Senior researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai overwhelmingly voted yes to forming a union with the UAW. Congrats, and welcome CalArts United and ROCS-UAW!
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— Researchers Organizing Committee at Sinai (@rocsuaw) April 11, 2025
Detroit, MI — Thousands of people across the country came together yesterday for Kill the Cuts, a national Day of Action to raise awareness and fight back against the Trump administration’s devastating attacks on research, health, and higher education. The events (see the full list here) were sponsored by a coalition of education, labor and health advocates, including UAW, SEIU, AFSCME, UE, NEA, AFT, CWA, AAUP, HELU, Labor for Higher Education, the Debt Collective, and more.
Researchers and educators who have had their funding cut spoke about the effects this assault on publicly-funded research is having at their institutions and across the country. Below is a collection of remarks and associated photography:
“NIH is the bedrock of American health,” said Haley Chatelaine, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health and member of UAW 2750, which represents 5,000 workers there. “I’ve spoken with patients whose lives depended on the groundbreaking research we do. Any delay–whether it’s due to pauses in grant funding or firings of federal workers–puts Americans’ health at risk. That’s why we, the workers who do the research, are standing up to protect it.” (Photos here, credit UAW)
“By cutting funds to lifesaving research and medical care, the Trump administration is abandoning families who are suffering and costing taxpayers billions of dollars,” said Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 4811, which represents 48,000 workers at the University of California. “These cuts are dangerous to our health, and dangerous to our economy.” (Photos here, credit UAW)
“Federal research funding is critical to my research into how neurons in our brains communicate, making it possible to develop better therapeutics for severe health conditions that range from cancer to depression to learning disorders,” said Dagan Marx, a Postdoc at Weill Cornell Medicine and member of the Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs United-UAW Bargaining Committee. “Recklessly slashing funding that institutions like Weill Cornell depend on for medical breakthroughs and supporting researchers has devastating impacts on our research and our working conditions.” (Photos here, credit New York City Central Labor Council)
“I’m proud to be researching ways to better detect ovarian cancer after losing my mom to the disease two years ago. There are still no routine screening tests for ovarian cancer, which would save lives. Without funding from the NIH, breakthroughs won’t happen and that’s a tremendous loss for research and the general public,” said Mari Hoffman, an Academic Student Employee in Molecular & Cellular Biology at the University of Washington and member of UAW 4121. (Photos here, credit UAW)
President Trump has recently issued Executive Orders attacking the NIH, NSF, while dismantling the Department of Education. These attacks jeopardize medical and scientific progress and threaten the jobs of researchers across the country studying critical topics including climate change, renewable energy, cancer, viral pandemics, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. Not only do these attacks impede lifesaving care for millions of Americans, but delays in treatment are projected to cost the public billions of dollars.
More information about the National Day of Action and a list of rally locations can be found at www.killthecuts.org.
In response to a lawsuit filed by the CA Attorney General and supported by @uaw_4811, a judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump admin’s extreme cuts to public research funding, putting a temporary halt on the policy.
Last month, over 500 members from across Region 6 came together for the Political Action & Leadership Conference, to coordinate strategic plans for building power across industries, advancing a working class agenda, and fighting back against threats from the Trump administration.
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Workers organizing at the electric vehicle maker Lucid have won a settlement with a quarter-million dollars in back pay, the right to return to work, and a sweeping cease and desist order that stops the company from committing a long list of unfair labor practices.
The settlement, approved on Dec. 31 by the National Labor Relations Board, is a Formal Board Settlement. Formal settlements are typically reserved for companies committing serious labor law violations. The Lucid settlement stems from unfair labor practice charges filed by the UAW for the 2023 firing of three workers organizing with the union. Those firings and other anti-union efforts by Lucid were found to be so extreme that the NLRB sought and obtained a rare 10(j) injunction against the company this September.
