Election Wins & Save Science Ballot Measure
Dear UAW Sibling,
November is off to a powerful start in Region 6! In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find info about major election wins, a new ballot measure to raise billions for science funding, updates on a number of ongoing actions across the Region, and info on upcoming events.
ELECTION WINS: Prop 50, Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor
On November 4, voters in California and across the country spoke loud and clear, delivering a resounding rejection of the Trump administration’s attacks on workers, science, healthcare, and immigrants. UAW members campaigned hard to pass Prop 50 to ensure working class voices are heard. In just over one month, approximately 400 UAW members put in over 800 hours of organizing to make 82,000 contacts with voters, including every UAW member in California. UAW 4811 members also led a new and unprecedented campaign to encourage students on campus to vote at multiple campuses, managing a team of over 100 canvassers statewide, which resulted in over 10,000 voters committing to vote for Prop 50 at one campus alone. The margin of victory was significant – an impressive 64.6% majority voted YES.
In Washington, UAW Region 6 members worked hard to elect progressive candidate Katie Wilson for Seattle Mayor. Thanks to a strong grassroots campaign focused on affordable housing, childcare, and transit, Wilson won a hotly-contested election against a heavily financed moderate incumbent. UAW was the first union to endorse Katie’s campaign, and in a tight race where every voter contact mattered, members spent weeks taking action to get out the vote. Members spent 630 hours organizing, including knocking on more than 8700 doors and contacting every fellow UAW member in Seattle. And beyond the mayor’s race, UAW members helped elect a slate of progressive candidates in city council, county, and state races.
These wins show that when we come together and put our collective power into winning elections, UAW members can win big. But there’s much left to be done to build political power as working people, and members are seizing on the momentum of this political cycle to set our sights on the 2026 midterm elections. In California, workers are organizing a powerful campaign to save California science by passing a $23 billion bond. All members are encouraged to get involved in these fights – join the next Region 6 Political Action Committee meeting (Thurs 12/18, 6-7pm PDT via zoom)!
BALLOT MEASURE: Save Science, Save Lives
UAW members launched the Save Science, Save Lives campaign in San Francisco with Senator Scott Wiener
UAW members have a plan to fund billions of dollars of scientific research in California.
Earlier this month, UAW members joined with a broad coalition of California leaders, scientists and institutions in San Francisco to formally launch Save Science, Save Lives, a 2026 ballot measure authored by Senator Scott Wiener that would empower Californians to prioritize what scientific research is funded and delivered within the state.
If passed, the measure would create the California Foundation for Science and Health Research to award grants and make loans to public and private universities, research companies, institutes, and health care organizations in California for scientific and health care research and development. The Foundation would be funded by bonds in the amount of $23 billion dollars. Research shows that for every dollar spent on scientific research in California more than $2.50 in economic benefit is generated.
As UAW Region 6 Director Mike Miller said of this important measure, “It should be up to Californians, not Donald Trump, to decide whether or not we fund life-saving research in cancer treatment, chronic diseases, climate science, wildfire preparedness and more.” That funding such research saves lives is no exaggeration: 99.4% of the new drugs approved by the FDA from 2010–2019 were developed with NIH funding. Indeed, as former UAW Local 4811 member Ryan Manriquez recounts, NIH-funded medical research into treatments for spinal muscle atrophy saved his own life. UAW members and the public at large must fight to keep scientific and medical research going in the face of Trump’s disastrous cuts. Passing the California Science and Health Research Bond Act in 2026 is imperative for our health, our jobs, and our environment. Sign up to get involved and help to pass the science bond.
More Updates from Around the Region
UCLA Lawsuit Win: Victory! In September, UAW members, along with a number of other unions, sued the Trump administration for illegally cutting research grants at UCLA. This month, a federal judge ruled that Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC.
Our Rights, Our Future UC Rally: Over 40,000 researchers, educators, and public servants at University of California took action across the state this month, in coordinated rallies to build power to win fair contracts in three units: Academic Student Employees, Student Services and Advising Professionals, and Research and Public Service Professionals. Workers at UC ensure that the university remains a world leader in scientific research, engineering, medicine, education, and public health. By taking mass collective action across the state, workers sent the clear message: UC can agree to fair contracts and join UAW members in the fight to defend public higher education, or they can drag this out and fight us instead of the Trump administration. It’s time that UC chooses a side.
Nevada UAW Members Meet with Candidate for Governor: Nevada UAW members (Local 2162 and NGSW-UAW) held an autoworker roundtable and graduate assistant town hall with Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is running to be Nevada’s next governor. Members discussed his vision for a worker-led green transition and the fight for Graduate Assistant collective bargaining at NSHE.
