In this Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) panel discussion, hear from members of UAWD and Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) about our upcoming contract fights!
The Teamsters’ UPS contract, expiring July 31, is the largest private sector union contract in the US, covering 340,000 Teamsters. The union aims to eliminate their two-tier wage structure. The United Auto Workers (UAW) Big Three contracts, expiring September 14, cover 150,000 UAW members at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. Workers hope to eliminate the tiered wage structure and extended temporary status of new members. Both the Teamsters and UAW presidents are members of grassroots caucuses working to rebuild rank-and-file union power: Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) is a 47-year-old organization, and Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) formed in 2019.
The four panelists are: Scott Houldieson, UAWD chair; Shunte Sanders-Beasley, UAWD member and VP of UAW Local 869 at Stellantis’ Warren Stamping Plant; Antonio Rosario, a long-time TDU activist and Lead Organizer with IBT; and Carey Dall, Organizing Director for the Teamsters’ BMWED for seven years, now back at ILWU.