The following resolution passed at the UAWD Special Membership Meeting held on May 7, 2023.
Whereas:
1. The upcoming Big 3 contract negotiations are critically important to strengthening the entire UAW.
2. Developing and deploying a successful Big 3 contract campaign better prepares members for necessary escalating actions and striking.
3. At UAWD’s December 2022 Membership Meeting, we passed a Resolution on Strike Preparation resolving that “UAWD will make strike preparation one of its top three slogans and topics for discussion internally and in our literature.”
4. A Big 3 contract campaign also provides UAWD members an opportunity to develop their leadership in shop-floor organizing, build a presence for the caucus in their local, and grow connections with their coworkers that form the foundation of rank-and-file unionism.
Be it resolved:
1. The UAWD Organizing Committee (OC) will lead a two-pronged effort to prepare for a Big 3 strike consisting of 1) a UAWD Contract Campaign and 2) support for UAWD members in activating their Locals to participate in the International-led contract campaign.
2. The UAWD Contract Campaign will include the following:
a. Supporting and fund Big 3 workers to organize UAWD Contract Action Workshops for their local membership with proper support from the UAWD OC
b. Encouraging members, in trainings, conversations, and flyers, to explicitly discuss the necessity of striking, and preparing to strike, to win major demands
c. Offering online UAWD Contract Action Workshops open to all UAW members
d. Launching an online Contract Action Poll to recruit non-UAWD members
3. UAWD will support members to organize escalating actions, leading up to contract expirations, in collaboration with the International.
4. UAWD will fund the printing and mailing to any UAWD member of any UAWD Contract Campaign flyer that is approved by the UAWD OC.
5. UAWD will encourage members to raise motions at their local union membership meetings to form Strike Readiness Committees resourced by the local union. UAWD will circulate this template motion for convenience.
6. UAWD will prioritize committing funding and staff resources to support UAWD members the following local contexts:
a. Where an active group of UAWD members organized during the IEB elections
b. Where UAWD members have already attended workshops and actively distributed flyers
c. Where there was a strong showing for UAWD members in recent elections
d. Where current leadership has proven resistant to putting resources towards a contract campaign, even after membership resolutions have been brought do so.