Sascha Raiyn covered the UAW Convention for WDET, Detroit’s NPR Station, spotlighting UAWD and two of our members:
Margaret Mock announced her candidacy for secretary treasurer at the convention. She is a member of Local 140 and works in the Warren Truck Assembly paint shop. She says the new election process makes it possible for her to step forward as a pro-reform, anti-corruption candidate.
“It’s different because … people that would have never been allowed to come anywhere near that mic to run,” Mock says. “The intimidation has been taken away … Because it is one member, one vote, we don’t have to worry about the delegates at the convention this week stopping people from running.”
Several members say this convention was more democratic overall. Convention veterans say in the past members would be shouted down if they weren’t toeing the administration caucus line.
But at this convention, they say, more voices were heard.
This was Raymond Jensen, Jr.’s first convention. He came as an alternate delegate from local 774 in New York – the GM Powertrain plant that builds the engines for Corvettes. He is also a member of the Unite All Workers for Democracy reform caucus in the UAW.
Jensen says debate and voting on a few important issues were opened to all delegates. Those votes are generally handled by the Constitution committee.
“They did not pass,” Jensen says. “But the fact that they were pulled out of committee just adds value, and just shows that the movement is becoming stronger and stronger.”