Retiree Eligibility
UAWD Priority resolution for
the UAW Constitutional Convention
Retiree Eligibility for IEB Elections
Amendment to Article 10
The UAW Constitution is clear: all UAW members in good standing are eligible to run for the IEB, and retirees are members. However, the UAW Monitor allowed someone with a clear conflict of interest—current UAW President Ray Curry—to decide whether retirees are eligible to challenge him. Unsurprisingly, he said no.
Here’s why we say YES to retirees running for IEB.
Background
- Nothing in the UAW Constitution says that retirees can’t be nominated and elected by their fellow members to serve our union.
- 60% of UAW members are retirees. 100% of UAW members should hope to be retirees one day!
- The UAW Constitution is clear: you must be a member in “continuous good standing for period of one (1) year preceding the date of nomination” for at least one year to be nominated for the International Executive Board.
- 75% of UAW retirees continue to pay voluntary monthly dues. They are considered members in good standing.
Opposition from the Administration Caucus
- Even though the Constitution is crystal clear, the UAW Monitor—who has almost certainly never been a union member or voted in a union election—decided to leave the question of whether retirees should be eligible to run to someone who had a clear conflict of interest.
- That person was the current UAW President, who is running for reelection. Unsurprisingly, on March 24, he decided to disqualify the majority of the membership of our union from challenging him.
- It’s no coincidence that his decision disqualified several of his opponents who had already declared their candidacy for President.
- Another reason members of the Administration Caucus only want to run against active workers is that active workers won’t get paid time off to campaign, while members of the AC can and do use union resources to get paid to campaign.
- It’s also telling that the so-called leader of our union is so afraid of democracy that he opposed One Member, One Vote—and now the legitimate candidacies of dues-paying members.
Why Retiree Eligibility Is Important
for Our Union Democracy
- Our union is strongest if all members in good standing can fully participate in our union democracy. That doesn’t only include the right to vote, it means the right to serve our union by running for office.
- Our union siblings who have been dues-paying UAW members for decades have been disqualified by the unilateral decision of one undemocratically elected person.
- Rank-and-file members fought for years for One Member, One Vote, and we must refuse to let our retirees be thrown under the bus now that our time to vote has arrived.
- Everyone who is allowed to vote should be allowed to run for IEB. No dues-paying member should be left out of our union democracy on the basis of their retirement status.
Why it matters to us
- As an auto worker, I know that our union stands on the shoulders of the giants who came before us, and I stand in solidarity with our UAW retirees.
- As a retiree, I have paid dues to the UAW for number of years, from year joined to today. For all of those years, we never got to vote directly for our IEB leadership—it’s our time.
- As a reformer, I believe in new leadership, but I also believe that new leadership can come from old-timers in our union.
- As an academic worker, I believe that knowledge is shared through generations, and I value the wisdom and leadership of our retirees.
- As a legal aid worker, I fight every day when I’m at work for justice, and I believe the decision to disqualify retirees is unjust.
- As a young worker and/or new UAW member, it is wrong that I’m eligible to run for the IEB, but my union siblings who have been dues-paying members for decades have been disqualified.
2022 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.
Follow what we're fighting for at the 2022 UAW Constitutional Convention.
