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JOIN  WITH  YOUR  UNION  BROTHERS  &  SISTERS  IN  WASHINGTON

Register now online.

SEND A  CLEAR  MESSAGE  TO  CONGRESS :

WE  ARE SERIOUS  ABOUT  PROTECTING THE  RIGHTS  OF  WORKING  PEOPLE AND  WE  WANT  TO  BE  PART  OF  THE DECISION  MAKING  PROCESS

We fully expect and believe that the April 25, 26, 27 and 28 UWUA Legislative Conference will be the most important and newsworthy legislative conference our union has ever had.  All levels of our national government will be represented.

Our goals are to connect policy initiatives to legislation that can build and change our industry, and to political action to bolster that legislative action to growth and power for Utility Workers.  Our entire legislative conference will be focused on building power for utility workers - power in the workplace, the economy, with our employers, and in the broader society.

Our industry is in the midst of major changes.  Climate change legislation would greatly accelerate those changes and create 1.7 million new jobs in the utility industry.  To make sure those are good UWUA middle class producing jobs, we have to be out in front of the changes - making our case, driving the change, not being driven by the change.

We want to use this legislative conference to springboard into the largest and deepest UWUA political action ever this fall.

A Message from UWUA President Michael Langford

It’s easy to be cynical about what is going on in our country today. At a time when we need real leadership to tackle very difficult problems – the economy, jobs, health care, energy independence, wars, and so much more – Washington is unable to move beyond partisan politics to act in the best interests of the American people. The deadlock must end. There are too many lives, too many families’ futures and too much at stake. Regardless of which party they are with, it’s time for our elected representatives to hear from us, their constituents, that enough is enough. It’s time to put differences aside, break the logjam, and do what’s right for the country.

Read press release: U.S. Department of Labor Awards UWUA $5 Million for Training Programs

Utility Workers President Michael Langford, right, and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the climate change summit in Copenhagen.

The Utility Workers Union was part of the Labor Delegation going to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

President Mike Langford, Secretary-Treasurer Gary Ruffner and Regulatory Affairs Director Carl Wood are in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. We were asked to send top officers who could make decisions for the Union for a possible global environmental agreement.

Standing in line in the freezing cold for five hours we were able to get passes for the Bella Center in Copenhagen and meet with the Secretary of Energy Steven Chu during this historic Climate Change Conference of United Nations world leaders. Bob Baugh, Director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Department spoke first of the goals of Labor on behalf of all AFL-CIO affiliates and concerns in the global environment. After Bob spoke he introduced UWUA President Langford who thanked Secretary Chu for meeting with us and spoke of the Utility Workers interests and goals in the global economy where we advocate:

A Message from UWUA President Michael Langford

These are tumultuous and pivotal times. Reforming our nation’s broken healthcare system, defending a worker’s right to join a union without fear or intimidation, and developing the energy systems of the future that will promote growth while protecting our environment are all issues now being tackled by our representatives in Washington. The decisions they make and the legislation they pass in these critical areas will determine our future and that of our children and grandchildren

I have written extensively about the UWUA’s longstanding support for universal healthcare. We are closer to securing that now than ever before. We must each do whatever we can to ensure national healthcare legislation is passed, that will put us on the road toward making medical care available and affordable to everyone. Similarly, I have written about the need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). Although it has been eclipsed by the debate over healthcare legislation, protecting the basic right to join a union by passing EFCA remains a high priority for the UWUA and the entire labor movement.

View photos from the AFL-CIO Convention held in Pittsburgh.

The September AFL-CIO Convention was a huge success. Not only did Rich Trumka get elected AFL President, for the first time in its history, the UWUA won a seat as a voting member of the federation's Executive Council! Pictured here is the Union's delegation to the AFL Convention, left to right, Noel Chrismas, president of New Jersey Local 601, Steve VanSlooten, national executive vice president, Mike Langford, national president, Helen Olague-Pimentel, California Local 132 officer, Marei Burnfield, vice president of Pennsylvania Local 537, and Harry Farrell, president of New York Local 1-2.

For high school juniors who will be completing or leaving high school and entering college in the fall of 2011.

This scholarship program was established by Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO for the children of active members of Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO.