For press inquiries, please reach out to Communications Director Erin Bzymek at ebzymek@uwua.net or 202-702-9655.
Local 108 and Anderson, IN Patience paid off for 58 members of Local 108 who run Anderson’s water and wastewater systems. UWUA was the last of the city’s municipal unions to reach agreement on a contract renewal; the prior agreement expired December 31, 2021. Ryan Green, who stepped down as local president this fall, said,…
Shelley Kolonics grew up thinking her father was working for a good company with a strong union. Little did she know she would one day join him. Andy Kolonics, president of Local 511 at California American Water, never thought that would happen either. He has been with the company for 40 years in many different…
UWUA was well-represented at the 2023 Inter-Union Gas Conference (IUGC) held October 23-26 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Our union sent 64 delegates from 20 locals to this forum for gas workers to share ideas and information and participate in workshops on safety; service; clerical; distribution; and transmission, storage and field operations. This year’s theme, Natural…
As we gathered to reflect on 2023, we found ourselves discussing several remarkable instances of workers standing up for themselves, whether to organize or secure better pay and conditions through collective bargaining. We witnessed a profound resurgence in the United States labor movement. Workers are not just standing up but standing tall, with unions taking…
UWUA National Vice President Craig Pinkham recently traveled with a diverse labor delegation to see two European projects focused on hydrogen as an energy source: an electrolyzer in Spain and a U.K. experiment in residential use of hydrogen. The tour was an opportunity to see how hydrogen might evolve in the United States under the…
After a year-long competition, the Biden Administration announced seven regional hydrogen hubs that will receive $7 billion in federal investment. These projects will spearhead development of clean hydrogen as an energy source and contribute to the national goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs Program, known as H2Hubs,…
Hoisting and rigging represent some of the most perilous tasks performed by UWUA members, whether they are involved in gas, electric, or water-related work. While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t mandate riggers to be certified, they do need to be qualified. Local 423, which represents 250 workers at New Jersey American Water,…
Power generation workers at Seminole Electric’s Palatka, Florida, coal-fired plant reached a new agreement in October that contains record wage increases. The contract for the 80 members of Local 551 had expired at the end of June, but the committee kept negotiating until members got what they wanted in pay and healthcare. A new three-year…
Sandy Null, Local 132 “I’d like to see more opportunities for locals to network with each other. Our locals should get to know each other better, especially among the various sectors. We have so many common challenges, especially those of us who work in natural gas, and could benefit from getting together and sharing strategies.…
Municipal workers who tend to the town of East Longmeadow’s roads, water, sewerage and buildings recently ratified their first contract as UWUA members. They had negotiated their prior collective bargaining agreement as members of an independent union before voting in late 2020 to affiliate with the UWUA. There are 28 members working for the town…