Honor Picket Lines
UAWD Priority resolution for
the 2023 Bargaining Convention
Resolution to Honor Picket Lines
Striking is the most powerful tool that we have as a labor union, but UAW contracts do not allow for honoring picket lines. To be a militant union that’s ready to strike, we must also bolster the labor movement and be ready to respect picket lines of other Locals and unions.
Update: This resolution was passed with one amendment at the 2023 Bargaining Convention on Wednesday, March 29.
Background
- Solidarity among workers is critical to union cohesion and to building a fighting labor movement that restores power to the workers.
- We have to be able to respect the struggle of other unions, but we can’t do that without honoring their strikes and picket lines.
- Other major unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have contracts with language respecting picket lines, but the UAW does not.
- Teamsters have honored UAW picket lines and refused to cross them to make deliveries.
- UAW members should return the favor when the opportunity arises, but are bound by the terms of contract language that does not allow respect of picket lines.
Opposition from the Administration Caucus
- The AC has not made strike militancy a priority, accepting tiers and concessionary contracts for decades.
- This has meant that they have accepted weak contract language on honoring picket lines.
- Under the AC, Aramark workers who perform industrial cleaning at GM plants went on strike at 12:01 AM September 15, 2019. But GM workers’ contracts were extended, putting GM workers in the deplorable situation of being told to cross the picket lines of Aramark workers who were in their own Local Unions.
Why Honoring Picket Lines matters
- If the companies we’re fighting know that labor unions are united and will back each other up, we can all win more together.
- The UAW must bargain for language allowing members to respect picket lines and not be required to handle parts from facilities, or be required to enter buildings, where workers are engaged in a strike or a lockout.
- For auto workers: The auto industry is a huge part of the world economy, and it’s interconnected with many supply chains and industries, such as steel and the energy sector. By honoring picket lines of other unions, we are able to fight for better conditions for all workers up and down the supply chain.
- For academic workers: Universities require many kinds of workers to run: academic workers, custodial staff, dining staff, and more. Standing in solidarity across all these workplaces can build the worker power that we need to win real social and economic change on university campuses.
Draft Resolution
Whereas, solidarity among workers is critical to union cohesion;
Whereas, other major unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have contracts with language respecting picket lines;
Whereas, Teamsters have honored UAW picket lines and refused to cross them to make deliveries;
Whereas, UAW members should return the favor when the opportunity arises, but are bound by the terms of contract language that does not allow respect of picket lines;
Whereas, Aramark workers who perform industrial cleaning at GM plants went on strike at 12:01 AM September 15, 2019;
Whereas, GM workers’ contracts were extended, putting GM workers in the deplorable situation of being told to cross the picket lines of Aramark workers who were in their own Local Unions;
Therefore, be it resolved that the UAW will bargain for language allowing members to respect picket lines and not be required to handle parts from facilities that are engaged in a strike or a lockout.
Be it further resolved that the UAW will bargain for language allowing members to respect picket lines and not be required to enter buildings to work when other workers in those buildings are engaged in a strike or a lockout.
Final Resolution
Whereas, solidarity among workers is critical to union cohesion;
Whereas, other major unions such as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have contracts with language respecting picket lines;
Whereas, Teamsters have honored UAW picket lines and refused to cross them to make deliveries;
Whereas, UAW members should return the favor when the opportunity arises, but are bound by the terms of contract language that does not allow respect of picket lines;
Whereas, Aramark workers who perform industrial cleaning at GM plants went on strike at 12:01 AM September 15, 2019;
Whereas, GM workers’ contracts were extended, putting GM workers in the deplorable situation of being told to cross the picket lines of Aramark workers who were in their own Local Unions;
Therefore, be it resolved that the UAW will bargain for language allowing members to respect picket lines and not be required to handle parts from facilities that are engaged in a strike or a lockout.
Be it further resolved that the UAW will bargain for language allowing members to respect picket lines and not be required to enter buildings to work when other workers in those buildings are engaged in a strike or a lockout.
2023 Convention
Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) is a grassroots movement of UAW members united in the common goal of creating a more democratic and accountable union.
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