March 7, 2014
At the UAW Constitutional Convention, June, 2014 –
A TOOL FOR ELIMINATING TWO-TIER
First
and second tier workers at the Big 3 and beyond have been put in a box which
they can climb out of. UAW Skilled
Trades workers were in that box years ago, and they climbed out of it, sort
of.
The
problem: skilled trades in the auto
plants were always in the minority – even more so in assembly plants, less so in
machining or stamping operations – but always in the minority. Come contract time and a tentative
settlement, the membership then has to vote.
That settlement features agreements that apply to everybody, and then there
are specialized agreements that pertain to just skilled trades – like tool
allowances and the like. Say the skilled
trades vote no because the tool allowance is too small, but the majority of the
facility is satisfied with all the general features of the agreement and votes
yes. Skilled trades under these rules
don’t have a chance.
"SEPARATE RATIFICATION"
Somewhere
along the way (which is another story) the Constitution was amended to change
the way contracts were ratified. The
Constitution was amended to include the right of “separate ratification.” In the example above where the members
approve a contract overall, but trades rejects, the right of separate ratification
kicks in. Management is informed that
the contract ratification is incomplete.
The UAW bargainers get to work, compile a list of the items in the
skilled trades portion of the agreement that were the cause for the skilled
trades “no” vote, and return to the negotiating table to see about correcting
those rejected, specifically skilled trades agreements. Once
corrected, depending on who you talk to, there’s another ratification vote, or
it’s considered “ratified” outright. If
the skilled trades portion of the agreement is ratified, then the whole agreement
is considered ratified. [This is not the
way it went down during the ratification vote on the 2011 UAW-Chrysler National
Agreement, which is a shameful story that will be the subject of a future
blogpost].
UAW CONSTITUTION REFLECT CURRENT REALITY?
The
Constitution actually protects the right of separate ratification not only for
the Skilled Trades minority, but for Office Workers, Engineers and Technicians
as well. See Article 19: http://uaw.org/page/uaw-constitution-contracts-and-negotiations-0 The
theory is the same: specialized agreements involving sub-groups. When the UAW and various companies including
the Detroit 3 negotiated new terms and special agreements for a sub-group of
workers who are considered second tier, they created new candidates for the
right of separate ratification. While
these tiered agreements have been around for a decade or more, the UAW
International Executive Board hasn’t sought to update the Constitution to
incorporate this new reality.
So
it’s going to have to be up to local union leadership and/or rank and file
workers to work to change the way contracts are ratified. It happened for skilled trades, now it must
happen for separate groups that used to make up the one group: “production.” UAW members will have to (1) run for Convention
Delegate, and (2) submit their resolutions to a vote at their local membership meeting
– by mid-April, when the resolutions are due downtown.
HASTENING THE END OF 2-TIER
There
are some who've reacted to the proposal by saying they don’t want to put
anything in the Constitution that would make 2nd tier a permanent
feature of factory life (at least until all the “traditional” workers
retired). Yet, what better way to give 2nd
tier workers the power to hold the negotiators accountable to them, than by
separate ratification? This way the
second (or minority tier) won’t have a “2nd tier” contract imposed
on them, and the tier 1 workers won’t be in the box of approving an agreement they
like while involuntarily imposing an inferior agreement on their 2nd
tier brothers and sisters (or sons and daughters). Inserting it
into the Constitution – a formidable but worthwhile task at the upcoming
convention – will hasten the day when the UAW can rid itself of “two tiers.” Passing a resolution like the one featured
here – which has already been a subject of conversation and debate among
autoworkers in and out of the Autoworker Caravan – may be the best way to
prepare for contract negotiations in 2015.
Frank
Hammer
March
7, 2014
Amendment: Article
19 Section 3 & 4
Strengthen and
Expand the Right of Separate Ratification
· Whereas, the UAW membership
exercises its democratic will by voting by secret ballot on the ratification of
tentative collective bargaining agreements,
· Whereas, Article 19, Section 3 of the UAW
Constitution protects groups for which distinct bargaining agreements are
negotiated which apply only to those specific groups, such as skilled trades or
office workers, by establishing for those groups the Right of Separate
Ratification,
· Whereas, the Right of Separate Ratification has been an important tool
historically to increase the union’s leverage at the bargaining table,
· Whereas, the Right to Separate Ratification was violated and thereby severely
weakened during the 2011 national Chrysler contract ratification when the
International Executive Board (IEB) over-ruled the “no” vote by the Chrysler
skilled trades membership and declared the contract, “ratified” over their
objections,
· Whereas, the UAW in recent years has negotiated to create new groups such as
“entry level” or “2nd tier” workers with distinct bargaining
agreements pertaining only to those groups,
Whereas, the UAW’s efforts to eradicate
two-tier and multi-tier pay and benefits in favor of equal pay for equal work
will be strengthened by instituting the Right of Separate Ratification for
lower tier workers,
Be It Resolved that, Article 19, Section 3 of the UAW
Constitution be strengthened and expanded by amending it as follows:
Upon application to and approval of the International Executive Board, a
ratification procedure shall be adopted wherein apprenticeble skilled trades and
related workers, office workers, production groups identified as “entry
level,” “traditional,” or “tier 1,” tier 2,” etc., and any other similar
production subgroup where applicable, engineers, and technicians would vote
separately on contractual matters common to all and, in the same vote on
separate ballots, vote on those
matters which relate exclusively to their group.
Be It Resolved That, Article 19, Section 4 of the UAW
Constitution be amended to read as follows:
National agreements and supplements thereof shall be ratified by the
Local Unions involved. In the event a majority in a group(s) as
described in Article 19 Section 3 vote to reject tentative contractual
provisions pertaining specifically to their group(s), a special meeting(s) of
the members of the group(s) will be held to identify those specific provisions
and to inform the bargaining representatives of the reason(s) for their
rejection.
Negotiated
changes to those identified provisions will be put to a secret ballot vote by
the group(s) affected. If the members of the group vote to ratify, the
tentative collective bargaining agreement of which those provisions are a part,
if otherwise supported by the membership, shall be considered ratified.
Finally, be it resolved,
That the Local Union transmit this resolution to all UAW Locals and
Retiree Chapters in our Region and Sub-council urging its adoption.
