Ballots are Out!

Written By Aaron Thomas

Dear UAW Sibling,

October has been a busy month in Region 6! In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find information about upcoming elections, updates from Local and Regional actions, and ways you can get involved. Keep reading to learn more and plug in to ongoing efforts.

Ballots are out!

Election day is November 4, 2025. Ballots are out and UAW Region 6 endorsements are in! Here are some of the candidates and contests UAW members are backing in the western states.

California: YES on Proposition 50

In California, workers can act to safeguard scientific research, their jobs, collective bargaining rights, and a lot more by voting “YES” on Prop 50. The measure will draw fair congressional district maps to ensure our voices are heard in Congress and that workers have representation. Electing pro-worker representatives to Congress is imperative: we need the votes to save Medicare and Medicaid, expand healthcare, fund scientific and medical research, safeguard union jobs in clean energy industries, and protect public education.

UAW Region 6 members are coming together to pass California Proposition 50. Since the California Legislature passed Constitutional Amendment 8, SB-280, and AB-604 to put Prop 50 on the ballot, UAW members across the state have knocked on doors, made phone calls, sent texts, and more to pass it. From now until election day on November 4, 2025, members are canvassing and joining phone banks to drive turnout for this important measure. Help get out the vote to pass Prop 50 by joining a phone bank here.

Washington

UAW Region 6 members have made several endorsements in the state of Washington. For the full list follow this link. Highlighted here are just a few very important races: 

In Seattle, UAW members endorse Katie Wilson for Mayor. Wilson’s campaign is fueled by and for working people, and is focused on making Seattle a place where everyone can thrive – including with affordable housing, public transportation, childcare, and more. Taking climate change seriously, Wilson believes that good, union jobs must be a feature of the transition to a sustainable future. Wilson has been a long-time ally of Local 4121, and spearheaded the campaign that ultimately won free transit passes for all UW employees. UAW members in Seattle: get your ballots in early, and help turn out a strong vote by joining fellow UAW members at upcoming canvasses!

Running for Washington State Senate District 48 is Vandana Slatter. Slatter sees the urgency in acting on climate change and a just transition built on good, green jobs. She also champions public education, accessible healthcare, maternal care, and affordable housing. 

And in King County, Girmay Zahilay is vying for the office of King County Executive. Zahilay is a strong advocate of universal childcare, expanding public transit, and increasing investments in housing, homelessness, and mental health programs.

End Government Surveillance and Intimidation!

In 2025, the Trump administration launched a mass surveillance apparatus that uses artificial intelligence and other technologies to scour social media accounts for individuals expressing viewpoints critical of the administration. Trump’s targets include U.S. visa-holders and lawful permanent residents and the friends, family, and communities with which their lives are intertwined. Many UAW members throughout the country have been affected by this spy program and are fighting back.

UAW has joined other labor unions – the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Communication Workers of America (CWA) – in a lawsuit alleging the program is illegal. As UAW President Shawn Fain said, “The Trump administration's use of surveillance to track and intimidate UAW members is a direct assault on the First Amendment – and an attack on every working person in this country.” For more on the case, check out the press release.

Fighting Trump’s Attacks on H-1B Visas

UAW has joined a coalition of unions, healthcare providers, schools and religious organizations as plaintiffs in a case challenging President Trump’s arbitrary, xenophobic, and extortionate executive action that demands $100,000 be paid for every H-1B visa application. UAW members include international researchers on H-1B visas who will be impacted by the administration’s latest attack on workers, students, and scientific innovation. As Region 6 Director Mike Miller said, “this edict makes clear the U.S. is no longer open to the world’s most brilliant and hardworking scientists. It prioritizes wealth and connections over scientific acumen and diligence, and tells the world that the U.S. is no longer a place to pursue scientific inquiry to solve some of the major diseases and other problems confronting us.” Indeed, as President of UAW Local 4811, Rafael Jaime, observed, “UAW academic workers, many of whom are international, deliver groundbreaking research every day in labs across the country. They should be able to do their work without harassment, intimidation, or xenophobic threats from the President. We will continue to fight until this proposal is defeated.”

The lawsuits and pressure are working. Less than one month since Trump declared this new tax on H-1B visas, the administration is being forced to retreat – at least in part. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) quietly updated its website to indicate that certain applicants, those who are already in the U.S. and are switching to an H-1B visa, may not be assessed the fee. Nevertheless, the unconstitutionality of the president’s proclamation remains – and remains to be defeated definitively. As the lawsuit’s coalition partners said, “this guidance is limited, unclear and fails to fix the problem: the Trump-Vance administration is still trying to impose a $100,000 price tag on immigration without authority from Congress.” We cannot rest until Trump’s unconstitutional attack on immigrant workers is defeated, his proclamation rescinded, and visa filing tax nullified.

