As we close out the year that has changed us all, it is evident we have lost a lot in 2020. Our world perspectives were changed to varying degrees. Many of us experienced a feeling of sadness, uncertainty, loss, and adapted to the ever changing world that was unpredictable, and chaotic. We forged ahead to…
Fifteen years ago, a partnership between UWUA Local 369, Bunker Hill Community College and Eversource Energy in Boston helped to build a talent pipeline for the company’s rapidly retiring workforce. Just two years ago, the Electric Power Utility Technology (EPUT) Program hit the refresh button expanding recruiting to minorities and women and bolstering academic coaching…
Chicago Local 18007’s Mike Konrath will be retiring from Peoples Gas after 31-years of service. He started February 20, 1990 and will be retiring February 22, 2021. His contributions to the local over his long career have been monumental. “Mike played an instrumental role in setting up and making whole our PEACE Team,” says Local…
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of workplace safety. Everyone now has a much better understanding of how challenging it can be to stay safe, and keep others safe, so people can go home at the end of the day in the same condition they left to go to work. No one knows the…
It is well known that labor unions have a long history of fighting to improve the lives of workers through better pay, benefits and establishing a safe work environment. The gains workers made through organizing and collective bargaining began well before employers were required by law to recognize and bargain with unions. The earliest recorded…
In addition to the normal challenges facing the membership of the UWUA, including a significant hurricane season and devastating wildfires, 2020 also included a historic pandemic. In response to the pandemic, many states established shelter-in-place orders for all but essential workers. One could argue that there are no more essential workers than utility workers. The…
What a challenging year 2020 has been for all of us. COVID-19 has tested our resolve, our creativity, and our adaptability. We had to rethink contract negotiation procedures; adapt to new technology and virtual meetings, and most importantly ensure the safety of our members. Our organization and, more importantly, our members have been tested and…
It was early March when I got admitted into the hospital. My lungs and nostrils felt like sandpaper, like sawdust piling up. COVID does a lot of things. I also had bilateral pneumonia. After I got out, I got a call from the Con Ed Pandemic Team. They had scheduled me to go back to…
Eric Florka is a husband, a father, a 22-year Local 105 member and a gas line worker based in Royal Oak, MI who is lucky to be alive today. He spent 44 days in the hospital with COVID-19. His condition became so bad that his family didn’t anticipate he would ever come home from the…
“This particular day we had a lot going on and the morning was going good,” recalls Local 132 Lead Construction Technician Mark Cervantes. “We were changing out about 1,100 feet of gas main with multiple tie-ins at two intersections. We probably had 12 people, a boring crew on one side, a grinding area, and about…
The coronavirus, unprecedented wildfires, record-breaking hurricanes, and the protests for racial equality and justice, all converged to make 2020 a year of transformative change. Through it all, UWUA members proved their resilience by confronting head-on each of these challenges to ensure life sustaining water, gas, and electricity is delivered safely and as equitably as possible,…
As we move into the holiday season and look back on one of the most eventful years in modern memory, there is much upon which to reflect — and many changes coming down the road ahead. With President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris moving full steam ahead with the work of transitioning control…
Cleveland Water Workers Ink 3-Yr. Deal The 58 members of Ohio Local 270 working at Cleveland Water recently ratified a new three-year contract with the city that includes annual raises, increases in clothing and tool allowances, improvements in pay for North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certifications, increased life insurance, and more. Significantly, the contract, which…
This year has been one of the toughest years for us as individuals, as an organization, and as a country. The very fabric of our lives has been torn apart. Through it all, as Utility Workers, we continue to strive to be the best that we can be. We are moving forward, and will emerge…