UE Education: Essential for Rank-and-File Unionism

Guided by UE’s principles, in the last two years we have refocused our education program to empower rank-and-file leaders with trainings on the skills and knowledge needed to run their locals, regions, and national union, and to collectively fight the bosses and the politicians who support their interests.

Only when members run their locals do we have a member-run national union that is able to fight back against this administration’s attacks on civil rights and workers’ rights. Workshops held at regional council meetings, sub-regional meetings, and national conventions, as well as training sessions organized by local unions, have focused on equipping members with the skills needed to fight back in an era of increased anti-worker attacks. Educational events help members and local union officers learn about policies on grievance handling, workplace representation, preparation for bargaining, how to wage a strike, union financial integrity and practices, data management, and other leadership skills. The work of the Southern Workers Assembly and our union’s participation in Labor Notes Conferences and Troublemakers Schools have contributed to our efforts to bring forward new activists and leaders who will carry the union’s work into the future.

In the last two years we have welcomed a great number of new members and leaders into UE. Through our program of worker-to-worker education, they have been trained by established locals in skills necessary to run strong, militant locals steeped in UE’s principles. The worker-to-worker education model draws on the direct transfer of the experience and knowledge each of our locals has in waging shop floor fights. Workers trained by other workers on how to fight the boss gain confidence to undertake such fights themselves. This education program has also proven that when workers are called upon to be experts in their own fights by educating other workers, they gain the confidence to take on their own bosses in even bigger fights. The model creates a number of on-ramps for development of a new generation of leaders, especially among those from the most marginalized groups. This leads to an exponential increase in the leadership capacity that is required to run locals powerful enough to win against the bosses without relying on staff.

A lot of UE members are young. The challenges facing young workers today—including precarious employment, student debt, climate change, and attacks on democratic rights—require a union that actively engages with and supports its younger members. The labor movement depends on the engagement and leadership of the next generation to ensure its continued strength, relevance, and resilience. UE has a proud history of developing rank-and-file leadership and empowering young workers to take up the fight for justice in the workplace and beyond. The Young Activist Program has been a vital initiative providing education, leadership training, political analysis, and movement-building opportunities for young UE members, helping to develop future leaders of the union. Past participants of the Young Activist Program have gone on to take up important roles within the union, contributing to organizing, bargaining, political advocacy, and internal union democracy. Reinvigorating the Young Activist Program is a continued commitment to developing a new generation of rank-and-file leaders rooted in working-class values, militant unionism, and opposition to racism, sexism, bigotry, and capitalist exploitation.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THIS 79^th UE CONVENTION:

1. Commits the national union to establish a worker-to-worker educational program to:
   1. Organize and facilitate the exchange of members across locals for education purposes;
   2. Sponsor paid time for workers to engage in worker-to-worker education;
2. Commits the national union to establish a member-run education committee which works with locals and members to produce education programs, trainings, and materials, and evaluate education needs, the results of which are to be reviewed by the committee and made available via the UE website ueunion.org. The GEB will take this up at the first meeting of 2026 to be presented to the membership at the 2026 regional council meetings;
3. Commits the national union to provide educational materials and workshops to assist members to run effective local unions and successfully wage local, national and international struggles, including:
   1. Steward training and grievance handling, democratic operation of a local, local union finances and integrity, and preparing for negotiations and in-shop struggles, with training tailored to the needs of each local;
   2. Sub-regional educational and training conferences;
   3. A day of workshops at the national convention and workshops for use at regional, sub-regional and local membership meetings;
   4. The UE Steward and other materials for local officers, stewards and members;
   5. Political education that counteracts corporate media influence and promotes a working-class consciousness;
   6. Maintenance and promotion of the UE website;
   7. Continued publication of the UE NEWS;
   8. Continued translation of materials into Spanish and/or other languages;
   9. Providing language interpretation of meetings where appropriate;
   10. Utilizing video teleconferencing to conduct educational training;
   11. An updated UE Leadership Guide, to include digital access;
   12. Sponsoring paid time exchanges between members of different locals;
4. Calls on all locals to:
   1. Provide leadership development of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ members;
   2. Educate their members about UE history and principles;
   3. Regularly publish local newsletters;
   4. Recognize the educational value of monthly membership meetings;
   5. Hold classes to introduce new members to the union, explaining policies, structure, and collective bargaining agreements;
   6. Seek the right to conduct union orientation for new hires during work time;
   7. Use websites, social media, and union bulletin boards to educate members;
   8. Encourage and support younger members in education opportunities;
   9. Negotiate employer-paid lost time for members to attend training and educational events;
5. Commits the national union to revitalize and update the Young Activist Program by:
   1. Prioritizing this program in upcoming budgets and strategic planning;
   2. Actively identifying and encouraging young members to participate in the program;
6. Commits the national union to establish a mentorship program to pair new young union members with veterans of rank-and-file unionism, retirees, and alumni, with the purpose of developing skills in the following: negotiating skills and tactics, managing a UE local, and dealing with the boss.