UAWD campaigned for direct elections of our International Executive Board Officers, known as One Member, One Vote.

In 2021, UAW members overwhelmingly voted to replace the old delegate system for selecting our top union leadership with One Member, One Vote. In a democratic union, it should not be possible that any one party would have control of the union for over 70 years, especially while negotiating concessionary contracts for decades. It was clear that the former delegate system for electing the IEB at Constitutional Conventions failed the membership.

Our victory means that in 2022, for the first time in UAW history, rank-and-file members will vote directly to decide who will lead our union. While UAWD supported One Member, One Vote, current UAW leadership campaigned against it—just one of the reasons we believe the UAW deserves new leadership.

For UAWD’s priorities in 2022, read our UAWD delegate platform, drafted with input from hundreds of UAW members who answered our poll.

Member Education

UAWD believes that membership education should be a top priority of our union. A union cannot be successful when members feel the organization is some sort of abstract entity that only collects their monthly dues instead of viewing the union as a living, breathing rank-and-file movement where workers can see solidarity in action at their workplaces.

Our UAW membership must understand what made our union so successful in our formative years, and why we’ve been unable to defend ourselves for decades since. That’s why we believe that members should be educated on the history of the labor movement and the sacrifices that those who came before us made. Then, we believe, workers will see why it is so vital for us to pick up the mantle and to accept our responsibility as the next generation of UAW members fighting for a more equitable and just future.

We believe significant resources must be invested in membership education in order to make this happen.

Dues & Transparency

UAWD advocates for greater transparency from our union. UAW members should frequently be given an accounting of how our dues dollars are spent. This reform is no different than requiring our government to let citizens see how their tax dollars are being used. Every dues-paying member of our union should have the ability to easily access the financial figures of the UAW along with the decision making processes behind those expenses.

Dismantling Jointness

We believe a vital key to restoring our union to its proud tradition is to dismantle “jointness.” The last forty years have proven that partnering with corporations simply does not work for the rank-and-file.

“Jointness” has been one of the main drivers of the corruption in our union. Joint funds – where do they come from? How much is there? How are they spent? Union members don’t have access to this information. We must rid our union of its adopted corporate ideology and dismantle the structure that has grown to support it.

“Jointness” has severely damaged our union, by weakening shop floor activism and organizing. The team concept in the auto industry has often led to anti-union sentiment and apathy among the rank-and-file. Joint programs have led to a bloated and unaccountable bureaucracy.

UAWD advocates for rank-and-file empowerment in order to win better contracts for UAW members. UAW members have seen a steady decline in their standard of living over the last four decades. Hundreds of thousands of good-paying union jobs have been outsourced or cut by the various corporations that our union collectively bargains with. This is partly because of the strategy of cooperation implemented by the Administration Caucus. The team concept, continuous improvement, etc. are all anti-union programs.

We believe the only way workers can win is by taking on their employers and ending these failed partnership strategies.

Worker Organizing

UAWD advocates for an improved worker organizing program. Most workers aren’t interested in joining a union that wants to play nice with the boss. We believe the corporate policies of the Administration Caucus have played a significant role in the UAW’s inability to organize auto plants in the south, or to achieve any real substantial gains for the rank-and-file over the last thirty-plus years.

This is not to negate the role powerful politicians and corporations have played in keeping unions out of the south and from weakening labor’s ability to fight for better conditions. However, the Administration Caucus’ insistence on continuing these various failed “partnership” schemes with the corporations, along with the current corruption scandal at the IUAW have done incalculable damage to our union.

We must organize and empower workers — whether it’s on the shop floor, in the office, or the classroom. We plan to implement a program of listening to the concerns of the workforce and then devising strategies to address those concerns. The rank-and-file must lead the way for a better future — not white collar administrators with six figure salaries at Solidarity House.

Communities & Coalitions

UAWD advocates for community support and involvement.

UAWD advocates for building working class coalitions through participation in community activities that empower ourselves and our neighbors to fight for a better standard of living by protecting workers from corporate exploitation. Cooperation should be with our working class neighbors and communities — not with corporate executives.

Internal Reform

UAWD has used processes available to us in the UAW Constitution to hold our International Officers and Officials accountable for their misdeeds. We have also initiated an effort to call for a Special Convention to try and pass much needed reforms.

We believe it is the duty of every member to make sure our union is clean and functioning on behalf of all of us. The UAW is OUR UNION! We owe it to those who came before us and built the UAW with tremendous sacrifice. We owe it to the next generation of UAW members and we owe it to ourselves because we deserve a union free of corruption. We deserve a union that works to build a better standard of living for us all.

Primarily, your $25 a year membership fees go towards paying our two UAWD staff organizers, printing informational leaflets for distribution at union workplaces, as well as funding the UAWD website. You can join UAWD and get involved for $25 a year.