Learning from the Past, Building a Movement for the Future

Written By Aaron Thomas

Dear UAW sibling,

This week marks the 90th anniversary of the UAW, commemorating nine decades of UAW members fighting to advance economic and social justice – in the workplace, in local communities, and around the world. Check out this video highlighting UAW members’ proud history of bold action, from the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936 to the Stand Up Strike of 2023 and beyond.

Like the founding members of the UAW, today’s UAW members face a significant moment – one in which working people’s rights and livelihoods are being sacrificed for the benefit of billionaires, but where we also have the potential to build a future that really works for the working class. For instance, in June 1935 there were only about 4,400 UAW members at General Motors. But thanks to the committed organizing and momentum of those UAW members, within just a few years there were 120,000. That dramatic increase reshaped both the auto industry and society in the U.S. more broadly. And that kind of bold vision lives on today in the daily organizing of thousands of workers in Region 6 who are advancing historic organizing campaigns in higher ed, battery and EV, and other key industries; who are building ambitious campaigns to grow political power by and for working people; who are developing active, high participation Local unions; and more. Keep reading to learn more and get connected to this ongoing work!

Kill the Cuts Town Halls

Funding disruptions are threatening lifesaving medical treatment, innovations in behavioral and mental healthcare, climate resiliency, and more. These cuts are already forcing researchers to pause or leave projects that directly save lives. UAW members have been organizing for months to oppose the cuts to research funding imposed by the Trump administration. Last month, over 300 UAW 2478 members at Caltech organized with JPL scientists to hold a town hall with California Representatives Judy Chu and George Whitesides.

This month, in the dog days of August, UAW Region 6 members have held Kill the Cuts town halls with representatives from Washington to San Diego to demand the reinstatement of federal funding for science and research. In Seattle, members of Local 4121 at University of Washington were joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal to highlight the effects these cuts are having locally and across the country. As Rep. Jayapal said in demanding the reinstatement of funding: “These cuts will take the U.S. off the frontlines of innovation and stifle lifesaving research.”

At UCSD and UCSB, academic workers of Local 4811, state scientists of CAPS/Local 1115, and community members held town hall meetings, respectively, with California Representatives Scott Peters and Salud Carbajal to demand that they fight back against the draconian and devastating cuts to NIH, NSF, and higher education proposed by the Trump administration. Together UAW members are making it clear: our research and our future are worth fighting for, and we are making sure our representatives fight for the future of public research and education.

And the pressure is working: the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee rejected Trump’s cuts and instead approved a $400 million increase to the NIH for 2026. While this is a significant win, it still has to be approved by the Senate and the House. Workers must keep up the pressure on our elected officials to continue to prioritize funding research that supports thousands of UAW members’ jobs, benefits millions of working people, and helps lead to scientific and medical discoveries that serve the public good.

UC Research and Public Service Professionals are Voting to Form a Union

After months of organizing, Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) at the University of California are having their union election! One of the last groups of UC staff to unionize, RPSP pay has significantly lagged behind unionized employees. From stagnant salaries and increasing workloads to threats to job security and a lack of transparency in administrative decision-making, RPSPs are fighting to win a real say over their working conditions – particularly in a moment where public research is under attack by the Trump administration. The RPSP union election began on August 18 and will run until this Friday, August 29 at 5pm. Follow RPSP-UAW on Instagram and Bluesky to support and stay up to date!

Fair USC Now!

After a majority of 2,500 non-tenure track faculty at USC (UF-UAW) filed for an election last year, USC tried to block their right to vote by claiming they are all managers and that the NLRB itself is unconstitutional. Now, as faculty await an impending decision from the regional NLRB, they are working alongside nearly 4,000 already-unionized academic workers, 20 elected officials, and the larger USC community to urge USC to respect that decision, and refrain from further delays to a democratic vote. On Wednesday, September 3rd at 12 PM, their movement will come together for a rally on campus to demand a FAIR USC NOW: respect the right of NTT faculty to form their union, bargain a fair contract with postdocs, and side with 6,000 workers at USC, not with Trump.

University of Alaska Staff Push for Union Vote

2,500 permanent staff at the University of Alaska continued making progress toward forming their wall-to-wall union when the Alaska Labor Relations Agency verified they had demonstrated sufficient worker support to advance to the next step of the process.  They’re now pushing the administration to avoid any further delays and agree to schedule a union vote as soon as possible. Stay up to date on their progress by following CAUSE-UAW on Instagram!

Lobbying California Legislators on Pro-Worker, Pro-Environment Bills

In August, over 60 UAW Region 6 members descended upon the California State Capitol in Sacramento to meet with legislators and urge their support for several bills important to working people. Members spoke about three bills in particular:

  • SB-787, a worker-written bill to build equitable clean energy supply chains, lower costs, and create good union climate jobs

  • SB-63, funding for Bay Area public transit, so riders (and UAW 4811 members with BayPass) have reliable transit.

  • AB-1319, which would provide protections for endangered species and the state scientists who do this crucial work.

Together, UAW members are pushing for climate justice, good jobs, and a future that works for everyone.

Member Spotlight: Marquez Balingit, 4811 member and head steward at UCI

During lobby day, it was great to express my passion to use my research to develop green energy solutions in CA and how SB-787 can help make that a reality for many others in the state. I felt that most of the assemblymembers and their staff that we talked to agreed that SB-787 can expedite the process for clean energy jobs to be funded in the state while also presenting affordable options for consumers to improve their quality of life. 

Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller

Working people in the U.S. today face a number of mounting attacks from the Trump administration and the billionaire class. They are gutting critical public programs like Social Security and Medicaid; defunding research that supports the public good and UAW members’ jobs; tearing families apart and pouring billions of dollars into ICE and the militarization of our society – all while lavishing extravagant and permanent tax cuts upon the rich and powerful.

It is more important now than ever for working people to organize the most powerful labor movement in U.S. history – not just to fight back, but to build a future that is sustainable, just, and truly works for workers.

Over the next few years, there will be a number of critical opportunities in Region 6 where UAW members have the potential to move these efforts forward in a significant way. Midterm elections in 2026 are just a heartbeat away, with the 2028 general election not far behind it. In the meantime UAW members are fighting in contract campaigns, new organizing campaigns, lobbying legislative leaders, and more – organizing and solidarity-building that will serve to prepare for May Day 2028. 

At Summer School held at Cal State Los Angeles last month, Region 6 members discussed how, in order to have a real influence on these upcoming efforts, it is imperative to dramatically expand our already ambitious work – building Local Unions with supermajority membership and VCAP participation, organizing thousands of unorganized workers, and taking widespread political action.

Indeed, across Region 6, members have ambitious goals for transforming our workplaces and broader society by dramatically increasing participation in Local unions and organizing campaigns. That work will only be able to reach a mass scale if we increase our organizing capacity by recruiting and developing a widespread network of union leaders in every department, shift, and unit across the Region. These are the Stewards, Contract Action Teams (CATs), and other unit reps at the department level who do the day-to-day work of the union – talking with coworkers about workplace issues, mobilizing coworkers to action, and bringing democracy into the daily life of the workplace.

This October 4–5 in Oakland, Region 6 will host the 2025 AMP Conference: “Agitation, Movement-Building, and Participation.” The two-day conference will be structured as a strategic planning session to focus on expanding the recruitment and skill development of CATs/stewards, learning from each other’s successes, and developing organizing capacity at an unprecedented scale – all with a view to winning change in the immediate term, pulling off historic action on May Day 2028, and growing a labor movement with real power into the future. I encourage all members to attend, and look forward to working together to build powerful plans for this year and beyond.

Upcoming events

Aaron Thomas
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Building a Movement to Meet the Moment