For press inquiries, please reach out to Communications Director Erin Bzymek at ebzymek@uwua.net or 202-702-9655.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued a complaint against the illegal bargaining tactics of Highland County Water management during negotiations with UWUA Local 477-W for a new contract. The NLRB complaint upholds charges filed by the UWUA that the company has illegally frustrated negotiations by refusing to provide bargaining information. A hearing has…
During the 2016 campaign, Donald Trump promised that if he was elected he would be a champion for workers. This promise led many union members to support President Trump, including many UWUA members. After nearly four years in office we now have a record to judge whether President Trump has kept his promise. From the…
On a recent trip to Oregon in support of Local 609 members fighting for a fair contract there, I experienced first-hand the wildfires laying waste to the West Coast. Our members in California and Oregon have described what it’s like to survive and combat the fires, some with families even needing to be evacuated. I…
Emergency Response! As every UWUA member knows, prior planning prevents poor performance. While no one could have known that a pandemic was on the way, less than a year ago, the UWUA had the foresight to establish the National Safety Committee with representatives from every industry in each of our five regions. The Safety Committee…
American Water workers from Bel Air, Maryland ratified a new five-year contract with Maryland American Water on March 2, that includes an average 2.75% annual wage increase, an additional paid holiday, the elimination of a step to get to the top of the wage scale and a host of other working condition improvements. The tentative…
Jerry Acosta, Senior National Representative for Region V, has retired after more than 40 years in the utility industry, most of them spent serving the 5,000 UWUA members of California Locals 132, 522 and 483 at SoCal Gas. Jerry joined Local 132 in 1977 as a young Chicano activist in Los Angeles. He began his…
Deb York, who has played an important role in the workings of the National Union for more than 10 years, retired on May 31. She started working part-time for the UWUA when former President Mike Langford took office in 2007. She began full-time with UWUA in 2010, working as an administrative assistant to Langford and…
Meet Juanita Ray, the newest member of the UWUA’s National Executive Board. Recently elected President of Michigan Local 223, Juanita replaces retired president Mike Smith. The first African-American female president to lead the 4,000 members at Detroit Edison (DTE), Juanita says, “I worked very hard to achieve my position in UWUA Local 223 by focusing…
What is your new job? I am the Director of Renewable Energy. The roots of this position started with our work with the BlueGreen Alliance (BGA) in 2009 when Congress was considering carbon pricing legislation. At that time, President Langford appointed me to be the UWUA’s representative on the BGA’s Steering Committee. The premise of…
UWUA Members Impacted by Coronavirus As the entire world continues to grapple with the ongoing public health and economic crises created by the COVID-19 virus, the UWUA’s members have risen to the challenge. As essential workers operating and maintaining the most critical life-supporting infrastructure in society, the UWUA membership has gone above and beyond to…