Until recently, reform efforts in higher education were concentrated within the academic-worker locals, cut off from workers in the automotive core of the union. The one-member, one-vote referendum has changed that.
The referendum “has brought us in contact with other UAW members in a way that has genuinely increased solidarity,” said Andrew Bergman, an applied-physics Ph.D. student at Harvard and member of Harvard Graduate Students Union–UAW Local 5118. “Now we see ourselves as part of this union that has traditionally been industrial, and by extension people buy into the idea that they are workers, which is a big step up even from a year ago.”
For their part, autoworker reformers have taken inspiration from their academic counterparts. “With the referendum, the connections have grown exponentially” said Scott Houldieson Sr., a Ford worker and member of Chicago Local 551. “We’ve learned a great deal about each other’s situations with our employers and found that we have a great deal in common. Exploitation isn’t limited to the factory.
A New Force in American Labor: Academe
