Sustainable
Strike fund
UAWD Priority resolution for
the UAW Constitutional Convention
Sustainable Strike Fund
Amendment to Article 16
We will strengthen the sustainability of the UAW Strike and Defense Fund primarily by retaining within the strike fund the interest and earnings on investments received by the strike fund, as well as a higher percentage of the rebate that would otherwise be transferred out of the strike fund to the international union.
Background
Strike Fund rebates and their use by the AC
- There is a long history of reliance on the Strike Fund for operating expenses by amending the Constitution according to the wishes of the Administration Caucus.
- Beginning in 1983, the first rebates from the Strike Fund appeared in the Constitution. It called for rebating 10% of each member’s dues to Locals & 5% of each member’s dues to the International Union Operating Fund.
- Rebates were increased to 95% of the monthly allocation for the strike fund at the 2006 Convention. The 13th Rebate was also implemented in 2006, meaning none of the money allocated for the Strike Fund would remain in the Strike Fund.
- Going back to the 1992 Convention, 75% of the interest and earnings from the Strike Fund was to be allocated towards the Organizing, Education and Communication Fund.
- At the 2006 Convention, the remaining 25% of the interest and earnings from the Strike Fund was directed to be allocated to the International General Fund, meaning all interest & earnings from the Strike Fund were now being allocated elsewhere.
- In 2014, the Constitution was changed so all of the interest & earnings from the Strike Fund went to the Intl. General Fund.
AC’s use of ad hoc transfers from the Strike Fund
- Large transfers to the General Fund have also been part of the attack on our Strike Fund.
- In 1995, delegates approved transferring $50 million from the Strike Fund to the General Fund.
- In 2002, delegates approved transferring $75 million from the Strike Fund to establish an Emergency Operations Fund, for use if the International General Fund ran dry.
- In 2006, delegates approved transferring up to $60 million from the Strike Fund to the General Fund in between Constitutional Conventions for specific purposes such as organizing drives and promoting the interests of the membership or working people in general. This provision is still used regularly.
- In 2010, delegates approved four transfers of $25 million dollars from the Strike Fund to the International General Fund in June of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Opposition from the Administration Caucus
- The AC has long used the Strike Fund to bolster their operating expenses. They want to continue to have the general power to draw interest from the fund for their own purposes, instead of having to make the case to the membership why they are transferring up to $60 million from the fund between Conventions, for purposes like organizing drives—which would remain possible under our proposed UAWD amendment.
- The AC says that rebates go back to members, but much stays in the UAW General Fund. UAWD’s amendment recalculates rebates so that money flows to Locals while leaving enough in the Strike Fund for continued growth: 60% to Locals, 30% to the International, & 10% remains in the Strike Fund.
Why Strike Funds Matter to Our Union Democracy
- Interest made from the Strike Fund currently goes into the International’s General Fund, to be used at the sole discretion of leadership, instead of requiring that they come to the Convention to propose a concrete purpose for transferring money from the Strike Fund.
- Ensuring interest doesn’t flow out of the Strike Fund means we can track each transfer out of the fund and the transfer’s purpose.
- International and local rebates ensure that the Strike Fund cannot be replenished as it is depleted, while still leaving a limited amount of funding to flow back to Locals for use directly by members.
- When our Strike Fund reaches $850 million, dues revert back to 2 hours per month from 2.5, an increase that was approved in 2014 and extended in 2018. We’re almost there.
Why Strike Funds matter to us
- As auto workers & manufacturing workers, only militant strikes, like the John Deere workers’ strike, will reverse the biggest concessions from the past, like ending tiers and winning new hire pensions.
- As legal services & academic workers, strikes like the Student Workers of Columbia’s 10-week strike last year, have relied on the Strike Fund to win long-held demands like protections for harassment & discrimination.
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.
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