UE Convention Resolutions
Workplace Struggle
Direct action is the most effective way to resolve workplace problems. The recent occupation of Republic Windows & Doors by members of Local 1110, leading to the quick resolution of their conflict with their employer and Bank of America, and giving workers the ability to gain money legally owed to them, stands as a shining example of this. Our union emphasizes workplace struggle – direct unified action by rank-and-file members – is indispensable to achieving our goals. It is this activism that is most effective in pressuring management to yield to our demands.
Concerted action in the workplace is a defining feature of rank-and-file unionism. Concerted action distinguishes us from the business unionism that continues to dominate the American labor movement. We do not see the union as a business to which members pay a fee, in exchange for the services of a staff of generously-compensated professionals, who then represent the workers' interests through legalism, lobbying, and backroom deal-making. A union is a workers' organization, built by members as a means to improve their condition through collective action.
In contract negotiations, this means involvement of the members in developing their demands, and in tactics that show support for the bargaining committee and keep pressure on management. Too many union leaders believe the best way to negotiate a contract is to keep their members in the dark and keep them quiet. Our approach is to give the members as much information as possible, to engage in action to support their proposals, and to help formulate tactics most likely to maximize membership participation.
The same is true in dealing with day-to-day conflicts and violations of workers’ rights that occur between contract negotiations. UE stewards often find that their chance to resolve a grievance before it is even put into writing are increased when the members collectively express their discontent to management. Many UE locals have effectively used such tactics as "mass grievances," signed by every worker in the shop or department, or even delivered to the boss by a mass delegation. UE locals find creative ways, while a grievance is going through the formal steps of the grievance procedure, to remind management of rank-and-file support for the union's position. Our reluctance to take our grievances to arbitration grows from our unwillingness to place our fate in the hands of a third party. In some UE contracts – notably the GE national agreement – our members retain the legal right to strike over a grievance after receiving the company's final answer. The existence of this right, even if infrequently exercised, adds a strong incentive for management to settle grievances.
The UE approach to political action – collective action for political change, rather than attempts to buy influence with politicians through campaign contributions or via paid lobbyists – is closely related to UE's concept of workplace action. For the growing number of UE members in the public sector, the two areas of struggle are inseparable. They work for units of government, and elected officials at some level that are ultimately responsible for their conditions of work.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 71st UE CONVENTION:
- Directs the union at all levels to educate our members about the necessity, effectiveness, and most useful strategies of workplace struggle, including the purchase and use of books such as both Troublemakers' Handbooks, published by Labor Notes, and to ensure proper democratic structures are in place to carry them out, including, when appropriate, stewards' meetings and trainings;
- Urges greater publicity for gains achieved by our members through workplace struggle, in the UE Steward, UE News, local union newsletters, and other union communication channels.