Local 1155L’s Jamie Martinez and the Fight for Life-Saving Care
“While ‘no’ was the first answer I got, ‘yes’ was the only one I accepted,” says Jamie in their Stories of Pride feature, a profile series by the USW LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee.
United Steelworkers (USW) District 9 includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina and the Virgin Islands.
“While ‘no’ was the first answer I got, ‘yes’ was the only one I accepted,” says Jamie in their Stories of Pride feature, a profile series by the USW LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee.
The USW today announced that more than 1,500 members at Blue Bird Corp.’s Fort Valley, Ga., facility ratified a first union contract that provides significant wage improvements, promotes respect on the job, and more.
As seen in USW@Work: Before Courtney Melvin was a member of Local 1025, she worked in sales at a Best Buy store. The low pay and scant benefits at the non-union job made it difficult for the single mother to provide a good life for herself and her family.
For the last few weeks, we have been diligently pressuring Georgia legislators to oppose S.B. 362, a bill that would prohibit Georgia businesses receiving state economic subsidies from voluntarily recognizing a union in their workplace.
Today we received personal assurances that President Joe Biden has our backs. He’s always been a friend to the American worker and our union, and we’re grateful he’s taking an interest in this matter.
Unions are the best tool we have as a working class to change the status quo. That’s why they are coming after us by drafting Georgia Senate Bill 362.
We encourage USW activists to get involved in securing our democracy by joining voter outreach programs, volunteering at the polls, and educating our communities about issues impacting Black workers and families.