UAW Region 9A Weekly Newsletter: November 14
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A MESSAGE FROM REGION 9A DIRECTOR BRANDON MANCILLA
Dear Region 9A members,
Through our work in solidarity with our UAW siblings in upstate New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, many of you have met Region 9 Director Dan Vicente. Director Vicente and Region 9 Assistant Director Ray Jensen have shown up time and time again for our Region 9A membership, including walking our picket lines in New York City and welcoming us to Buffalo or Allentown for trainings or CAP business.
Our brother Dan, a veteran, has been facing personal challenges related to his past military service, and after deep reflection and discussion with his family, he made the very difficult decision to resign as Region 9 Director. I and so many others deeply respect and appreciate Dan’s service, leadership, and commitment to fighting for his fellow workers. Please keep Dan and his family in your thoughts and prayers as he focuses on his health.
Dan’s departure has led the International Executive Board to consider two options: 1) a special convention for Region 9 local delegates to elect a new director to serve until the next direct election by the members, or 2) a proposal to merge Region 9, currently the smallest region by membership, into Region 9A, currently the second smallest region by membership, per Article 10, Section 21 of the UAW Constitution. In considering these options, I’ve reached out to local leaders in both Regions 9 and 9A about what this would mean for our work.
This is a big decision and there are many thoughts and opinions on the matter, but I am confident that the merger would be positive for our membership. Our Region 9A local leaders have expressed nothing but support and solidarity for the members and locals of Region 9 and would welcome them into our 9A family. We already collaborate with Region 9 through NYS CAP where we fight for working class priorities across regions. We have also supported Region 9’s rebuilding of Pennsylvania CAP and lent a hand in the new organizing happening in Higher Education.
Whatever the end result of this proposal, Regions 9 and 9A will always work closely together because of our shared history and future. Look forward to an update on the IEB’s decision on this matter next week.
In solidarity,
Brandon Mancilla
LOCAL & ORGANIZING UPDATES
Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs Ratify Standard-Setting Contract After Strike Threat
On the eve of their October 30, 2025, strike deadline, Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs United-UAW (WCMPU-UAW) reached a tentative agreement for a first contract with Weill Cornell Medicine management, winning necessary guardrails around layoffs and a ratification bonus in the final session. This agreement, which was ratified by a 99.2% margin with a supermajority of postdocs participating in the ratification vote, includes new salary rates that will make postdoc minimum salaries at WCM among the highest in the country (see the full contract here).
It also establishes a number of new workplace rights for researchers that make WCM more equitable and inclusive, including protections against unfair termination, new rights for international workers, neutral resolution of grievances, stronger protections against discrimination, harassment, and bullying, paid parental leave, and enforceable rights to quality housing.
These incredible victories were made possible by strong organizing toward a potential strike—including strike prep workshops, picket shift sign-ups, political advocacy, and more. Congratulations to the Weill Cornell Postdocs Union!
On Strike in Region 9A! CAMBA IT Workers and WPI RAs Hold the Line
After a last, best and final offer from management, IT workers at NYC nonprofit CAMBA, Inc. who are members of ALAA Local 2325 went out on strike last week, refusing to accept a wage floor of only $47,500. On Thursday night, workers picketed outside CAMBA’s annual gala, highlighting the fact that CAMBA’s CEO makes in two weeks what some of their staff members earn in an entire year.
Meanwhile, the Resident Advisors Union (UAW Local 2322) strike continues at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Striking RAs led a parade around campus on Thursday afternoon, calling on the administration to come to the table and bargain fairly. Follow @wpirau on Instagram for the latest updates on how to support their strike.
Next Friday: Picket to Kill the Cuts at The New School
Friday, November 21 | 12 PM | 63 5th Avenue, New York, NY
Join UAW Local 7902 members at The New School next Friday for an informational picket to kill the cuts proposed by the university administration. Members are demanding that administrators stop the attack on higher education, labor, and democracy and commit to continuing student health services, reversing the PhD admissions pause, and negotiating restructuring with unions and faculty.
