Less than a month from one of the most historically important events in our union’s 86 year history, our leadership at the International UAW have chosen to leave our membership largely in the dark about the upcoming referendum vote.
It is true that the IUAW cannot advocate for either side of the referendum issue. The consent decree agreed to by the US government and the UAW due to the corruption scandal mandates this. It is a rule that makes sense and is totally necessary to ensure a level playing field for both sides. Whether the IUAW were to advocate for the convention delegate system or a direct election system of electing our International Executive Board officers, the highest governing body of our union in between Conventions should not have the ability to use its massive resources to lobby for a position.
With that being said, the interim rules do NOT in any way prohibit our leadership from informing the membership about the rules of the referendum, how the entire process will work, and providing important dates that every member should be aware of.
We’ve seen that the IUAW can be extremely effective getting information out to the membership when it wants to. When the UAW endorsed Joe Biden leading up to the 2020 election, the IUAW sent out high quality and informative mailings to UAW members across the country.
I have no problem with this. Who is occupying the White House is extremely important and Joe Biden was the considerably more union-friendly candidate between him and Donald Trump. But why isn’t that same energy and resources being put into informing the membership about a vote that will have massive ramifications for our union moving forward?
The IUAW did send a correspondence letter to Local union leaders informing them that UAW members needed to update their mailing addresses with their Local. However, members at various Locals have stated that they were never informed of this correspondence, and many retirees whose Locals no longer exist or who have moved away from their Local since retiring, are unsure how to update their information to ensure they receive a ballot in the mail.
Other communications the membership have received from the IUAW regarding the vote thus far have been few and far between by my count; one social media post, a fairly obscure tab on the UAW’s website, and a small postcard sent out, not by the IUAW, but by a third party vendor. This mailing was mandated by the consent decree. The IUAW has yet to send out any updated information about the voting process, despite the fact that the rules have already changed since they were initially published. In short, it appears that if the IUAW isn’t forced to do something in regards to informing the membership about the vote, they’re more than happy not to.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first occasion in recent memory that the IUAW has largely failed to communicate with the membership about an extremely important matter.
Former UAW President Rory Gamble formed the Ethics Advisory Committee in December of 2020 as part of our union’s self-implemented reforms due to the corruption scandal. The Committee was created as a way to actively obtain rank-and-file input into future ethics policy. I am a member of this Committee.
Such a Committee seems like an important method for the IUAW to hear the concerns of everyday rank-and-file members of our union, and as such, one would think that the IUAW would have wanted as many UAW members to submit their expression of interest to join the Committee. However, by my count, the IUAW made only one post regarding how rank-and-file members could put their name in for consideration.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that only 122 out of 400,000 or so UAW members (retirees were not allowed to partake) expressed an interest in joining the Ethics Advisory Committee. I’m sure a major factor in the lack of candidates was that the IUAW simply didn’t communicate that this process was even taking place. I was able to express my interest in joining the Committee, but only came across the necessary information because I was specifically looking for any information regarding how the Ethics Advisory Committee would be selected. However, I don’t feel as if every UAW member should have had to be as on top of the information as I was to know how to be considered.
While I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Ethics Advisory Committee, I think it is extremely disappointing that a minuscule .03% of our membership applied. In my opinion, the IUAW should have utilized every communication avenue at its disposal to get the word out about this process. As leaders of our union, it was their duty to do so. They simply didn’t. And it appears the IUAW won’t be proactive in doing so for the referendum vote either.
Given the magnitude of this vote, I have to ask myself why.
Justin Mayhugh is a member of UAW Local 31 as well as a member of UAWD.
