UAW Region 9A Weekly Newsletter: October 23
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LOCAL UPDATES
HGSU & HAW Set Strike Deadlines for Thousands of Workers to Walk Off the Job
It's time to escalate our fight for fair contracts at Harvard! If the university does not agree to a fair contract with the Harvard Graduate Students Union by October 27 and the Harvard Academic Workers by November 10, thousands of workers will be walking off the job and onto the picket line.
“We want to reach an agreement, not go on strike,” Sarah Johns, a member of HGSU’s bargaining committee, said. “But Harvard continues to deny us the pay and protections we need to do our jobs safely and make ends meet.”
HGSU’s 4,000 members have been without a contract since June 2025. In the spring, HGSU staged a 40-day strike that disrupted the final weeks of the semester and several Commencement events. After the university continued to stall negotiations over the summer, 88% of HGSU members voted to authorize another strike starting October 27.
Meanwhile, after two years of negotiating for a first contract, 51 bargaining sessions, and multiple unfair labor practice charges against the university, HAW notified the Harvard administration of their intent to strike in November as well if a contract is not reached.
In advance of these deadlines, it's critical that we ramp up the pressure on Harvard to show that our members are serious about going on strike. Please join HGSU & HAW for a practice picket at Parents’ Weekend on Saturday, October 24!
Local 2322: UNH Grad Workers Ratify First Contract After Years of Building Power
After two years of bargaining, UNH Graduate Employees United have overwhelmingly voted (98.9%) to ratify their first contract! This will be the first graduate employees contract in the history of the state of New Hampshire when it goes into effect.
The contract includes an 8% raise in wages, a $1,000 signing bonus, increased paid leave, and stronger workplace protections. But rest assured, our fight doesn’t end with our first contract. Now it’s time for members to build the union power to enforce the contract and continue standing up for one another.
Follow @geu_unh on Instagram for the latest updates.
Local 405: Strike Authorization Vote Happening Today at Triumph Engine in Connecticut
UAW Local 405 members who work at Triumph Group in West Hartford are taking a strike authorization vote today. After years of falling behind while the company makes record profits, they're ready to send Triumph a clear message: "It's our time!”
In the last five years alone, Triumph Group has raked in $7.2 billion in revenue and a whopping $687 million in profit. Just their CEO made nearly $32 million. So, why are its workers in West Hartford continuing to fall behind?
Local 405 members are done going backwards. They're ready to stand up for the contract they deserve! Sign up for bargaining updates.
Local 4100: Columbia Postdocs Reach Tentative Agreement on Eve of Strike Deadline
The Columbia Postdoctoral Workers (CPW-UAW) reached a tentative agreement with the University on Tuesday, calling off its plan to strike on Wednesday.
The union received a “last, best, and final offer” from the university on Friday, and subsequently negotiated three major changes at the Tuesday bargaining session. “We moved Columbia on some of the main sticking points for us in their last offer, and with that movement we were able to reach a unanimous tentative agreement,” Anna Yoney, the unit chair and member of the bargaining committee, told the Columbia Spectator.
The union, which represents about 1,600 postdoctoral and associate researchers at Columbia University, has been bargaining for a successor contract since their 2023 agreement expired in July, demanding higher base salaries, greater wage adjustments for current employees, and improved housing assistance.
On Tuesday night, the union announced the tentative agreement, which was unanimously approved by the seven-member bargaining committee and will be sent to union members for a week-long ratification vote starting today. Congratulations to CPW on leveraging a strike threat to win big at the bargaining table!
Local 2322: Smith College Childcare Workers Rally Against Closure
Wednesday, October 28 | 4 PM | Pulaski Park, Northampton, MA
This week, families and staff learned from a surprise email that Smith College plans to close its Fort Hill Center for Early Childhood Education, just after the center’s historic 100th anniversary. No parents, faculty, students, or Fort Hill staff were involved in this decision. The impact of Fort Hill's closure would be devastating for current families, faculty, staff, students, alums, the local community, and the college's reputation.
Fort Hill’s teachers voted unanimously in 2024 to unionize with UAW Local 2322. The union is asking supporters to join them at a rally this coming Wednesday. Follow @forthillteachersassociation on Instagram for the latest updates on their campaign against closure.