Region 9A Locals in the News
“RAs voted to form a union and affiliate with the United Auto Workers—the same union that represents graduate student workers at WPI—roughly two years ago, and have been in first contract negotiations with the university for the last year as WPI-RAU-UAW. On October 31, they launched a strike demanding that WPI respond to their workplace needs and agree to a decent contract.”
- Working Mass: WPI Resident Advisors On Strike Against Destructive Restructuring and Unionbusting (Nov. 8)
FROM REGION 9A
Region 9A Retirees Council Holds Biannual Meeting in Hartford
Our Region 9A Retirees Council held its biannual meeting today, the second at our new office in the former Colt factory in Hartford. Thank you to our members who joined us both in person and on Zoom to discuss retiree health care benefits, new organizing and contract campaigns, and political advocacy throughout our region.
Learn more about UAW’s retirees program and get involved at region9a.uaw.org/retirees.
Celebrating Our 27th Annual Veterans Council Dinner Dance Fundraiser
On Saturday, the UAW Region 9A Veterans Council held our 27th annual dinner dance, raising funds for veterans advocacy throughout our region.
The keynote speakers were Corporal Thomas Patterson of the Stamford Veterans Resource Center and UAW Local 2320 member and Massachusetts State Senator Lydia Edwards, who spoke about their experiences as both union members and service members. Longtime Veterans Council leader and retired Local 405 President Shawn Tripp was honored for his decades of advocacy.
Thank you to all the members who joined us to honor and support our veterans! Learn more about the work of our Veterans Council—all are invited to join our veterans advocacy efforts.
How Can Unions Defend Worker Power Against Trump 2.0?
Tuesday, November 18 | 7 - 8:30 PM | Online
Join union leaders for a discussion of how to build labor's power in the Trump era. With an emboldened Trump in the White House for a second term, the ground has shifted dramatically for unions. The labor movement, like many institutions, is scrambling to devise strategies to build power—or even just survive—during these challenging times.
This authoritarian consolidation of power is testing unions. What can unions do to survive in the second Trump presidency? What tactics and strategies can help organize more new members and best survive an all-out assault on labor and other rights? Speakers include Diamonte Brown, President, Baltimore Teachers Union; Jackson Potter, VP, Chicago Teachers Union; and Brandon Mancilla, UAW Region 9A Director.
COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM (CAP)
Massachusetts CAP Advocates for PMFL & UI for Grad Workers
Last week, over 30 union members and state legislators delivered powerful testimony at the Massachusetts State Legislature in support of access to paid family and medical leave and unemployment insurance for graduate workers at Massachusetts universities. Student workers are currently denied access to the state’s unemployment and paid family and medical leave benefits. Our union is part of a statewide coalition to end this exclusion and win these benefits for our student workers across Massachusetts.
UAW members from Locals 1596, 2320, 2322, and 5118 representing grad workers at UMass Lowell, UMass Amherst, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Harvard University, as well as other union members from SEIU Local 509, MIT GSU-UE, and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, shared their stories about how being excluded from these programs has impacted them and their families. Join our next Massachusetts CAP meeting to get involved with the campaign!
NYC Tax the Rich Rally
Sunday, November 16 | 12 PM | Union Square, New York, NY
Zohran Mamdani’s cost-of-living agenda has the support of masses of working class New Yorkers, including the UAW—but winning an ambitious affordability agenda cannot be done alone. To win universal child care, one of our New York State CAP’s legislative priorities for 2026, we need to ensure the richest individuals and corporations in our state are paying their fair share in taxes.
Join UAW Region 9A and our allies on Sunday to rally and launch the campaign for the next stage of winning transformational changes in this city. We demand taxes on the rich to pay for universal child care and protect New Yorkers from Trump’s budget cuts!
