Raising Expectations
UPTE’s 31st Annual Convention
UPTE's 31st Convention took place on June 10 & 11. It was a powerful gathering of 100 leaders from across the state who spent two days discussing how we continue building a more powerful union. We heard inspiring speeches from fellow union leaders and attended workshops to share knowledge and sharpen our skills.
Keep reading to see photos, learn about the governance proposals we voted on, and watch videos of our speakers, including:
Dan Russell, UPTE President
Liz Ortega, California Assemblymember (AD20 - East Bay)
Kathryn Lybarger, AFSCME 3299 President & State Senate Candidate
Rafael Jaime, UAW 2865 President
Ismael Armendariz, Oakland Education Association President
Sara Steffens, CWA Secretary-Treasurer
Margaret Cook, CWA Vice-President of the Public, Healthcare, and Education Workers Sector
Frank Arce, CWA District 9 Vice President
A word
from UPTE President Dan Russell
In my remarks to the convention, I spoke about the importance of our Convention theme, "Raising Expectations," which was drawn from the title of a book by organizer and scholar Jane McAlevey. Too many forces in our society encourage us to put up with low pay, unfair conditions, and long hours at work - as well as falling living standards, rising prices, and entirely-preventable crises of gun violence, climate, and housing—to name only a few.
I encouraged delegates to continue the work of bringing our members together and building our power to win changes at work and our confidence to fight for more in our contracts and in our communities.
I shared the success that we had in the last year, in which we've increased our overall membership by 9.5%! Continuing this growth would double the size of our union in less than 10 years. This won't be easy, but I believe that we can do just that - especially after the energy I felt at this convention, reinforced by the examples of UAW 2865 and AFSCME 3299 having done the same.
Delegates to the convention voted overwhelmingly to pass an important amendment to our union constitution, which codifies our new Unit and Workplace Representative Councils - now more than 500 strong across the state - as the leadership structure for our Chapters.
Members will elect a Chair or Co-Chairs (depending on the size of the Chapter) to coordinate the Councils every 3 years, along with our Statewide Executive Board. The nomination process for these elections is just around the corner in August!
This amendment also provides for the direct election of UPTE's Bargaining Teams by members and the direct solicitation of bargaining priorities from members, replacing a delegated conference that had been empowered to do both of these things in the past. Our bargaining survey will launch in July and Bargaining Team elections will take place in early 2024.
If we continue building our union, we can raise the expectations of our own members and the majority of workers who don't have a union. We can help grow the union movement and make it into a force that can transform our society.
Thank you for your membership and your commitment to that project.
Constitutional Amendments & Resolutions
The following amendments to the UPTE constitution were passed by delegates at this year’s convention:
