President’s Letter

UAW ENDORSES HRC

United Auto Workers’ President Dennis Williams appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews May 25, announcing the union’s endorsement of Secretary Clinton for President. UAW Region 9A Director Julie Kushner’s statement on the endorsement is posted on the regional website and Facebook page. (NWU is UAW Local 1981)

In recent months, our members have been fully engaged in primary season. NWU members will serve as elected delegates for both candidates at this year’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia July 25-28.

PLEASE NOTE: This in no way stops any other members from running as delegates for the candidate of their choice in the remaining primaries and caucuses.

As you know, this election season has been unlike any in recent memory. No matter which candidate any of us is supporting, we should stay united and keep our focus on building political power to achieve greater social and economic justice.

UAW LOCKED OUT AT HONEYWELL

About 400 of our UAW brothers and sisters have been locked out at Honeywell since May 9. About 350 are members of UAW Local 9 in South Bend, IN, and about 50 are members of UAW Local 1508 in Green Island, NY. They make specialty aircraft wheels and brake pads for F-35s and Boeing 747s.

Honeywell stopped the workers from doing their jobs after they voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract offer that would double their health-care costs, while increasing the use of non-union workers, and eliminating all job classifications to create a more “flexible” workforce, such as allowing the company to change working hours and shifts, lunch and breaks without negotiation with the union. The company has hired scab replacement workers.

Under the old contract, Honeywell increased its profits by 152 percent.

Showing solidarity, fellow Indiana and New York union members have joined the Honeywell picket lines and donated food to those who’ve been locked out. In New York City, we will take a busload of UAW members, including NWU, to be part of a major solidarity rally in Green Island, near Albany. If you want to join us, please contact Scott Sommer at (212) 529-2580 or ssommer@uaw.net. 

VICTORY AT VERIZON

After a 6-week strike, nearly 40,000 Verizon workers won their standoff with the telecommunications giant. Their new 4-year contracts will:

• limit the amount of outsourcing of call centers to Mexico and the Philippines, where Verizon pays $2/hour
• add over 1,000 unionized call center jobs, and
• reduce the number of US call centers that will be closed

The strike stopped Verizon’s proposed pension cuts and killed a proposal that would have allowed workers to be relocated out of state for up to two months. The settlement also includes a first contract for 65 unionized workers at Verizon Wireless stores, marking the first time they are covered by a union contract.

This victory was made possible by the determination of the striking workers, as well as the solidarity shown by thousands of workers throughout the labor movement. On May 5, NWU participated in the National Day of Action in both New York and Los Angeles.

SCOTUS UPHOLDS GOOGLE SCANNING FOR-PROFIT

In a horrible decision for authors, the US Supreme Court decided in on April 19 not to hear the Authors Guild (AG) appeal of the Google Book Scanning Project ending a decade-long case that has struck at the heart of the publishing industry. Read more about it here.