At the Saturday, September 11th UAWD Steering Committee meeting, the Committee voted unanimously to begin the formation of an Education Committee.
“Education is something that UAWD believes is absolutely essential for our union membership and something that we have wanted to prioritize since the formation of UAWD,” said Co-Chair Justin Mayhugh. “The campaign for One Member One Vote has been the primary issue we’ve been focused on given the urgency of the situation, but as our membership has expanded, we’ve had some knowledgeable and passionate UAWD members come forward and offer to spearhead our efforts.”
One of the first tasks for the committee will be to educate UAW members about the upcoming referendum vote, which will begin October 12th.
“UAWD has been reaching out to UAW members across the country,” Chairperson Scott Houldieson said. “We’ve been somewhat surprised at the number of UAW members we’ve spoken to that weren’t even aware that this historic vote will be taking place. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much communication by the IUAW in that regard. We want to reach as many UAW members as we can with the facts on how the vote will work and why the vote is so important. The Education Committee can be a tremendous help in doing that.”
Mayhugh says that once the Education Committee is up and running, he envisions it offering workshops to members on worker rights, union ethics, labor history and more. “Ideally, we would also like to publish interviews with important UAW and labor figures,” he said. “There is so much knowledge that someone like Paul Schrade (former Region 6 Director) can share with the UAW members of today. I think there is so much we can learn from the folks who have stood up through the years for what is right, regardless of what it may have cost their personal careers.”
In an email correspondence to the UAWD membership on September 12th, the Steering Committee stated that they would be asking for volunteers to join the Education Committee at the Annual Meeting on September 19th.
UAWD members who are interested in joining the Education Committee but will be unable to attend the Annual Meeting can send an email to [email protected] stating their interest in joining.