Detroit, MI June 5 — The 36th United Auto Workers (UAW) Constitutional Convention ended today as delegates followed newly elected UAW President Dennis Williams and Teamster President James Hoffa across the street to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to support a union organizing campgain. Following Williams and Hoffa across the street is already more than they deserve.
The endless self-congratulations and standing ovations for all the “great labor leaders” crowded onto the stage stands in stark contrast to the miserable conditions faced by workers and retirees and the storm clouds gathering for the coming year. It stands in even greater contrast to the racist attacks by the bankers and auto bosses on the workers and youth who live in the City of Detroit, where the jails are full and unemployment is about 50%, and significantly higher for black youth.
The two main goals of the convention were to raise morale among the delegates, who are mostly elected officers and the base of the International leadership, and to raise the dues for the International union. The hot item was a 25% dues increase, the first since 1967, which will go entirely into the International Strike and Defense Fund.
The urgency behind the dues increase is that 50% of the UAW membership is now in anti-union Right to Work (RTW) states. If Ohio goes RTW, that will jump to 60%. When the contracts at GM, Ford, Chrysler and others expire next year, workers living in RTW states will have the option of quitting the union. What’s more, in every RTW state there will be a massive campaign to win workers out of the UAW, financed by Grover Norquist and the Koch brothers, similar to the one that derailed the UAW campaign at VW earlier this year.  The dues increase is mainly to try to aggressively counter the anti-UAW campaign, and to build a cushion against potentially big losses.
Much was said about the 2015 contract talks and the need to have a strong strike fund in order to “show the bosses we mean business” in closing the two-tier wage gap. But the odds of a strike in the auto industry are slim to none. The UAW leadership is partners with the bosses, even more so since the Obama administration orchestrated the 2009 federal takeover and bailout of the industry. The only two-tier gap that was closed this week was among the UAW staff, who went from starting at 70% pay and taking six years to reach full pay, to starting at 90% and taking three years to reach top pay.
Back at the worksites, there was mass resistance to the proposed dues hike. At some plants, local President’s chose not to run for delegate rather than campaign for it. Every Ford assembly plant except one opposed the increase. One local President who ran in favor of the dues increase was defeated by a 3-1 margin. But that opposition was never organized to do battle on the convention floor and after some debate, it passed easily.
After more than 40 years of “Buy American” and partnering with the bosses, the UAW leadership has painted itself into a corner where they have to rely on the bosses to survive. This strategy has seen the union shrink from 1.5 million members to just under 400,000 and has left Detroit, Flint and many other auto towns in ruins. If they can’t win some significant reform in the 2015 contracts, workers will be able to vote with their feet and resign from the union. The chickens have come home to roost.
Beneath the balloons and standing ovations, between the hospitality suites and Directors’ dinners, despite the video message from Obama and the awards given to politicians, a battle was being waged to challenge the UAW leadership’s grip on the workers. It’s a struggle over whether we will be led by the Democratic Party to a future of fascism and war, or whether we can build a mass base for PLP and international communist revolution. This week, that struggle took place among a handful of delegates. Over the next year, it can grow.