Big challenges have tested members of the Utility Workers Union of America as long as we’ve been around. In recent memory, deregulation and the financialization of the utility sector in the 1980s, a global energy transition in the 2000s and, most recently, explosive growth in energy demand due to data centers have tested us, demanding that we fight for our jobs and our industries.
Threats to our livelihoods and our industries demand action from us. But it’s exhausting to perform the regular duties of our jobs while being a union member and also defending our work. Those who have navigated these fights before know it takes effort: time and energy to engage members, reach out to allied organizations, engage with lawmakers, provide testimony about our members’ experiences alongside all of the other demands on our time.
During the tumultuous times and the good times, your union is here for you. The singular objective of our organization remains the same regardless of how the landscape changes around us. We’re here for solidarity, we’re here to protect our members’ jobs and to keep our members safe.
We’re here to protect the gains we’ve made over generations, and today that means we must go on defense to protect what we’ve fought for and won. The historical moment we find ourselves in today is one where the White House is fighting on behalf of billionaires and CEOs, not working people, a fact that demands that we engage.
Since January, we’ve seen contractually obligated government commitments to our industries put at risk, including investments in grid hardening, for example, creating widespread business uncertainty in our sector. Federal investments in new and emerging industries that hold tremendous promise for our members have been rescinded. Initiatives advancing worker health and safety have been halted.
At the end of the day, we still need to invest in America’s utility infrastructure and in sources of energy that will power homes, businesses and schools for generations to come. If we take public funding away, that obligation will unfortunately fall directly on ratepayers.
Recently several members of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) were fired, in an effort to undermine the organization and the work its members do for union members. While NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo’s firing was anticipated, Board Member Gwynne Wilcox’s firing was unprecedented in 90 years.
Without Wilcox’s presence on the NLRB, the board is unable to perform its duties due to the absence of a quorum. It is disheartening and disappointing to watch these kinds of attacks on working families that will have a ripple effect for months and years to come.
We take these threats very seriously and we will go back and do the thing we have always done: fight back.
UWUA locals in the gas industry across several states are currently fighting efforts to scale back and eliminate natural gas infrastructure. In this edition of The Utility Worker magazine, we examine some of the ways UWUA locals are tackling this effort to eliminate these good, union jobs.
This important piece spotlights the various forms these attacks on natural gas infrastructure are taking, how various parties are influencing the changing energy landscape and what kinds of new opportunities are emerging and how UWUA members can engage and benefit. It’s an important piece I hope you’ll take the time to read and share.
Wherever our employers are limiting worker power, stiffing us at the bargaining table, or taking shortcuts that undermine worker safety, we’ll be there to stand up and fight. Wherever politicians seek to undermine our industries, take away the protections we’ve secured or weaken agencies at any level of government that advocate for us, we’ll bring the full might and power of the labor movement to speak out. Regardless of how the world changes around our members and our industries, we stand ready to fight for you and your families. This is our solemn commitment to you.
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2025 Scholarships
Applications for the 2025 UWUA scholarship are due by April 24, 2025. For more information or to apply, go to: uwua.net/programs/uwua-scholarship-program/.