NYC Transgender Day of Remembrance Rally
Thursday, November 20 | 7 - 8:30 PM | 38-64 Christopher St, New York, NY
The UAW Region 9A NYC CAP Council is cosponsoring a Trans Day of Remembrance Rally alongside NYC-DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Working Group. Join us to hear from leaders in the movement and learn how to protect trans and nonbinary people from rising fascism.
NYC Rally for Universal Child Care
Thursday, December 11 | 10 AM | 919 3rd Avenue, New York, NY
Governor Hochul says she wants to get us on a pathway to universal child care—so parents and would-be parents are going to Albany in 2026 to show the governor that we want it too!
Join UAW Region 9A and New Yorkers United for Child Care for our campaign kick-off on December 11 at 10 AM outside the Governor’s office in Midtown Manhattan.
In the meantime, members are invited to sign the petition for universal child care for all two-year-olds in New York City, following the success of universal 3-K and pre-K.
Join Your Next Region 9A CAP Meeting
The CAP is the legislative and political arm of our Region, with councils in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Each local has representatives on their states’ CAP councils, and all members are welcome to attend meetings, which are typically monthly. The next CAP Council meetings are:
- Connecticut: Tuesday, November 18, 10 AM
- New York City: Thursday, December 4, 9:30 AM
- Massachusetts: Wednesday, December 10, 10 AM
If you would like to learn more, please reach out to CAP Representative Aaron Eisenberg (aeisenberg@uaw.net). If interested in joining your CAP council’s next meeting, please email James Taylor (jhtaylor@uaw.net).
Save the Date! UAW National CAP Conference: Building Power for the Working Class
February 8-11, 2026 | Washington Hilton, Washington, DC
We are in a vital moment for the labor movement and for our country. We are facing unprecedented attacks on working families and unions. The world's richest 1% own more than the bottom 95% combined. Corporations are raking in record profits, while workers get left behind. Billionaires are doing everything they can to divide workers and pit us against one another.
Our union, the UAW, must lead if we have any shot at uniting and winning for the working class. This year's CAP Conference is focused on building our political muscle to win at the bargaining table, in the legislative halls and at the ballot box, focused on our core issues: wages, healthcare, retirement, and getting our time back. The conference will showcase speakers who are leading in their communities, bold legislative solutions for a working-class agenda, and workshops that build the skills necessary to build political power from the ground up.
If interested in attending, contact your local leadership or state CAP Council.
FROM THE HIGHER EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
Higher Ed Labor United Northeast Regional Bargaining Summit
January 9-10, 2026 | UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA | Register by December 15
Join us in January in Amherst for HELU’s first Northeast Regional Higher Education Bargaining Summit. In the Northeast, where we have deep collective bargaining traditions, we have an opportunity to learn from each other and build power to fight for our shared goals and values. This Bargaining Summit brings together higher ed unions from across the northeast to build a common agenda for our region–to set new floors on wages, working conditions, and quality education.
Learn from one another’s experiences, with time dedicated to learning from others across the full range of job categories and institutions, including community colleges, 4-year universities, and research institutions. There will be breakouts on wages, workload, job security, safety, and more. Together, we’ll start developing a shared bargaining platform — common goals and demands that we can fight for collectively, strengthening our voice across states and across sectors.
FROM THE INTERNATIONAL UAW
UAW Secretary-Treasurer’s Office Financial Officers Virtual Training
Saturday, November 15 | Online
Local union officers are invited to join a comprehensive virtual Financial Officers’ Training designed to educate elected financial officers on their roles and responsibilities within the local union. Each day features two sessions: morning and afternoon. One session each day will cover financial officers’ responsibilities, while the other will focus on PCT, LUIS, and membership list maintenance. You can register for one or both sessions and choose to attend them on different days.
The November virtual trainings are free for local union officers to attend. Please save the date for the annual in-person Financial Officers Conference to be held in New Orleans from February 22-27 in 2026.
SOLIDARITY REQUESTS
Support Harvard Staff & Fight for TPS!
