Tag Archive for: Mike Miller

Click here to read the summary of the injunction that the court ordered Lucid to read to employees in the Casa Grande factory.

 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona issued a temporary injunction Friday against the automaker Lucid and ordered it to reinstate two employees fired during an ongoing union drive.

The rare 10(j) injunction stems from unfair labor practice (ULP) charges that the UAW filed with the National Labor Relations Board over the firing of Lucid workers Amie Begay and Chad Brewer in early 2023. Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act allows the Board to request temporary injunctions from federal district courts to stop serious ULPs while a case moves through the Board’s process. The Board found merit to the UAW’s charges that the company had fired Begay and Brewer for their union activity and sought the injunction from the court.

One human resources official at Lucid wrote in an email that she would do “anything” to end the workers’ union drive.

“Lucid management said they would do anything to stop us from winning our union. Yesterday’s decision shows we’re not going to be stopped,” said Lucid worker Chad Brewer. “The court has called out Lucid for their outrageous conduct and protected our right to form our union. The company tried to silence us, but they have made our voice even stronger.”

“Workers at Lucid, and autoworkers everywhere, won justice yesterday,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “This decision tells rogue employers like Lucid that they won’t get away with attacking workers. The union-busting bullies of corporate America need to understand it’s a new day. Autoworkers are not going to be intimidated anymore. They are fed up and they are fired up. They are standing up to win their union and the UAW has their back.”

“This decision reaffirms that workers at electric-vehicle makers like Lucid have the right to form unions and win justice on the job,” said UAW Region 6 Director Mike Miller. “Our nation is investing billions in the EV industry. Our investment in the climate economy shouldn’t shortchange climate workers. We need to make sure that the green economy is a just economy.”

The court’s decision to issue the 10(j) injunction indicates the severity of the ULP charges against Lucid and their chilling impact on the workers’ organizing efforts. The NLRB petitioned for just seven 10(j) injunctions nationwide in 2023.

The ULP against Lucid includes charges that Lucid: fired Brewer and Begay for their union support; surveilled them; confiscated union literature; solicited grievances from potential union supporters; and offered a supervisory position to Begay to encourage her to abandon her efforts. (Begay’s last name was Hansen in early 2023, but she married in Oct. 2023 and changed it.)

The court agreed with the Board that the injunction against Lucid was necessary “to prevent irreparable harm to employees’ rights and the Board’s remedial powers.” While the Board further adjudicates the ULP against Lucid, the court has ordered the company to offer interim reinstatement to Begay and Brewer, enjoined the company from making any further violations, and to publicly post and read the court’s order to employees.

As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s continued commitment to its Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded UAW Region 6 and the UAW Center for Manufacturing a Green Economy (UAW-CMGE) $2 million to further develop the High Road Battery Training Program in partnership with the Sparkz corporation.

The UAW-CMGE is one of 21 new projects recently selected by the DOE to receive a total of $24 million in funding to expand clean energy and support sustainable manufacturing in the U.S.

The UAW-CMGE was created in 2023 to lead the union’s recruitment and training for careers in climate manufacturing, empowering a well-trained, mission-driven green workforce to meet the growing needs of manufacturing operations created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

“The UAW-CMGE is developing a groundbreaking training model for rapidly growing climate industries, starting with the critically important domestic battery industry,” Priyanka Mohanty, Executive Director of the UAW-CMGE, said about the $2 million investment. “Our model, which focuses on equitable recruitment, technical battery knowledge, and the build-out of innovative new green apprenticeship programs, represents the high-road pathway central to the climate transition. This model will empower and protect workers on the shop floor, ensure that their voices are amplified, and build a just transition towards new, diverse, climate industries. The DOE’s 2 million dollar investment in the UAW and our center highlights the importance of high-road training programs to decarbonization, and we look forward to showing that an investment in workers is an investment in the American climate economy.”

