The events of the last few years has revealed unprecedented corruption at the very top of our beloved United Auto Workers Union (UAW). The scope of corrupt acts requires swift and firm action in order to eradicate it from the UAW. UAWD stands firmly committed to investigating all acts of corruption, including but not limited to, embezzlement, kickbacks, and the acceptance of money with intent to buy influence by any officials in our union. UAWD will promptly investigate acts of corruption under the UAW Constitution, or refer said acts to an independent ethics investigator established for the purpose of eliminating corruption in the union.

Once corruption is determined, UAWD will terminate the employment of such officials, as well as their membership in the union, and will turn over the results of our investigation of such officials to the appropriate governmental agencies for prosecution under state or federal laws. If the UAW has paid legal expenses for union officials who are subsequently convicted or who plead guilty to crimes against the union, UAWD will seek full repayment for all legal expenditures made in behalf of said union officials. Finally, UAWD believes strongly, and will work diligently, to seek full restitution for all monies misappropriated from the UAW by unscrupulous union officers, members, or employees.

We stand for direct elections of both the Regional and International leadership though one member one vote with ethical campaign finance regulations.

Our strike fund is our lifeline to contract improvements. UAWD will reform the dues structure so that the strike fund will be self-sustaining. This will allow for a reversal of the dues increase while increasing our bargaining power.

We adhere to the principle that member dues are a sacred trust. Honest stewardship must be accompanied by full disclosure of expenditures along with verifiable checks and balances including third party audit verification. UAW Members should have access to their Local, Regional, and International UAW budgets, as well as CAP Programs, joint programs and any other such funds. UAWD will closely examine union expenditures. Extravagant accommodations in exotic locations will not ever be tolerated by a UAWD leadership. We will hold council meetings, conferences or conventions in the cities and towns we work in.

Economic justice and fair compensation for all workers is key to fulfilling the mission of UAWD and the labor movement as a whole. Therefore, we believe the pay of our elected officials should only rise to the extent that gains are negotiated on behalf of the membership. We will push to amend the UAW Constitution so International UAW Officers compensation will be proportional to the lowest paid member.

Local control is inherently more accessible and democratic. Therefore, we will promote greater power and decision-making authority both for our Locals and for the membership itself. Local groups of workers are encouraged to form their own UAWD chapters and work on their own issues, so long as they don’t come into conflict with the goals and principles agreed upon in this platform. We will also seek greater cooperation between our locals and steadfastly refuse any agreement that pits one local union against another. Working class unity is not negotiable.

The UAW was founded on the principles of equality and respect for ALL workers. It’s time we returned to our working class roots. No more “temporary” workers and no more tiers! We must also end the outsourcing of our jobs and bring third party companies that have been spun off back into the fold. No more divide and conquer in our union. UAWD will fight to make every one tier one.

An emphasis on labor education and leader recruitment is necessary to win the hearts and minds of workers and to grow our movement. Money previously used to enrich union officials above the membership will be used for worker education and union organizing. We can’t successfully bargain good contracts unless we have an educated and growing membership. Both Black Lake and our union halls will be transformed into the Nation’s premier labor schools. We will coordinate with like-minded institutions and dedicate ourselves to teaching the next generation of labor leaders, so we can expand and take on the corporations on our terms. This is how we can build a winning movement.

We believe an explicit focus on international solidarity is fundamental to building real long term solutions to the current global race to the bottom. We should seek strong alliances with workers in the same industries, no matter where they are. Corporations don’t respect national boundaries, especially of the poorer countries, where workers are denied humane labor and environmental standards, and the right to form unions. It is essential that we as American workers show our solidarity and lend them our support as part of a common fight against the “race to the bottom.” The corporations are global, the labor movement must be global too, if we want to make lasting gains as a working class. As part of this, UAWD supports the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, called for by Palestinian unions and workers, and seeks to end all UAW investments in corporations perpetuating human rights violations.

