United Auto Workers hold 39th Constitutional Convention
Detroit, MI – Over 900 delegates of the United Auto Workers (UAW) gathered at the Huntington Place convention center from June 15-18 to determine the path that the union would take in the coming years.
The 39th Constitutional Convention was held at an important time in the labor movement. Recent times have seen attacks on public sector workers from the Trump administration, heavy investment in AI threatening jobs, and at the same time, auto workers in the South have struggled to win union recognition. All of these things directly impact the UAW and its members. At the convention, UAW members reflected on the past four years of developments.
At the 38th convention in 2022, members passed a resolution creating the “one member, one vote” system for the first time, creating a direct democratic election of leadership. The passage of that resolution is seen as having played a significant role in the election of UAW President Shawn Fain’s victory. The convention held this month saw members come out and organize for measures to protect their democratic gains and make advances toward a more bold and powerful international union.
Significant changes were made regarding strike pay. The Constitution Committee recommended a strike package that included an increase of minimum weekly strike pay from $400 to $550, an increase to the maximum strike fund withdrawals for organizing drives from 60 million to 100 million, and an increase to the Strike & Defense Fund thresholds. This allows the strike fund to grow to approximately $1 billion. The recommended package was debated on the convention floor and passed after delegates argued that the package would enable the union to prepare for a major upcoming battle they expect to see with the Big Three automakers when contracts expire in May 2028. The big three refers to General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Stellantis (formerly known as Fiat Chrysler).
Newly-organized UAW Local 42 members won their first contract at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee this year, and were honored with the UAW Social Justice Award. Their victory is a breakthrough in the UAW’s strategy to unionize auto production in the South.
“They [Local 42] sent a message across Tennessee, across Region 8 and across America: the South is not for sale,” declared Tim Smith, the director of UAW Region 8, “Workers cannot be bought, and when workers stand together, corporate greed can be defeated!”
Alongside the resolutions that passed to build a more powerful and militant UAW, there is still an ongoing struggle to maintain and strengthen democratic reforms that the membership won in 2022. An amendment was raised on the convention floor, proposing that any changes to the current policy of direct democratic election of the International executive board, known as the “one member, one vote” system, only be permitted by a referendum of the entire union membership. The “one member, one vote” system that was won in 2022 replaced a previous delegate system that had been used to elect the International executive board.
This amendment’s intention was to protect democratic gains and practically enshrine direct democracy in the membership. To the confusion and frustration of membership on the convention floor, UAW General Counsel Bill Karges recommended to Convention Chair Laura Dickerson that the amendment be struck down as unconstitutional, and, as such, the membership was denied the opportunity to vote on it. The same day, a separate amendment, also deemed unconstitutional by Karges, was allowed to be debated and voted on. In the past four years, Karges has reportedly opposed President Fain’s efforts to create a more aggressive legal counsel in bargaining. Continued behaviors, such as opposing the “one member, one vote” amendment this year, are in alignment with the positions taken by the old guard leadership that opposed the democratic reforms that were passed.
“We feel that the UAW counsel made an improper interpretation of the amendment for one member one vote. We feel that this interpretation is not consistent with other earlier decisions at the Constitutional Convention,” said Gary Chynowrth, vice chair of the UAW Member Action caucus and Local 160 member, “Member Action is going to do everything in our power to help members keep their right to vote, as that is the cornerstone right to prevent the fraud perpetrated by the Administration Caucus leaders.”
A resolution was also passed that around international solidarity. UAW members won an estimated $400,000 divestment of their union from bonds in the state of Israel, after an over 50-year campaign, which began when Arab American members led strikes across Detroit and Dearborn in 1973 to demand divestment.
In an interview posted by UAW4Democracy, UAW Local 2325 member Olga Karounus stated, “This is a moment that is going to resonate far beyond just this room. I know we just answered the call of the Palestinian trade workers, who have been calling for this for over 50 years.”
The UAW is set to convene again for the 40th Constitutional Convention in 2030. In the next four years, rank-and-file members who worked to win the recent reforms say they will continue to chart the path ahead for a more militant, powerful and democratic international union.
“We’ve got to build a global movement of workers everywhere,” said UAW President Shawn Fain, “not pitted against each other across borders, but united in a common cause for a society that works for the working class.”