Local 2322: WPI Graduate Workers Plan Union Solidarity Week Rally
Wednesday, October 28 | 4:15 PM | UVM Campus Fountain, Worcester, MA
With bargaining set to start at the end of this month, the Graduate Workers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will hold a solidarity rally on October 28, aimed at showing the University their strength and solidarity.
Follow WPI-GWU for updates as they negotiate their second collective bargaining agreement.
Local 1596: Rally with UMass Lowell Grad Workers for Living Wages
Thursday, October 29 | 11:40 AM | Lydon Library, Lowell, MA
The graduate workers who keep UMass Lowell running with their teaching, grading, and research are bargaining to survive.
UML management has responded at the bargaining table with wage increases far below inflation, a 25% parking fee increase, and proposed limits on the union’s ability to grieve discrimination and harassment.
The cost of coming to work is going up. Our purchasing power going down. Fewer protections against harassment and discrimination. UML workers deserve a fair contract that reflects our hard work—not one that leaves us falling further behind.
Local 1596 members are asking supporters to sign up for updates, join them at a rally next Thursday, and follow @geo.uml on Instagram for the latest news.
COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM (CAP)
UAW Members Out in Force in Key Midterm Districts Could Shape the Next Congress
With less than two weeks until Election Day, the UAW is leading its most ambitious political operation in decades in some of the country’s most critical and high-profile races—including the Maine Senate race here in Region 9A.
The UAW has deployed over 130 full-time political organizers and 1,000 volunteers across the country in swing districts where UAW member density exceeds the previous margin of victory.
“Our political program is like everything else about the UAW: it’s member-driven,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We’ve been flexing our member-driven muscle at the bargaining table for the last few years. Now we’re building that same muscle in our politics. This year, our members are leading a bold political program, shaking up the political status quo. We’ll start by electing UAW champions to office—but our members will lead the work that comes after election day to win a working class agenda in the halls of power.”
Since launching in July, the UAW has contacted hundreds of thousands of working-class voters in key districts in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, California, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Washington, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine. The program has knocked over 125,000 doors, made 450,000 calls, and recruited over 3,200 volunteers. Read more about our nationwide political program at UAW.org.
Massachusetts CAP Council Strategizes at Daylong Retreat in Boston
The members of our Massachusetts CAP Council met for a daylong retreat in Boston today to review our political program, debrief this year’s electoral cycle, and strategize about our legislative priorities for the coming year. Thank you to AFT Massachusetts for hosting us!
UAW & Labor Canvasses for Troy Jackson for U.S. Senate
Saturday, October 24 | Bangor & Old Town, ME
Join UAW Local 7650 and the Maine AFL-CIO to canvass for our UAW brother Troy Jackson for the U.S. Senate! It’s our time to send a working class champion to represent us in Washington.
Troy is the labor candidate. He is a fifth-generation logger, card-carrying member of multiple unions, and former member of UAW Local 2320 endorsed by the Maine AFL-CIO. From his time as a union leader to his time as a legislator and President of the Maine Senate, Troy has put working class issues front and center. His campaign will continue building the movement of working Mainers fighting against economic inequality and a broken political status quo.
NYC Labor Rally & Canvass with Claire Valdez, David Orkin, & Zohran Mamdani
Saturday, October 24 | 12 - 3 PM | Ozone Park, Queens, NY
Join Claire Valdez and Zohran Mamdani for a rally and canvass for UAW Local 2325 member David Orkin for New York State Assembly!
Every worker deserves a union job: good wages, protections against retaliation, and a real chance to live affordably in this city. Claire Valdez and David Orkin have fought for that for years—in their unions, their workplaces, and their political home NYC-DSA and it’s the cornerstone of both their campaigns for Congress and the NY State Assembly.
Claire and David are the labor candidates in this race and are proud to have the backing of special guest Mayor Zohran Mamdani and some of New York’s largest unions. Stand with the labor movement, Zohran, Claire, and David to unite the working class on the first day of early voting! All are invited, and we encourage union members to wear your union swag.