We have a common interest in respecting and empowering the communities we live and work in. Just as we need community support to win better working conditions and wages, the community also needs our support to ensure that they’re not simply collateral damage in the company’s exploitative business plan. To that end we will seek to not only organize and enrich our communities but to bargain with our long term economic interests in mind. No more abandoned plants blighting our landscape! We can then use them to provide stable employment. A movement towards worker cooperatives is necessary for our long term success because we know the companies are only loyal to one thing, profit.

30 hours of work for 40 hours pay. This is an old idea whose time has come. Due to automation we are able to produce more than ever with far fewer workers. This has resulted in generations of impoverishment and unemployment where there was once abundance. We the workers must share in the fruits of automation. Let us both solve the unemployment crisis and pave a pathway to a better quality of life for all by advancing the 30 for 40 program. We work to live, we do not live to work.

UAWD stands firmly against the nepotism and favoritism that has pervaded and weakened the leadership of our union. UAWD believes only those individuals who have shown a genuine passion and commitment to serving the membership should be employed in positions at the International UAW. As a part of this transparency, workers should know who’s employed by the UAW, directly or through joint programs with the employer.

We believe the health and safety of UAW members and of all workers must be protected above all costs. The pandemic has exposed the willingness of executives and politicians to experiment with the health and well being of the working class. UAWD will fight for improved health and safety protocols and fair enforcement of those protocols once established. We will not tolerate corporations putting profits before the safety of UAW members. We will fight to protect whistleblowers who call out corporate misconduct.

To better serve the members of the UAW, the founders of our Union segmented the Union into geographical Regions. UAWD believes the practice of combining Regions has damaged our ability to properly service UAW members and damaged our ability to organize new workers into the UAW. Currently Region 4 and Region 8 constitute 39 states of the United States and over 90% of the land area of the United States. UAWD will seek to form Regions that appropriately meet the needs of UAW members in a timely fashion.

The UAW was founded on the principles of equality and respect for ALL workers. Racism, sexism, all forms of bigotry and oppression and the structures that support them need to be eradicated from our society and workplaces. We adhere to the principle that these are the tools of division easily exploited by employers.  We support movements for social justice such as Black Lives Matter, Cosecha, #MeToo, Pride at Work, etc. We need a united working class to take on corporate greed.

UAWD advocates for a more open and transparent collective bargaining process. We believe the membership of our union must know what issues are being prioritized during bargaining as well as the state of such negotiations as they progress. We also believe it is of the utmost importance that our membership understands such matters in their entirety. Increased transparency in this manner will help to build a mutual trust between our membership and leadership that will strengthen the UAW.

UAWD believes in proportional representation, and that UAW membership is better served when elected officers are reflective of the general UAW membership. Accordingly, we advocate for the usage of Ranked Choice Voting in all UAW elections, which will create more representative voting outcomes and ensure majority support among elected leadership while eliminating the costs associated with runoff elections.

A sizable portion of our membership work in industries which are significant contributors to greenhouse gasses which are rapidly warming the planet and intensifying alarming changes to our climate. Witness the once in 500 or 1,000 year weather events like Hurricane Ida, and the drought-driven forest fires on the west coast of the USA. We must take a stand and fight for conversion to a fossil fuels free, renewable energy economy—all the while ensuring prosperity for our members and the working class in general. We support converting our industries for the creation of new “green” jobs, beginning with the reopening of closed plants. We support a just transition to production of electric vehicles and a mass transportation system, powered by renewable energy, and components for renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines all the while fighting to protect our members’ livelihoods.

We call for the re-examination of the UAW’s affiliation with the corporate/Wall Street-dominated Democratic party. Disaffected members have turned to supporting Republicans who are proven enemies of the working class, serving only to betray all workers. We are going to fight for a politically independent union which will critically support political candidates and parties which will genuinely have our backs, and which will serve to advance the aims of the labor movement. The membership of the UAW should be able to vote on the candidates the UAW supports.