Today (Friday, November 7), 600,000 Venezuelan TPS holders will lose their legal status based on the Supreme Court’s recent shadow docket decision staying a lower court’s order barring DHS from terminating their designation. Many staff members in the Harvard community, both past and present, are TPS holders. And yet, because they are not students, many of these staff members have not received even the basic support the university has provided to its international students. We believe that every member of our community has equal value, and deserves the full-throated support and protection of our university.
To that end, students across Harvard’s campuses are writing to request that the University make the following changes to better support its non-citizen staff. This issue is more urgent now, and today, than ever. We hope the University will do its part to protect those that make it what it is. Harvard students, alumni, faculty, and staff are invited to add your name to the petition.
Educational Freedom Project Rally in Boston
Saturday, November 15 | 2 PM | 100 Park Dr, Boston, MA
Calling out all Boston-based students! On November 15, the Educational Freedom Project working with student organizers across universities in Boston will be holding a student-centered rally to push our universities to stand up for their values. We will have community speakers, student bands, and student action tables. Bring posters calling on our universities to defend their students—and rep your university colors! Together, students are pushing our university to fulfill their missions and defend their communities.
APALA Presents Defending Democracy: The Role of South Korean Labor Unions
Monday, November 17 | 5 PM ET | Online
APALA is proud to co-sponsor an important event in the Albert Shanker Institute’s Defending Democracy Series, in partnership with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) International Affairs Department and AFT’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Task Force.
Labor unions in the US and around the world have led the way in defending civil liberties and advancing democracy. In that spirit, this webinar will feature South Korean union leaders who have been at the forefront of mobilizing communities and resisting authoritarianism.
Join the conversation hosted by AFT Massachusetts President and APALA National Executive Board member Jessica Tang and ASI Executive Director Mary Cathryn Ricker. Hear firsthand how these labor leaders are organizing for democracy—sharing tactical and strategic lessons, stories of resilience, and insights from decades of struggle against dictatorship.
Call for Proposals for the 2026 Boston Labor Conference at UMass Boston
March 28, 2026 | Submit proposals by November 21
With an eye towards surviving and defeating Trumpism while forging a broad-based movement, the tenth annual Boston Labor Conference examines the array of attacks faced by working people since the start of 2025 while also exploring the various ways in which they have fought back. In addition to sweeping analyses that attempt to make sense of Trump’s second term on a broad level, we welcome proposals for papers/presentations that offer historical perspectives and critical analysis across a range of areas related to the ongoing attack and defense of: democracy and government, a more just economy, immigrants, labor unions, public education, healthcare, LBGTQ+ communities, the media, the legal system, the environment, basic personal freedoms, and so on.
To submit a proposal to give a presentation at the Boston Labor Conference on March 28, 2026, please send a (a) very short CV (or just tell us about yourself) and (b) one-page abstract of the proposed paper/presentation by November 21st to laborresourcecenter@umb.edu and steve.striffler@umb.edu.
Sign the Petition to Support the Massachusetts State House Employee Union
The Massachusetts State House Employee Union is calling for supporters to sign onto a letter to the Labor and Workforce Development Committee in support of S.1343/H.2093, An Act Relative to Collective Bargaining Rights for Legislative Employees. These bills would extend to State House staff the same right to unionize that almost all workers in the Commonwealth enjoy. Please add your name to show your support for the Massachusetts legislative staffers.
Union Hiring Hall
- UAW International Union | Senior Organizer | Flexible, travel required
- New Yorkers United for Child Care | Organizer | Manhattan & Bronx, NY
- Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union | Organizer | Newark or New Brunswick, NJ
UPCOMING EVENTS
UAW 101 & Core Values Education Training
November 15 | Allentown, PA
2026 AFL-CIO Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Civil and Human Rights Conference
January 15-18, 2026 | Baltimore, MD
UAW National CAP Conference: Building Power for the Working Class
February 8-11, 2026 | Washington Hilton, Washington, DC