FROM REGION 9A
Unite & Win Organizing Training
Saturday, October 24 | 1 PM | 1191 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Scary bosses making you want to organize your workplace this spooky season? Get support from the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee! We are excited to partner with EWOC for Unite & Win, an introductory organizing workshop for all workers to learn the skills we need to build workplace campaigns and win.
After he attended an EWOC training this April, Nathan DuCongé and his coworkers formed the first-ever union at an AutoZone! Join Nathan at this training as he recaps lessons learned from their victory.
EWOC’s trainings are led by experienced organizers that will coach you and give you the resources you need to demand what you deserve. Food service, retail, warehouse, office workers and anyone else with a job is welcome.
Get Your Tickets Today! UAW Region 9A Veterans Council Annual Dinner Dance
Saturday, November 7 | Holiday Inn, New London, CT
UAW Region 9A Veterans Council invites you to join us in celebration of our 28th Annual Dinner Dance to honor Veterans and UAW Service Members throughout the Region and to celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary.
This year’s event will be held in a new location: the Holiday Inn in New London, Connecticut (see map).
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL UAW
Take Action: Stop Trump’s Attacks on International Higher Ed Workers & OPT
Thursday, October 29 | 3 PM | Online
UAW academic workers and researchers across the country are mobilizing against the Trump administration’s latest attempt to undermine the rights of international workers.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) is trying to increase fees to $100,000 for international students and scholars using Optional Practical Training (OPT). OPT allows F-1 international scholars to continue working in a similar field for up to three years. This discriminatory and xenophobic fee would reduce work opportunities for UAW members who are international scholars in the United States and would negatively affect U.S. higher education and research.
DHS is currently accepting comments until November 9 on the proposed rule—this is our opportunity to express opposition. Take a few minutes to submit a public comment on how this discriminatory and xenophobic rule change would harm your studies and/or research and hurt scientific advances in the U.S.
On Thursday, October 29 at 3 PM ET, the UAW Higher Education Department is hosting an organizing call so that workers can learn more about how we can stop DHS's proposed changes to OPT fees. We’ll also be phone banking fellow UAW members to ask them to submit comments. Please register to join us!
UAW President Shawn Fain on Corporate Greed at General Motors
On Tuesday, GM announced the largest stock buyback in U.S. automaker history. The company is planning to give another $20 billion in profits to Wall Street while tens of thousands of autoworkers have no retirement security, while plants sit under-utilized, and while the global auto industry overtakes GM.
This company has spent $30 billion on stock buybacks and dividends in the past 5 years alone, while kicking and screaming about costs during our 2023 negotiations. We will remember when we are back at the bargaining table in 2028.
Let’s be clear about what stock buybacks really are. They are a form of legalized mass looting, sending billions of dollars generated by the working class directly to Wall Street investors who’ve never seen the inside of a factory. Read more at UAW.org.
SOLIDARITY REQUESTS
Boycott Starbucks! Solidarity with Starbucks Workers United
For nearly five years, Starbucks baristas have been fighting for what every worker deserves: better pay, enough hours to make ends meet, safe staffing, and a fair union contract. More than 12,000 baristas have organized with Starbucks Workers United, winning more than 700 union elections nationwide. But instead of finalizing a fair first contract, Starbucks stonewalls at bargaining while workers fight for the basics they need to survive. Union baristas are fed up with Starbucks’ unchecked corporate greed, so they’re calling on all supporters to Boycott Starbucks until workers win a fair union contract. Sign the pledge!
Massachusetts Premiere of Union Town
Friday, October 23 | 6 PM | Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA
Completing the landmark labor rights trilogy that includes the Academy Award-winning cinéma vérité documentaries Harlan County USA and American Dream, Barbara Kopple’s Union Town chronicles essential workers in NYC’s last-mile delivery industry amid an explosive resurgence of organized labor. Interweaving struggles within UPS, Amazon, and the mostly immigrant app-based bike delivery workforce, the urgent and hopeful new film weaves together human stories from some of the modern faces of labor and organizing. Filmed over three years with incredible access, Union Town asks what solidarity means in a world divided between those who have power and those left fighting for it.