“This settlement shows a better way forward for Lucid and companies like it,” said Lucid worker Amie Hansen, who received $120,000 in back pay in the settlement and the right to return permanently to her job. “Instead of trying to block our right to organize, Lucid should have been working with us all along as we’ve struggled to get this company off the ground. Respect for the voice of workers is critical to the long-term success of this company.”
The settlement ensures that Lucid workers will have the right to make their voices heard. In the settlement, Lucid accepts the Board’s order that it must cease and desist committing a list of nine unfair labor practices including:
Lucid also must take positive steps to make whole three fired workers with back pay, damages and interest payments totaling $258,000. In addition, within 14 days of the Dec. 31 order, the company must distribute a video about the settlement to workers at Lucid’s two facilities in Casa Grande, Ariz. The video will be recorded in a company cafe area by a Board agent who will inform workers of the settlement and their rights to organize under U.S. law. The company will also post physical notices of the settlement and workers’ rights at its Casa Grande locations.
“Every autoworker in America can take heart from this settlement,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Lucid is backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, the deepest pockets in the world. But Lucid workers stood up and won justice. They showed that no matter how big the challenge workers can win when they stand together and fight for a better life.”
“This is a significant victory for worker and climate justice,” said UAW Region 6 Director Mike Miller. “We’re building the green economy to create a more sustainable future. But we will only have a truly sustainable future if we build our economy around protecting both the planet and workers’ right to organize for justice on the job without employer interference.”
The UAW has aggressively supported the Lucid workers’ fight to form their union. When Lucid fired the workers for organizing in February 2023, the UAW filed multiple unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB. Acting on the union’s charges, the Board sought and won the 10(j) injunction, which ordered the company to offer interim reinstatement to the workers even before the settlement was approved on Dec. 31.
ONTARIO, Calif. — On Thursday night, a supermajority of UAW members at Stellantis’ Los Angeles Parts Distribution Center voted to request strike authorization from the International Executive Board if the company and union can’t settle the grievance over the company’s refusal to meet contractually required investments in America.
They are the first UAW members at Stellantis to hold such a vote since UAW locals began filing grievances against the company in August. The locals have charged Stellantis with violating product and investment commitments in the current contract. As the grievances proceed, more UAW locals at Stellantis could be holding strike authorization votes soon.
“Stellantis made a contractual promise to invest in America and we are not going to let them weasel out of it,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Our members won those investments during the Stand Up strike, and we will strike again to make Stellantis keep the promise if we have to.”
In the UAW’s 2023 contract, the union won $19 billion in investment commitments, securing a future for tens-of-thousands of good union jobs in the United States. The UAW also made history by winning the right to strike if the company fails to fulfill those commitments. A year into the collective bargaining agreement, the company has put forward investment plans equal to only about 2% of the $19 billion in commitments and is now publicly backtracking on its commitments to reopen the idled assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and to build the Dodge Durango in Detroit.
“If Stellantis can give CEO Carlos Tavares a 56% raise and spend billions lavishing rich shareholders with stock buybacks and dividends, then they sure as hell have the money for productive investments in our plants,” said Fain.
Stellantis is mounting a desperate effort to intervene in the union’s constitutional strike authorization process. This week, the company has been making robocalls to tens of thousands of UAW members across the country telling them to vote no on strike authorization. Yesterday’s overwhelming yes vote at the Los Angeles parts center shows members are ready to fight and that Stellantis’ campaign is backfiring. The company has additionally filed frivolous suits in federal court to try and stop UAW members from utilizing their contractual right to strike over the company’s broken promises.
“Carlos Tavares is being sued by suppliers and shareholders, the national dealers network is up in arms against him, and he is now facing down a strike from the mighty UAW. If an autoworker in the plant did as piss-poor of a job as Tavares, they would be fired. It’s time for Stellantis to shitcan Carlos!” said Fain.
For more information on the fight to make Stellantis Keep The Promise, visit UAW.org/KeepThePromise.
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.
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