UE Union Joins Protests to Stop Bigotry and Union Attacks

United Electrical Workers (UE) members over the past few weeks have joined protests across the country demanding the Trump administration stop its attacks on workers’ rights. On March 31, hundreds of UE Local 1105 members and AFSCME Local 3800 members gathered for a press conference and rally to protest the recent abduction of a graduate student by immigration agents on the University of Minnesota campus. The rally was jointly organized in response to UMN admin stating that the university will comply with ICE and federal investigations. On April 5, UE locals joined labor contingents in Hands Off! protests around the U.S. On April 8, UE members participated in a National Day of Action to resist the cuts to lifesaving research, healthcare, and education.

Local 1105 Delegate at Large Greyson Arnold said at the UMN protest, “These attacks have reached our campus, through funding cuts, lay-offs, and most recently, the abduction of an international graduate student from their off-campus housing here in the Twin Cities. While these fights may seem separate… we must remember our histories rhyme, they go together to tell a full story. A story of a capitalist ruling class that doesn’t want the people to realize that we are united under one struggle, and that is a class struggle. They want us to be distracted by attacking the working class on innumerable fronts, but we must stand united.”