Autoworkers have, by and large, looked the other way for far too long. We’ve pretended that what was transpiring within the industry for years wasn’t really happening. We convinced ourselves that as long as we still had our job, then it wasn’t so bad. Sure, it was unfortunate that some other poor souls lost their jobs, but at the end of the day, most of us were ultimately okay with and rationalized it because it wasn’t us on the chopping block — at least not yet.
UAW autoworkers can no longer afford to be complacent in regards to the direction of our union. The upcoming UAW Convention in July 2022 will be the most consequential in decades — perhaps since 1947. Which candidates Locals elect as delegates to represent them at the Convention and which candidates are elected to the International Executive Board via the UAW’s first-ever direct elections process will have major ramifications for our union, and perhaps even more specifically for UAW autoworkers.