Win for Tenants in LA: After mass community mobilization and public comment, Los Angeles City Council voted to cap rent increases for rent-stabilized units at 1-4%. Prior to this vote, the LA Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LARSO) had not seen a major update in 40 years, and allowed rent increases up to 10%. Members of UAW 2478, 4811, and 872 turned out to support the effort to lower the cap, and UAW 2478 member George Zhou had this to say during public comment: “At the heart of this issue, we see the rot plaguing our system of housing, which is the treatment of housing as a business asset whose only purpose is profit, rather than a human right, resulting in corporations treating LA as a game of monopoly, instead of a vibrant diverse community built off the backs of everyday Angelinos. Passing LARSO would just be the first step in fighting for the rights of Angelinos and fighting back against the corporate greed that threatens our beloved city.”
ULE Practice Picket: Student Workers at UC Law SF (United Legal Educators-UAW) are escalating their fight for a fair first contract! Student workers held a practice picket at the end of October to show management they’re ready to fight for a contract with strong protections against discrimination and fair compensation.
CAPS Stewards Build Skills to Build Power: More than 80 new stewards of CAPS-Local 1115 came together in Sacramento for Steward Orientation. Together, members developed core skills for building a powerful member-driven union, including mobilizing coworkers, enforcing their contract, and facilitating new employee orientations.
UO Student Workers March on the Boss: Local 8121 Student Workers at University of Oregon are taking action after University of Oregon administration cut jobs at Duck Rides in half. Duck Rides Student Workers provide an important service to UO students, offering free evening shuttle rides that improve safety and accessibility on campus. Since admin cut Student Worker jobs, riders have been faced with increased wait times, while workers have to navigate scheduling issues, confusing changes to policy, and an increase in out-of-unit hires. Duck Rides workers marched on their boss last week to make their voices heard, and are continuing to organize to address the issue.
Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller
This fall, UAW Region 6 members have done an incredible amount of work to build political power for working people, sending a clear message to elites in all parties that working people are tired of politics as usual, and we’re going to make a change. In elections this month, UAW members mobilized the vote and won in a number of important contests. In California, UAW members organized tens of thousands of YES votes to pass Prop 50, in a small but important step toward advancing working class interests in Congress. In Washington State, UAW was the first union to endorse Katie Wilson’s progressive candidacy in the Seattle mayoral race, and UAW 4121 members put in hundreds of hours of organizing that were decisive in winning a tight race. The issues Katie Wilson campaigned on in Seattle are important to working people everywhere, and we must insist candidates everywhere listen to what we are saying: we want affordable housing, childcare, access to transit, healthcare, a livable planet, and more.
What members achieved in these elections is exactly what we need to do as a movement of working people: build the political infrastructure and participation to advance a working class agenda. Looking ahead to next year’s midterm elections, Region 6 members must expand this capacity, building even more power to advance our issues. UAW members have the potential to dramatically shift our current political environment at local, state, and federal levels: winning a bond measure in California to fund billions of dollars of scientific research, flipping the U.S. House, electing pro-worker governors who will support members in Nevada, Arizona, California, Alaska, and more.
To build working class power, UAW members will continue organizing workplaces, fight for strong contracts, and establish networks to support each other in our struggles for a better world.
Upcoming events
November 25, 10-11am PDT (zoom): Region 6 Chaplaincy Committee meeting
December 4, 6-7pm PDT (zoom): Region 6 Just Transition Committee meeting. At the end of November/early December (date TBD) the JTC will hold strategy meetings with UAW leaders to develop our Just Transition advocacy strategy for 2026. We'll discuss research and draft plans for our priority sectors (batteries, building decarbonization, offshore wind, possibly plus), and from there work towards a preliminary plan.
December 7 and 8, 10am-5pm (Seattle): Communications Training with Labor On the Line. This training is a great opportunity to learn from the expertise of the team at Labor On the Line about using comms to build power for our work as a union. Topics include developing strategic narratives, using video, and speaking with press. It will be offered twice in Seattle, on 12/7 and on 12/8. Contact Sam Sumpter ssumpter@uaw.net for more info and to join!
December 8, 6-7pm PDT (zoom): Region 6 Gender, Civil, & Human Rights Committee meeting
December 18, 6-7pm PDT (zoom): Region 6 Political Action (CAP/PAC) meeting
January 15-18 (Baltimore, MD): AFL-CIO’s MLK Jr Civil and Human Rights Conference. Contact your Local for more info and to join.
February 8-11 (Washington, DC): UAW National CAP Conference. Contact your Local for more info and to join.
February 22-27 (New Orleans, LA): UAW National Financial Officers’ Conference. Locals, be on the lookout for the call letter with more information soon.