A victory decades in the making

Referendum organizing reignites solidarity in the UAW.

I still don’t think it’s really hit me that we made UAW history last night.

On December 2nd, Monitor Neil Barofsky announced that the UAW referendum vote count had been completed and that direct elections had won by a 63% margin over continuing the delegate system for electing our International Executive Board officers.

The referendum results must be certified by federal court before becoming official, but barring some unforeseen circumstance, it appears the membership of our union has charted a new course moving forward.

Winning direct elections of our IEB officers has been a long-standing struggle for reformers. As far back as the 1980’s — probably even prior — UAW members have organized to varying degrees in an attempt to democratize the union by pushing for a referendum vote. In every instance, the Administration Caucus has been able to fend off reformers with relative ease.

(UAW Local 909 flyer from 1983. Courtesy of Frank Hammer.)

In 2019, UAWD and other reformers within our union attempted to organize to call for a special convention in order to amend the UAW Constitution that would mandate direct elections of IEB officers. While our efforts came relatively close to meeting the requirements needed to hold a special convention, ultimately, our efforts fell short.

The consent decree agreed to by the UAW and the US government late last year that mandated a referendum vote opened a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for today’s reformers — an opportunity never afforded to those who came before.

Would we have won direct elections without the referendum mandate? Maybe… eventually. But Constitutionally and institutionally speaking, the deck is so incredibly stacked against anyone in the UAW wanting to implement such a change, it would have taken years to organize such an endeavor.

UAWD was already organizing prior to the mandate in anticipation of what would be contained in the consent decree. Knowing the outcome of the consent decree agreed to by the Teamsters in 1989, we felt there was an extremely good chance that direct elections would be mandated, or at the very least, that the membership of the UAW would be allowed to vote on the issue.

The government and the UAW ended up agreeing to a referendum vote, and UAW members from across the union went to work. UAWD — led by a somewhat rag-tag team of current and former members — ramped up our outreach efforts to as many UAW Locals across the country as possible. UAW members from countless Locals volunteered their time and money to fight for the cause. Retirees phone banked and donated. Active members talked to coworkers and handed out flyers. They explained to their union siblings why this referendum vote was so important.

In addition, supporters of the labor movement from all across the country got behind the One Member One Vote campaign. Donations from laborers across the country poured in in support of union democracy. Organizations such as Labor Notes, DSA, and countless others supported our reform efforts very early on in the process. Nelson Lichtenstein, Paul Schrade, Megan Day, Peter Olney, and more were willing to put their names out there in support of our mission.

Teamsters members — especially Teamsters for a Democratic Union — were a huge source of knowledge and inspiration for UAWD. Watching the TDU-backed Teamsters United slate sweep into office last month provided the last bit of inspiration that we all needed to push us over the finish line. It was proof that reform is possible. It might take years of hard work and organizing, but it is possible if you’re willing to fight for it.

As our referendum efforts continued, auto workers in Illinois were organizing with graduate workers in California. John Deere workers in Iowa were reaching out to legal workers in New York and vice versa. UAWD recording secretary Chris Budnick traveled from Kentucky to Virginia to support Volvo workers on strike this past summer. Just last month, UAW members and supporters of labor donated financial support to John Deere workers on strike in a wonderful display of solidarity. Senator Bernie Sanders joined our efforts to raise money for strikers as well. We are currently trying to raise awareness and donations for our UAW siblings on strike at Columbia University.

(You can donate to SWC-UAW’s hardship fund here.)

This past June, UAWD Recording Secretary Chris Budnick and his daughter brought a care package to Dublin, Virginia to support UAW Local 2069 members on strike at Volvo.

As we got closer to the referendum vote, UAW members were sharing their experiences with one another — our daily life struggles, what we liked or disliked about our jobs, where we felt like our union needed to go in order to turn things around. The referendum brought us together in ways that seemed unimaginable not that long ago.

And this is perhaps the most beautiful aspect of the entire experience — it brought UAW members from all across the country together for the first time. In hindsight, it was a special moment where members from all sectors and of all different cultural and political backgrounds came together for a common cause — the right to a more democratic union.

The referendum outcome is only the beginning of the work that needs to be done to chart a different course — a new direction. But this win is a testament that solidarity is still alive in the UAW and that members still believe our union is worth fighting for.

We move forward.

In solidarity,
Justin Mayhugh