University of Alaska Kill the Cuts Town Hall

In late September, members of Local 1907 and CAUSE-UAW at the University of Alaska held a Kill the Cuts Town Hall with Alaska State Legislators to discuss the impacts of federal funding cuts on Alaskan research and communities. At the Town Hall, members also discussed how we can fight back against these devastating cuts. Earlier in September, 14 Alaska State Legislators also sent a letter to the Alaska Congressional Delegation, urging their support for strong federal research funding. 

USC Workers Win Rejection of Trump Compact

On October 1, Trump proposed a “compact” with nine universities that would give the Trump administration unprecedented control over research and curriculum in exchange for preferential federal funding. After massive organizing by members of Local 872, UFRU-UAW, AFA-UAW, UF-UAW, and many other campus members, USC admin did the right thing and rejected the compact. 

Bargaining at University of California Ramps Up

Academic Student Employees at UC continue bargaining for their next contract, and recently delivered a petition signed by over 13,000 members calling on UC to provide real financial and legal support for international workers. Meanwhile, UC Student Services and Advising Professionals (SSAPs) and Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) are now bargaining jointly, meaning over 12,000 workers will be organizing and negotiating together to win strong first contracts and create a better UC.

Agitation, Movement-Building, and Participation (AMP) Conference

This month UAW members from around Region 6 came together in Oakland for the Agitation, Movement-Building, and Participation Conference, focused on engaging high levels of member participation at all levels of the union. Members built skills for growing strong networks of Stewards and Contract Action Teams, strategized ways to increase visibility and power as a union, and planned next steps for putting new ideas into practice in Locals and organizing campaigns.

Members also came together this month for a powerful day of training with Labor On the Line, focused on using strategic communications to increase power and momentum on our issues. Members left with new tools for advancing a positive working class narrative through video, working with press, and more. Be on the lookout for future training opportunities in other parts of Region 6!

In Memoriam

Kent Wong, Presente!

Kent Wong speaking at a rally during the UAW recognition strike at UCLA in 1995

UAW members across Region 6 mourn the passing of Kent Wong, whose dedication to social and economic justice has long been an inspiration to tens of thousands of workers, students, and community members in California and beyond. 

Kent’s work and legacy hold a special place in the hearts of UAW members in California, who have been directly impacted by his passion in countless ways over the years. As the director of the UCLA Labor Center for over 30 years and a professor of labor studies at UCLA, Kent empowered students not just to learn about the history of labor, but to participate actively in building a forward-looking movement for labor and immigrant justice. He modeled that kind of active participation time and time again – showing up in solidarity at union actions and picket lines, convening community trainings on non-violent direct action, advancing programs to support California's undocumented immigrant youth, and so much more. 

His vision and clarity about what a fighting, progressive labor movement could look like served not just as an inspiration, but also as a guide to be put into action. And thanks to his tireless work building real relationships in his community, that vision also served as a unifying force across countless union members and leaders throughout California, the United States, and the world.

His lasting impact on the labor movement cannot be overstated, and his legacy will endure for many generations – through his teaching, his commitment to organizing, and the example he set every day. Rest in power!

Andrea Zinder, President of UFCW Local 324

Andrea Zinder, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 324, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 67 in October. Zinder’s involvement in the labor movement spanned some 42 years. In 1980, she began her career at the National Labor Relations Board, where she investigated unfair labor practices. Zinder later served as the Director of Research and Collective Bargaining of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles. In 2003, she won the position of secretary-treasurer for UFCW Local 324, later becoming the union’s president in 2019. 

Today, UFCW Local 324 represents me ore than 22,000 retail clerks, meat cutters, pharmacists, pharmacy clerks and technicians, Disney cast members, food processing workers, parking attendants, lab scientists, and workers in the cannabis industry in Orange and Los Angeles Counties. Zinder was recently instrumental in winning three-year contracts for thousands of workers at Southern California supermarket chains, securing higher wages, pension contributions, and improvements in healthcare coverage, staffing, and safety practices. And just this past September, Zinder helped to negotiate a $233 million settlement in a wage theft lawsuit filed by more than 51,000 Disneyland employees against Disney – one of the largest class action lawsuits in California history.

Zinder’s family invites donations in her memory to the UFCW 324 Food Bank.