“The UAW has shown the central role of an empowered manufacturing workforce in American decarbonization,” said Mike Miller, Chairperson, UAW-CMGE and UAW Region 6 Director. “The 2023 UAW’s contract negotiations with the Big 3 automakers were a seismic event in the struggle for a just transition. The strike brought thousands of EV and battery jobs under union national agreements with strong job quality protections and billion-dollar investments in the retooling of previously closed facilities. It showed the country that manufacturing electric vehicles and batteries – critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building new climate industries – can and must be built with good union jobs. The UAW wants to bring the expertise in training, workforce development, and good job creation to new green and advanced manufacturing production because it understands the critical importance of a just transition to broader decarbonization efforts.”

In 2023 the UAW and Sparkz announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding establishing a national labor-management agreement and statement of neutrality at the manufacturer’s the manufacturer’s facilities.

Sparkz, founded in 2019, develops and produces zero-cobalt, American-made Lithium-ion batteries. Eliminating cobalt from the battery-making process reduces the cost of producing lithium batteries and also addresses environmental concerns.

Over the last 2 days, the UCLA Administration has condoned the brutal attack of students and workers as they peacefully protested for justice for Palestine. Rather than negotiating with protestors and de-escalating, UCLA Administration’s actions have caused dozens to seek medical attention and hospitalizations, a militarized police presence on campus and the arrest of more than 130 students & workers, including UAW 4811 members. As a former Teaching Assistant, Reader, and Tutor at UCLA, I am outraged by the Administration’s actions – using newly applied standards and force to discriminate against students & workers for their political viewpoints. 

UAW 4811 members have taken swift action to respond, working alongside thousands of other students and workers at UCLA to mobilize for free speech and safety on campus, and to demand justice for Palestine. Today, UAW 4811 members are preparing to file Unfair Labor Practice charges over UC’s actions, and are moving towards a strike authorization vote. This comes less than a week after UAW 872 members at University of Southern California also filed an Unfair Labor Practice over similar failures by the USC Administration.  

As Local 4811 members move towards a strike authorization vote, know that you have the full support of your Region 6 siblings across the West Coast, and your UAW siblings across the continent, as you stand up for your rights and give voice to those impacted by the war in Gaza.  

Our union has taken a clear stance calling for a permanent ceasefire and justice for Palestine. I am proud to work alongside my fellow IEB members and UAW members across the country to continue escalating the call for a ceasefire, and an end to the death, destruction, and human suffering in Palestine.   

UAW members across the country are prepared to do what it takes to win justice for working people across the world, and to secure a permanent ceasefire in Palestine. I am immensely proud of the actions members across Region 6 have been taking for months to fight for peace and justice in Gaza, and to demand action from their employers and elected officials alike. As Brother Shawn Fain said so well yesterday: if you can’t take the outcry, stop supporting this war.  

Over 80% of Graduate Student Workers at the University of Southern California (USC) have voted to ratify a first-ever contract.

The Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee, GSWOC-UAW, announced the results on their website and the social media platform X on December 7, after three days of voting had concluded.

The agreement includes significant wage increases, lump sum bonuses for every graduate worker and arbitrable protections from harassment and discrimination. The deal also ends the university’s ability to implement wage freezes.

“I am incredibly proud of this contract and all the work that went into it,” said Maile McCann, a PhD Candidate in the Civil Engineering department and bargaining team member. “Together, thousands of GSWs built a credible strike threat that forced USC admin to reach a deal that sets a new standard for compensation and workplace protections, both at USC and across the country.”

“I would say that we are all really excited about this contract because in the private sector we have an industry leading contract that sets us up for bargaining in years to come,” Jackie Johnson, a fifth-year doctoral candidate studying cinema and media studies, told the Daily Trojan. “I think that sends a real message about the strength of the graduate student workers at USC, as we see a wave of unionization across higher education.”

“Graduate Student Workers at USC power the research and instruction that makes the university run, but for far too long, they have not had sufficient input into their working conditions,” said Region 6 Director Mike Miller. “Through the power of their collective action and strike threat, Graduate Student Workers moved the USC Administration to meet their demands for a strong first contract that will make the university more inclusive and equitable. This campaign is part of a growing surge of militant organizing in higher ed and will be an inspiration to many more to follow.”

The bargaining team and the university first reached a tentative agreement on November 26, just one day before workers were set to strike and after nearly eight months of negotiations.

GSWOC-UAW represents 3,400 workers at USC. Workers voted by 93% to form their union in February of this year.