The following resolution passed at the UAWD Special Membership Meeting held on October 5, 2023.
Purpose: Our union has run a historic contract campaign, both in its militancy and its commitment to openness and transparency. We recognize President Shawn Fain and our leadership’s commitment to the founding ideals of our union, that our union is strongest when it is run democratically, with the membership as its highest authority. By continuing to buck the coercive ways of their predecessors, through running a free and democratic vote on any tentative agreement (TA) or employer offer, we believe the UAW International Executive Board has an opportunity to demonstrate the immense change that we’ve made to democratize the UAW.
Whereas, the members of the UAW are the highest authority, and deserve to consider any TA or employer offer fairly; yet, historically, the UAW leadership has been undemocratic and opaque in how it has presented TAs to workers — in many cases intimidating and coercing workers to accept concessionary contracts;
Whereas, during the Q&A portion of President Fain’s August 1, 2023 Facebook live update, he remarked on the question of contract voting: “I’ll be honest that’s not worked out yet. But we’re not going to cram down anybody’s throat. We want people to have time to see the agreements and to understand what’s in it and to ask questions, and make an informed decision.”
Be it resolved that UAWD recommends the following democratic voting process for a TA or employer offer to the UAW International Executive Board:
- At least one week be allotted between a TA or employer offer being announced for a vote and the start of voting
- The UAW will instruct all elected officials and staff at the International, Regional, and Local level not to use union communication resources to advocate for or against the TA or employer offer (this does not prevent elected officials or staff from having or sharing opinions on the TA, but does prohibit them from using resources they have exclusive access to, like email lists, contact lists, phone apps, and more to advocate for a position on the TA)
- The UAW will create a guide explicitly comparing the Members’ Demands to what is present in the TA or employer offer
- The UAW will hold open meetings — in person and on Zoom — to convene rank-and-file workers across Locals for open deliberation on the TA or employer offer; the UAW will instruct Regions and Locals to make sure equal opportunities be provided to rank-and-file voices to speak in support and against the TA or employer offer
- Before a TA or employer offer is presented, the UAW will issue a statement explaining the democratic process detailed above, and explaining that members can vote “Yes” if they accept the agreement or “No” if they want to keep fighting for a stronger contract and that the power of our union comes from members’ willingness to strike for what they want to win