Auto Workers to Vote on Direct Elections for Officers

Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike against GM and two-tier wages in 2019. Now members are voting for control over their union through an upcoming one-member, one-vote referendum. Photo: Jim West / jimwestphoto.com

https://labornotes.org/2021/09/auto-workers-vote-direct-elections-officers

September 27, 2021 / Jonah Furman

United Auto Workers members will soon vote in an unprecedented referendum to decide whether the union’s 400,000 working members and nearly 600,000 retirees will directly elect their top officers. Ballots hit the mail October 19 and are due back November 29.

The UAW’s executive officers are currently elected to four-year terms by delegates at its convention. An “Administration Caucus” has dominated these positions for the past seven decades, using the powers of appointment available to International officers to wield tight political control.

In the auto industry, where most UAW members work, many are frustrated with years of concessionary contracts that have allowed automakers to build a two-tier workforce, with the number of temporary and lower-paid workers ballooning.

“Two-tier was the worst thing,” says Mark Gevaart, who works at GM’s Fort Wayne Assembly and is a former president of Local 2209. “I work right across the line with someone making half my wage. How do we deal with that?”

FULL story at link above.