Organizing Update: Recent UAW victories
Region 1C
A dozen workers at Intake Referral Assessment Center in Flint, Mich., won card-check recognition July 8. They do assessment and placement for drug rehabilitation patients.
In another card-check recognition victory, 29 Protech workers, who make components for General Motors and Ford Motor Co., voted July 2 for union representation.
Region 2B
Apex Bag workers in Wapakoneta, Ohio, voted 19-9 for the UAW on May 28. The 28 workers make pet food bags.
DMH Toyotalift workers voted 9-3 for UAW representation on May 24. The Holland, Ohio, unit sells and services tow motors.
In what organizers called a “huge win,” workers at AK Steel in Coshocton, Ohio, voted 257-193 for UAW representation on Sept. 19.
AK Steel is a mill that finishes stainless steel with a variety of automotive and other applications. The victory, say organizers, makes this the largest new unit in southeastern Ohio in 30 years.
Region 5
The 65-member unit at Collins & Aikman, who make instrument panels for General Motors, voted 39-25 on Aug. 29 for the UAW.
In addition, Golden State Automotive workers voted 10-6 for the UAW on Aug. 29. The 21-member unit does assembly for NUMMI in Fremont, Calif.
Also, in card-check recognition on Aug. 27, 39 workers at Chocktaw Express/LSI in Oklahoma City, Okla., chose the UAW. The unit handles logistics for GM.
Region 9
On July 25, workers at Delavan Industries in West Seneca, N.Y., voted 90-45 in favor of the UAW. The 151 members build auto carriers for Allied Car Carriers.
About 200 members at Metal Preparations Co. in Rochester, N.Y., voted 98-63 to join the UAW, on July 24. The workers, mostly maintenance and production workers, do parts finishing for nearby Delphi Automotive Systems Inc., a UAW Local 1097 facility.
In a tense organizing campaign, the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on June 26, alleging seven violations of labor law, including threatening, disciplining and coercion of union-friendly workers.
Some 2,000 graduate teaching and research assistants at Cornell University’s Ithaca, N.Y., campus will vote Oct. 23-24 on union representation, under an agreement reached July 11 between the university and the UAW.
This is the first time a private university has agreed to a TA union election. Cornell will not appeal the results.
Region 9A
Collective bargaining will begin this fall for University of Massachusetts resident assistants, the nation’s first undergraduate union.
The 365 RAs, members of UAW Local 2322, live in the dormitories where they enforce rules and provide counseling and social programs for students.
In March, the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission supervised a union election in which students voted 138-88 for UAW representation.
Last spring, New York University and its TA union signed the first-ever public school TA union contract, which takes effect this fall for 1,300 TAs.
The UAW represents more than 15,000 TAs and RAs at eight campuses across the country.
