Building a Movement to Meet the Moment
Dear UAW Sibling,
Over the last six months, the Trump administration and billionaires have been mounting increasing attacks on working people — from decimating critical public programs like Social Security and Medicaid, to defunding research that supports the public good and UAW members’ jobs, to tearing families apart and pouring billions of dollars into ICE, and more. In this undeniably challenging moment, it is more important now than ever for working people to organize a mass movement to not just fight back, but to build a future that really works for workers. UAW members are spending the summer doing just that – building the solidarity, skills, and strategies needed to dramatically escalate the important work of organizing more workers into unions, activating every member in existing Locals, and expanding political power by and for the working class. Keep reading to learn more and get plugged in.
Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller
Working people today face an incredibly challenging moment. Since retaking the White House, Trump’s attacks have been both rapid and far-reaching. Working with a far right congress, the Trump administration has cut funding that supports work in research, teaching, and green manufacturing. The Right has given lavish tax cuts to billionaires and raised taxes on the poor and workers, all while decimating the social safety net and rolling back environmental protections that safeguard public health and a sustainable planet.
The Trump administration has unleashed cruel and sweeping attacks on immigrants and international workers, terrorizing communities across the country – especially in so-called Blue states, where he has attempted to exact retribution on his political adversaries. And he has implemented destructive and whimsical tariffs on global trading partners, exacerbating inflationary pressures while only paying lip service to creating good-paying, union jobs in the U.S.
Over the last several months, UAW members have shown incredible resolve in meeting this moment with mass organizing and solidarity, including mobilizing direct action, organizing thousands of new workers, building participatory contract campaigns, participating in lawsuits, lobbying elected officials, joining rapid response networks, and more. But there is still much left to be done to defend workers against these attacks and to advance a new vision of a world that is just – one that is truly by and for working people.
To combat the Right’s reactionary agenda, we in the UAW and the labor movement broadly must build on these efforts by putting forth a positive agenda for working people. Our collective ability to meet this moment requires us to dramatically expand worker leadership, skills, and capacity. In July, UAW Region 6 hosted its annual Summer School at Cal State Los Angeles around this very theme: Building a Movement to Meet the Moment.
At Region 6 Summer School, over 500 delegates from locals and campaigns across the region met to focus on how we can make real – in our everyday lives as unionists – the UAW Constitution’s ideal of participatory democracy. Building a better future cannot rely solely on an occasional vote in the ballot booth every two or four years, as important as voting surely is to achieving legislative majorities responsive to working class needs. Rather, as the Constitution’s preamble reminds us, “the precepts of democracy require that workers through their union participate meaningfully in making decisions affecting their welfare and that of the communities in which they live.” This means democratizing the workplace – so that workers achieve some control over the conditions of their work – and building a movement to advocate for broader rights and remuneration that redound to the benefit of working people everywhere.
The challenge of participatory democracy is encapsulated in one of UAW President Shawn Fain’s favorite phrases: “density is destiny.” The more workers we help organize, the more power we have to advance our vision of justice in the workplace and our vision of a just society. UAW Region 6 members are committed to unionizing more workers, in more sectors, and across broader geographies. At Summer School we worked on an organizing plan for the coming year so that from Alaska to Arizona we can build union density in higher education, EV and battery companies, aerospace, IPS, and national labs and institutes.
To ensure that union density pays off with real and lasting results requires us to foster high-participation local units. The everyday operations of running our locals – orienting new workers and signing up members, engaging members in political organizing, winning grievances and industry standard-setting contracts – serve as critical practices in which workers participate in building power and democracy in their workplace and in their local communities.
At Summer School we also worked on plans to realize our vision of expanding political power through working people taking action together, rather than relying on rich and corporate donors with deep pockets. It is a vision that sees people organizing to fight alongside each other for the common good, in which many give a little and contributions are pooled, and in which workers enact a collective agenda that meets their needs so that they and their families can thrive.
Building a worker-led vision for American science
Help shape a collective vision for a future of science in the U.S. that’s by and for working people – take a few minutes to share your thoughts today.
For decades, public investment in science and research has delivered major wins for working people. It’s helped save lives, power our homes, make our workplaces safer, and keep our economy strong. We’ve seen a 70% drop in childhood cancer deaths, the development of nearly every new life-saving medication, and breakthroughs in clean energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing. Public research supports over 400,000 jobs each year – not just in labs and universities, but in the plants and communities where those innovations are built.
But now, that progress is in danger. The Trump administration is slashing funding for research and putting the interests of billionaires ahead of working families. These cuts mean fewer good jobs, fewer options for family members struggling with heart disease or addiction, and less innovation in the industries we depend on. UAW members from every sector are fighting back against this broken system and coming together to shape a new, worker-led vision for American science.
You can help shape the vision for the future of science and research by sharing your thoughts at this link.
Kill the Cuts Town Hall
Earlier this month, over 300 UAW 2478 members at Caltech organized with JPL scientists to talk to Congressional Representatives Judy Chu and George Whitesides. At this townhall workers developed strategies to fight back against Trump’s attacks on federal funding research. Workers shared stories about how their research advances the frontiers of knowledge and contributes to the public good, from space exploration to vaccines to wildfire modeling. Representatives Chu and Whitesides committed to bringing these stories back to their colleagues in Congress and to continue fighting for expansions, rather than cuts, in federal funding.
RSVP to attend the 8/21/25 Lobby Day!
Members of the UAW Region 6 Just Transition Committee are organizing a lobby day on Thursday, August 21 from 11AM–4PM in Sacramento, CA to show that workers support strong state action to fight climate change and protect the environment. The priority bills that UAW members have been fighting for all year are:
SB 787: The Equitable Supply Chains Act (written and sponsored by UAW), would bring thousands of unionized manufacturing jobs in clean energy supply chains to California and accelerate affordable clean energy deployment
AB 1319: Would protect endangered species in California when the Trump administration removes federal protections
SB 63: Would authorize a tax measure in the Bay Area to support public transit operation, protecting access to transit and the utility of the Baypass program
Fighting for a pro-worker, pro-environment climate agenda is more important now than ever before. But the legislature and the governor will only take bold action if workers show there is strong support for state action to fight climate change.
To attend Lobby Day on 8/21/25 RSVP here.
More Updates from Across the Region
Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) at University of California are having their union election! RPSPs will vote to form their union between August 18–29.
Research Coordinators and Consultants at University of Washington voted 97.8% YES to ratify their first contract, including pay increases and terms already covering Research Scientists and Engineers.
Staff at University of Alaska filed their union representation petition, and are continuing to organize to win union recognition.
California State Scientists of CAPS/Local 1115 rallied at worksites across the state to demand the Governor uphold the contract that members fought hard to secure and ratified just last year.
Upcoming events
Region 6 Just Transition Committee meeting: July 31, 6-7pm via zoom. Fill out this survey to get connected.
Region 6 Gender, Civil, and Human Rights Committee meeting: August 11, 6-7pm via zoom. RSVP here.
Region 6 Political Action (CAP/PAC) meeting: August 21, 6-7pm via zoom. RSVP here.
Region 6 Education & Communications Committee meeting: tbd in August via zoom. Fill out this form to get connected.
The full 2025 UAW Education Department conference schedule includes multiple options upcoming at the Walter & May Reuther Family Education Center in Onaway, MI. Contact your Local for more info and to join.