Daniel Weinberg, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Postdoc Unit Chair, Local 4811

Daniel Weinberg, a Postdoc in Applied Mathematics and Computational Research at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, passed away this month. As a researcher, he was passionate in understanding how the details of novel materials on the atomic and nano scales translate into bulk optical and electronic properties. Weinberg came up through the UC system, first as Graduate Student Instructor, then as a Graduate Student Researcher, in the UC Berkeley Chemistry Department. 

While working as a GSR, he played a pivotal role in the campaign to unionize UC student researchers. As a steward for the Chemistry Department, he was instrumental in organizing and leading the 2022 Fair UC Now Strike. At Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Weinberg served as unit chair. There he supported the drive to unionize Academic Researchers and research staff, and fought to protect funding for research and higher education. Weinberg helped to enforce the contractual and legal rights of academic workers, some of them terminated illegally by UC pursuant to Trump’s xenophobic visa policies. As Weinberg told The Daily Californian paper in September, “management’s actions are a clear violation of our union contract.” For a fuller appreciation of Weinberg, please see Local 4811’s remembrance.

Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller

From fighting Trump’s attacks on working people through passing Prop. 50 in California to lobbying Legislators in Alaska to stop their cuts to Science funding to suing to stop them in court, Region 6 members are on the move! We’re also working to build our own worker-led agenda by helping new workers organize unions and engage in collective bargaining en masse, as well as working to elect pro-worker candidates all over the Region to help working people, through elected office, build the kind of world we deserve. Join us in the lead up to the election in early November. Turn out to our rally in San Diego with CA Gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter on November 3rd at 5:30 PM and help build the movement! 

With sadness, I want to note the passing of three labor leaders in the last few weeks. Daniel Weinberg was a 4811 leader from Berkeley and Berkeley Lab whom many of you had no doubt met at Region 6 events. Daniel’s passion for the Union was contagious and his departure leaves a void that we all must strive to fill. 

UFCW Local 324 President Andrea Zinder and I served together on the UCLA Labor Center Board of Advisors since the mid-1990s (see photo above) and the California Labor Federation Executive Council. Andrea’s innovative and tireless leadership helped turn Orange County into a far more worker- and immigrant-friendly place, and her work will live on in everyone whose life she touched.

Kent Wong, former Director of the UCLA Labor Center and labor leader par excellence (he had too many roles to recount) also passed. Kent was a special friend to me and the UAW. He supported our efforts to win recognition from the UC in the nineties. He inspired so many of us to help lead the labor movement to be a haven for, ally of, and advocate for immigrants. His collaboration with the Rev. James Lawson on applying the understanding, development, and deployment of non-violent tactics and modes of thinking to the labor movement as a broad-based and inclusive social movement inspired thousands and will help provide the light we need to emerge even stronger from these authoritarian and oligarchic times.

Daniel, Andrea, and Kent, the memories and inspiration of your work, passion, and sacrifice live beyond you and will give us all the sustenance to achieve your vision and more. Adelante!

More Updates from Around the Region

  • CSU Bargaining: Academic Student Employees of Local 4123 continue bargaining for a strong new contract across the Cal State University system, and are organizing mass member participation on a bargaining petition to increase urgency in negotiations.

  • Panasonic Workers Organizing: After management at Panasonic changed time off policies, workers came together to voice their concerns, and won important improvements. Panasonic workers are organizing to form a union so these kinds of unilateral changes don’t keep happening. Support their campaign by following them on Instagram and Facebook.  

  • Jet Propulsion Lab Workers Organizing: 4500+ employees at JPL are forming a union to protect space science, increase job security, and improve working conditions. Support JPL workers by following their campaign on Instagram.

  • Alaska Healthcare Bargaining: Grad workers of Local 1907 at University of Alaska are bargaining for better healthcare, including longer prescription coverage, improved access for remote workers, better coverage for mental health, and more. Check out members’ testimonials to learn more. 

  • Climate Justice at University of Washington: In early October, workers, students, and researchers from Local 4121 at University of Washington joined IBEW Local 46 electricians, racial justice advocates, and climate justice activists for a town hall with Washington State Senator Jamie Pedersen. Members discussed the need to move rapidly to decarbonize University of Washington and to create green union jobs – all while bringing cooling and comfort to everyone on campus.

  • CA Climate Justice Bills Signed into Law: After months of UAW members across California lobbying alongside other labor, climate, and community groups, several of members’ priority bills in California were signed into law this month. These include bills protecting endangered species and science jobs, funding transit in the Bay Area, and supporting green manufacturing jobs in California.

Upcoming events

Aaron Thomas
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Building Political Power for Working People