Democratizing our unions

Although my union proudly calls itself a “member led union,” it is extremely undemocratic in several ways.

We do not have “one member, one vote” for the leadership. This means a new caucus needs to win control of at least a majority of the 23 chapters to control the board of directors and the top officer positions.

While it might not be immediately apparent to the members, this structure allows those who run the union to stay in power as long as their factions control their local chapters.

The same caucus has kept their iron grip on the leadership and have pushed through a stream of terrible CBAs that trade small pay increases for class size increases. It also over-relies on protest, lobbying and bargaining instead of organizing the members to have power in the workplace.

As you can imagine, only a tiny fraction of the union’s 29,000 members are actively involved. The leadership uses the low level of engagement to marginalize anyone who raises questions so they can stay in control.

Unions are our most powerful means for democratizing work. But we can’t do that if our unions are undemocratic like mine. That’s we are forming a new caucus to challenge the existing leadership so we can turn our union around.

Around the country, members are organizing to take over and transform their unions, some of the largest in the country. After a coalition backed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union swept into office in late 2021, it immediately promised to strike UPS once the contract ended.

This winter the UAW Members United slate won the secretary-treasurer position and advanced to the run-off for president and half the seats on the UAW executive board. If the challengers win they will end control of the caucus that has run the union for more than 70 years. Expectations are high that they can turn around the union known for making destructive concessions and blatant corruption.

A candidate who opposed the disastrous TA for the railroad unions was just elected president of the 28,000 member Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) over the incumbent who supported it.

In April, the Essential Workers for a Democratic UFCW caucus will also be pushing for one member, one vote in selecting the top two officers of their union.

If you are locked out of having any real power, left in the dark about what your union is doing in bargaining, wonder how dues are being spent, and are frustrated about the money given as campaign donations you likely have a democracy deficit in your union.

Labor Notes magazine holds bi-annual conferences at which its member activists train rank-and-file members to organize. One of its most popular workshops is how to organize an opposition caucus, which I attended this past summer.

Our chapter caucus ran in the last election and won about half the seats on the executive council but lost the top spots. Winning an election is only the beginning of the work.

After taking office it is essential to continue building support for your efforts and empower the members after you win. There are some important ways to do that.

Review your union bylaws for possible reforms that would give members real power within their union and engage them to become more involved. After discussing your ideas in member meetings, draft proposed changes and organize members to support the changes when they come up for a vote.

A democratic union doesn’t prepare for bargaining with a member survey whose results are never disclosed to the members. It begins with a broad based discussion in open meetings, like the Chicago Teachers Union uses, where the members say what they need and determine what they want to achieve in bargaining. 

In 2021, the UCAFT used open bargaining to engage hundreds of members to attend bargaining sessions not only to watch the UC negotiators but also include the membership in what was a closed-door process for the union. As a result, their two strike threats proved credible and they won a much improved CBA.

Another effective way to democratize your union is to set up an organizing committee (OC) long before bargaining begins. The OC can identify and train stewards who then engage a large number of members. The more members who are involved the more they will demand a say. This network of newly engaged members will become the base of a future reform effort.

The OC can set up and oversee a campaign action team to plan, coordinate and take collective action in defense of members’ interests and put forward new demands long before bargaining begins.

Rank-and-file members who take these efforts can build the necessary member support for changing the union from within. The transformation of the Chicago Teachers Union, Teamsters, UCAFT and BLET are models for reinvigorating the entire workers movement.

When change happens, it opens the way for not only new leadership but new tactics, strategies and objectives that can change our unions into a powerful force for changing work and society.

Robert Ovetz is editor of “Workers' Inquiry and Global Class Struggle,” the author of “When Workers Shot Back” and of the new book, “We the Elites: Why the US Constitution Serves the Few.” Follow him at @OvetzRobert.