Fighting for the Future of Higher Education: Labor Organizing, Bargaining, & Policy Advocacy in the Age of EdTech and AI
October 23 - 24 | Chicago, IL
Higher Ed Labor United and our partners in UIC United Faculty AFT Local 6456 are hosting a day-long deep dive into Higher Education, EdTech, and AI. This workshop is aimed at: understanding and producing contract language that protects workers; strategizing together to create a national organizing model against the technoligarchy; creating legislative frameworks locals can take to their state legislatures and Congress; and deepening workers’ understanding of the issue.
All-Union Solidarity Rally at Encore Casino
Sat., Oct. 24 | 12 - 2 PM | Encore, Everett, MA
Encore workers have been on strike since early September and need all of our support to tell Encore Casino to negotiate in good faith. Let's show striking workers that we have their back!
Join Boston area unions to stand in solidarity with our siblings in Teamsters Local 26 and UNITE HERE Local 26. Please use public transit, as there is no parking. From Sullivan Square, take the 109 towards Linden for 1 stop. You can also donate to the strike hardship fund.
AFT Massachusetts Rapid Response & Election Protection Training
Sunday, October 25 | 10 AM - 3 PM | Boston, MA
This year’s elections are an opportunity for us to stop the rise of authoritarianism so we can create the future we all deserve. The regime is trying to keep people from voting so they can control our elections and seize more power—but we can stop them by taking action together. In this training, you'll learn what authoritarianism looks like, what movements have done around the world to win the fight against authoritarianism—and how you can take action with local groups in Massachusetts. Whether you’re new or experienced with political activism, come join your neighbors, get in formation, and get the playbook to protect and perfect our democracy in 2026. Lunch, drinks, and a sense of purpose and community will be provided.
Massachusetts Ballot Question Canvass
Monday, October 26 | 5:30 - 7:30 PM | Ringer Park, Allston, MA
Join MA WFP, Boston DSA, SEIU State Council, SEIU 509, and Progressive Mass to talk to voters about not letting big money rewrite the rules on November 3rd and voting No on Ballot Questions 3, 5 and 8. We will be meeting at Ringer Park in Boston. Canvass training will be provided so no prior experience is needed!
Connecticut AFL-CIO Election Protection Training
Sunday, November 1 | 12:30 - 2:30 PM | UNITE HERE, New Haven, CT
The labor movement is mobilizing tens of thousands of volunteers this election year to protect the vote because we refuse to let some politicians who don’t want free elections to intimidate us. That means we need members like you to stand up and help ensure every vote is cast and counted. Join us for a training session that explains core voter access and anti-intimidation guidance. We will also review some past election challenges in the counting and certification process, emergency mobilization tools, best practices, and peacekeeping and de-escalation skills. Lunch provided.
Scontras Labor Center Shop Stewardship and Representation Course
Thursdays, Nov. 5 - Dec. 17 | 6 - 8:30 PM | U of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
Strong unions depend on strong stewards/union reps, yet the role of steward/rep is often a thankless and overwhelming job. Stewards/reps thrive when they understand their roles and have the tools to manage their responsibilities. This course will teach stewards/reps and future stewards/reps skills such as the rights and responsibilities of shop stewards, basic workplace rights, how to investigate and present grievances, the basics of arbitration, and internal organizing and record-keeping. Students will learn through a blend of lectures, case studies, exercises, and role-plays. Our Labor Leadership Certificate courses are geared towards busy working people. Classes will have minimal work outside of class, but will require robust engagement in class. The classes this fall will be in person only, but online options will be offered in the Spring of 2027.
Hiring Hall
- Organizer | Mass-Care | Weymouth, MA
- West Regional Servicing Representative | National Organization of Legal Services Workers (UAW Local 2320) | Greater Los Angeles, CA
- Midwest Regional Servicing Representative | National Organization of Legal Services Workers (UAW Local 2320) | Chicagoland, IL
- Regional Organizer | New Yorkers United for Child Care | Hudson Valley, NY
- Regional Organizer | New Yorkers United for Child Care | Long Island, NY
- Community Canvassers | New Yorkers United for Child Care | New York, NY
- Connecticut Governance Director | Connecticut Working Families Party | Hartford, CT
- Paid Internships (Spring 2027) | Ranking Member Bernie Sanders’ office of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee | Washington, DC
UPCOMING EVENTS
Region 9A Veterans Council Dinner Dance
Saturday, November 7 | New London, CT