plants like StarPlus. With strong union support, workers are now in a better position to secure fair wages, safe workplaces, and long-term stability in this fast-growing industry.

While workers in Kokomo move forward, others are still waiting for a fair shot. At BlueOval SK in Kentucky, workers have filed for a union election but remain in limbo as the company and Ford drag out the process and deploy intimidation and surveillance tactics. The BlueOval SK facility was recently the subject of a Louisville Courier-Journal exposé, which detailed hazardous working conditions, including chemical exposure, mold, bat infestations, and workplace injuries. Workers there have pointed to the promise of union protections as a key reason for coming together. They continue to fight for a voice on the job, for safety, and for dignity—just like the workers at StarPlus.

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Statement from UAW VP Chuck Browning on Hazardous Conditions at BlueOval SK

In response to this week’s Louisville Courier-Journal story “Chemicals, mold, bats, broken bones: Workers concerned over safety at BlueOval SK plant,” Chuck Browning, UAW Vice President and Director of the Ford Department, issued the following statement:

“The recent reporting on the dangerous conditions at BOSK is infuriating. Workers are being put at risk every single day. Every person in this country should be able to go to work and know they’ll make it home safe—not get sick or injured because of corporate greed or negligence.

Ford should know better. For over 80 years, Ford workers have had a union and a voice. But now, Ford is running an extreme anti-union campaign at BOSK to keep these workers down. It’s shameful.

These workers are demanding what they’ve earned: a real say in their working conditions, especially when it comes to health and safety. Ford, cut the crap. Let them vote.”

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One Year Later: VW Workers Celebrate Historic Breakthrough and Look Ahead to Locked-In Gains in First Union Contract

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — One year after making history as the first Southern autoworkers outside the Big Three to unionize, Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga are preparing to secure a landmark first contract—one that guarantees, in writing, the better wages, benefits, and workplace protections they fought to win.

No longer at the mercy of Volkswagen’s shifting promises, workers are demanding a legally binding agreement that puts their priorities—fair pay, affordable health care, paid time off, safer working conditions, and protections against favoritism—into writing. Since their union victory in April 2024, they have elected a 20-person bargaining committee, which has been negotiating contract language that reflects the demands of the 4,000-member workforce.

For workers like Steve Cochran, a worker in the skills trades, the union is about securing a better future. The co-chair of the Bargaining Committee says a strong contract ensures that promises are delivered—and that respect and security are no longer up for negotiation.

Members are fighting for a contract that meets the standard already established across the U.S. unionized auto industry—and that matches Volkswagen’s record-breaking profits.

Just days after Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker, reported $20.6 billion in profits for 2024, a new UAW survey of nearly 1,800 Chattanooga workers reveals the crushing financial impact of the company’s substandard U.S. health care. The results show a workforce plagued by high out-of-pocket costs and inadequate coverage—nearly 73% of respondents said they’ve either had to choose between medical care and essentials like rent or food, or gone into debt to afford care. That number climbs even higher among parents and caregivers with children on VW’s insurance plan, exposing the human cost of the company’s failure to meet industry standards.

Over the past four years, Volkswagen has funneled $29.9 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. In response, Chattanooga workers are demanding their fair share—through real improvements in wages, benefits, safety, job security, and rights on the job. But this fight goes beyond economics. They are pushing for stronger safety standards, fair scheduling, paid leave, protection from unfair discipline, and a true voice in the decisions that shape their daily lives. After more than a decade of operating without a union, workers say it’s time to end the era of exploitation that has defined the Chattanooga plant since it opened in 2011.

But as bargaining has progressed, Volkswagen has escalated its anti-union tactics and shown flagrant disregard for U.S. labor law. In March, the UAW filed federal labor charges against the company for unilaterally cutting jobs and making major changes without negotiating with the union, in violation of federal law. This attack on American jobs and workers’ rights underscores the company’s disrespect and preference for low-wage production abroad.

Today, Volkswagen manufactures 75% of its North American vehicles in Mexico, where workers earn roughly $7 an hour. This business model relies on exploitation, suppresses wages across borders, and undermines American manufacturing.

Just weeks after the illegal shift reduction announcement, VW management locked workers out of their own bargaining session, calling security and shutting the doors on union members who came to observe and share their experiences. In response, workers took to the streets, holding a rally to demand respect and a fair contract.

UAW President Shawn Fain praised the Chattanooga workers for igniting a movement to raise standards for the working class across the South.

“VW workers made history a year ago—and now they’re making it count,” said Fain. “They stood up, took on the boss, and won their union. They’re fighting for a contract that reflects the power they have built and locks in real raises, real rights, and real respect. This is what happens when working-class people stand up together.”

The Chattanooga workers’ fight is not just about one plant—it’s part of a growing working-class movement to take back power, hold global corporations accountable, and build a future where all autoworkers, no matter where they are, have a collective voice to shape their working conditions and demand a share in the prosperity they create.

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