October Newsletter: Time to Vote! Voter guides and GOTV opportunities
Dear UAW Sibling,
With just a few days left before Election Day, members in every part of Region 6 are mobilizing in mass numbers to build a powerful political movement by and for working people. For months, members have been building our biggest political action program yet, with thousands of workers taking action knocking doors, making calls, and organizing rallies. Members are organizing to elect candidates who are ready to fight for the needs of the working class at every level of government – from affordability to collective bargaining rights to universal healthcare and more.
It’s time to vote! Check out endorsements in each state, and sign up to join fellow UAW members in your area at an upcoming canvass or phonebank. As the election nears, every additional contact with voters will make a difference.
Alaska
Arizona
California
Nevada
Oregon
Washington
Take Action - Seattle/King County
Members in California: Vote YES on Proposition 38, the Immunology Medical Research & Cures Initiative, an important bond to provide $8.4 billion for medical research. At a time when federal funding for scientific research faces grave threats from the Trump administration, continuing investments in critical lifesaving research is essential. This bond complements UAW’s historic California Science and Health Research Bond Act, which was signed into law and will appear on the March 2028 ballot. Prop 38 also ensures Californians can afford new cures, with recoupment of 10% of proceeds from any licensing covering bond costs and ensuring drug discounts of 20% below national average for any developed cures.
Members in San Francisco: Note that UAW members voted during the primary election to endorse Prop D, the Overpaid CEO Tax. The Prop D currently on the ballot for the general election is a different measure that would make it harder to get new initiatives on the ballot, and we have NOT endorsed it.
UAW members in Los Angeles have been organizing 8-9 neighborhood canvasses every weekend to elect Nithya Raman for Mayor, knocking tens of thousands of doors to get out the vote.
UAW members in Alaska are organizing hard to elect candidates who will support University of Alaska workers: Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (JKT) for Governor, Mary Peltola for US Senate, and Bill Hill for Congress.
UAW members across California are fighting to send former UAW member Randy Villegas to Congress! Randy is a champion for universal healthcare, research funding, affordability, and more.
UAW members in Washington are canvassing to get out the NO vote on three anti-worker and anti-trans ballot initiatives, and to elect champions like Jaelynn Scott and Kelabe Tewolde to State House.
In San Diego, UAW members from around the area are fighting to elect progressive champion Mai Vang to Congress because she's ready to fight for universal healthcare, affordability, abolishing ICE, and more.
UAW members from USC canvassed for Marissa Roy for LA City Attorney and Estuardo Mazariegos for LA City Council.
UAW workers in Nevada are fighting to elect Aaron Ford as Governor because he's ready to support academic workers' fight for collective bargaining rights.
UAW members in the Inland Empire are mobilizing to elect Luz Perez for Fontana City Council.
This weekend, UAW members in Orange County got out the vote for Hector Bustos for Santa Ana School Board.
UAW members in the Bay Area getting out the vote for Aisha Wahab for Congress.
UAW members in Santa Barbara have been organizing to get out the vote for Kristen Sneddon for Mayor.
UAW members getting out the vote for Scott Wiener, who sponsored the California Science and Health Research Bond Act this year (SB 895).
University of Washington Field & Software Engineers File to Form a Union
This month, a unit of over 250 Field Engineers and Software Engineers at the University of Washington filed for union recognition with the Washington state labor board! They also delivered a letter to the UW Administration requesting recognition for their union.
Field and Software Engineers have expertise in science and technology and perform critical work at UW that touches every student and faculty member. They develop software programs and applications that support the university's research and academic goals. Field Engineers also develop and utilize instruments to collect data in the field on oceanographic observing systems. However, despite their contributions, many report low pay, a lack of job security, and inadequate benefits as their reason for forming a union.
Field Engineers and Software Engineers at UW are joining a growing wave of university staff who are organizing to form unions and have a real say at work. Onward!
Message from Region 6 Director Mike Miller
I had the honor of welcoming the Stellantis Council to Region 6 at this month’s meeting in San Diego. Stellantis members met to discuss the urgent task of building the most powerful UAW in our country’s history. It’s difficult to imagine a more important time to build our power as workers. We all know income and wealth inequalities are skyrocketing out of control.
While the billionaire class is raking in higher and higher profits off of our labor, working people are struggling to afford groceries, gas, housing, healthcare, and childcare. As a recent survey documents, over half of workers are regularly skipping lunch due to high food costs and the increasing pressure by management to be available at all hours during the work day – time that is pulling us away from our families and lives outside of the workplace. Workers are having to worry about job security at a moment when advances in technology are making us more productive than ever. As UAW members prepare for Big 3 bargaining and May Day 2028, we are building a movement that has the power to take these challenges on, not just for UAW members, but for all working people.
Meanwhile, the billionaire class is making their priorities clear. Just this month, General Motors executives decided to line their own pockets and take care of wealthy shareholders by announcing a multiyear $20 billion stock buyback scheme – the largest in GM history. As UAW President Shawn Fain observed, these rewards lavished upon GM’s executives and Wall Street are happening while “tens of thousands of autoworkers have no retirement security, while plants sit under-utilized, and while the global auto industry overtakes GM.”
Indeed, the numbers are striking. While GM’s sales were down 5.5% in the third quarter of 2026, the fuel-price surge in the wake of Trump’s unjust war on Iran has turbocharged global EV sales. Despite being caught on the wrong foot, GM CEO Mary Barra defended the short-term thinking of yet another multibillion dollar stock buyback, saying it “demonstrates our board’s commitment to creating even greater shareholder value.”
Well, how about value for the autoworkers who power GM’s profits? As analysts have noted, poor sales notwithstanding, “third-quarter net profits surged to $3.34 billion from $1.33 billion a year earlier, while earnings per share rose to $3.73 from $1.35.” With profits piling up like that, GM’s greedy executives cannot cry poor the next time they are at the negotiating table. As President Fain says, “we will remember when we are back at the bargaining table in 2028.”
UAW members are fighting to make sure the rich are paying their fair share of taxes and that corporations are paying a fair wage, so that no one has to worry about living paycheck to paycheck – or going without meals – in the richest country in the world. We’re fighting to make sure every single person in this country has free, full healthcare – not as a corporate luxury rationed to those who can pay, but as a fundamental human right. We’re fighting for a 32 hour work week with no loss in pay so we can actually benefit from historic productivity and spend time with our loved ones. And we’re fighting to ensure everyone can retire with dignity.
To these ends we must continue building an independent working class political movement. We are done with politics as usual. It’s time to win elections on our terms and make government at every level focus on our issues. In the midterm elections coming up, we have good opportunities to begin shifting politics in our favor. UAW members are busy getting out the vote to elect champions like UAW member Randy Villegas for Congress and Nithya Raman for mayor of Los Angeles, and to build strong pro-worker majorities at city, state, and federal levels.
See a list of every candidate and proposition we are supporting in Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Utah. If you haven’t voted yet, get your ballot in today, and join an upcoming canvass or phonebank to help build the power to win.