Union Members Need to Reject Both Harris and Trump
A rank-and-file UAW member’s account of fighting for a resolution to rescind the union’s endorsement of Kamala Harris over her ongoing support for the the genocide in Gaza.
by Justin Smeltzer
Since March of this year, Workers Strike Back has been making the case for rank-and-file union members to put forward resolutions in their unions to rescind endorsements of Kamala Harris, based on her continued public and full-throated support for the genocide in Gaza. Workers Strike Back has also provided political and logistical support for union members to do this, even if they haven’t done political work in their workplaces before. I took up this challenge.
I am a rank-and-file member of United Auto Workers (UAW) local 974, and I work at the Caterpillar plant in Central Illinois. I am also a member of Workers Strike Back. With the help of other Workers Strike Back members, I pushed to get a Rescind Harris Endorsement resolution before my union. As I am new to organizing in the union movement, my fellow Workers Strike Back members helped me to learn how to approach my fellow rank-and-file UAW members about getting their support for this resolution. They helped me understand the importance of using a petition with concrete demands to have political conversations, which I know will be building blocks to begin to win over my fellow workers to the need for us to break from both the Democratic and Republican parties, both of which represent the billionaires, not the working class.
UAW, along with many other prominent unions, has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to all military aid to Israel. This came about after several rank-and-file members put forward ceasefire resolutions in their local UAW unions. This pressured the UAW international into taking a public stance on the issue, and ultimately calling for an immediate ceasefire and end all military aid.
Since the UAW’s call for Biden to immediately cut off all military aid to Israel on July 23rd, the Biden-Harris administration has not only continued military aid but increased it. In fact, $23 billion was approved since Kamala Harris was appointed to be the Democratic party nominee, not to mention the tens of billions of dollars given to Israel before then. The Biden-Harris administration is allowing Israel to expand the conflict into a wider war and has now committed to sending U.S. troops to the Middle East. Despite this, UAW President Shawn Fain and other leaders shamefully decided to endorse Biden, and now Harris, with no discussion or vote from the members. This is a betrayal of the demands of UAW members for a ceasefire, and also a demonstration of the extreme lack of democracy within our union.
And just days before election night, Fain again urged UAW members to vote for Harris, claiming that “The Democratic party is interested in working-class people and what they have to say and they want to be in our coalition.” I completely disagree with this, as I know many other workers also do. The Biden-Harris administration broke the railroad workers’ strike two years ago, and betrayed their promises on healthcare, the $15/hour minimum wage, and canceling student debt. Trump is no friend of the working class, either, and has a deeply reactionary anti-LGBTQ, anti-worker agenda. And both Harris and Trump are warmongering candidates. Working people need to reject both, and fight to build a new antiwar party of the working class. As a step towards that, Workers Strike Back is proud to be campaigning for the strongest possible vote for antiwar pro-worker Presidential candidate Jill Stein.
Workers and the Union Movement Need Our Own Party
The people of Gaza and Lebanon are suffering a genocide and a massive humanitarian crisis. This genocidal assault is being carried out by the Israeli far right government that is driving the whole middle east into a wider regional war. These actions are being backed with full force by the Biden-Harris administration. And both Trump and Harris are falling over each other to exclaim how much they will support the genocidal campaign. This illegal and immoral action should be stopped at all costs.
Neither one of the two major parties support labor. Trump defends the interests of the billionaires, as he is one himself, and he will give more tax cuts to the rich as he did while he was in office. Similarly, Harris serves the billionaire class, and has no plan for working people either. Her breaking of the railroad workers strike in 2022 itself should be a red line for union members, as well as the current genocide happening on her watch. She doesn’t want a minimum wage increase, free healthcare, a ban on fracking or do anything to avert a climate disaster. She doesn’t want to stop the militarizing the police forces or to end her unwavering support for Israel. This is why I think we need this new party for working people.
Both the Democrats or Republicans represent the interests of capitalism. Capitalism is an inherently destructive system that is currently committing a genocide at an unprecedented rate, moving the world into an increasingly more likely global war, carrying out brutal attacks on working people, and driving us into a devastating climate apocalypse. We have to end it.
That is why I think our unions, UAW and others, need to break from the two parties of war and capitalism and build a new party that works for working people and the oppressed. A party that fights for workers' interests and does not take corporate money. This way the policy can reflect what the people need. Needs like at least a $25 an hour minimum wage, free medical care, free schooling, free childcare, social housing, immediate action to end the climate catastrophe, an end to the genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon, and so many other much needed demands. If the candidates running do not represent your interests and instead they represent the interests of your oppressors, the billionaires and the bosses, unions should reject that fully and not be afraid to say who the enemy is. This includes the billionaires and their political servants, the Democrats and the Republicans.
Labor Leaders Want to Stay Silent, the Rank and File Wants To Be Heard
I started my efforts to rescind the UAW Harris endorsement by trying to get my local union president to help me with the process of putting a resolution forward to be discussed and voted on at a union meeting. He did not want to offer me any guidance and continually sent me down rabbit holes or told me he would call me back with more information. I never got any call back. I had to do the research myself of how my local works by reading materials such as our local bylaws. I soon discovered that my local union operates in such a way that as a rank-and-file member I can’t put forward a resolution. In my local union, each workplace represented by the local has proportional representation to a general council. With this in mind, I found one of my local representatives to the council and asked him if he supported the resolution and if he would put it forward. He agreed to help me and was very interested in stopping the genocidal war on Gaza.
This anti-democratic system in place in my local union, including my local leaders trying to stop me from putting forward my resolution at the meeting, shows me that they do not want me to bring this forward. They do not want to change the status quo and are perfectly content with remaining silent during this time of crisis. They know that even allowing these discussions to take place in local UAW meetings could lead to wider discussions about breaking from the Democratic Party, and that is truly terrifying to them. The cordial relationship between the Democratic Party and the labor leadership is a crucial one in order for capitalism to stay intact, and it is a serious obstacle for workers to get organized to win progressive victories.
Leading up to the meeting, I talked to my coworkers to gather support for the resolution. To start conversations, I used the petition that included the main points of the resolution, which spurred many of my coworkers to read the full resolution as well. The petition headline said “UAW has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to all military aid to Israel. Now UAW needs to break from both warmongering parties of genocide and rescind the endorsement of Kamala Harris.”
I had mixed responses, but was ultimately surprised to see many people who were supportive. I expected no one to be supportive because I live and work in an area with mostly Trump supporters, and assumed most of my coworkers would be pro-war. But once I had those discussions, I found that the responses from the rank and file were much better than trying to speak to my labor leadership.
There were some coworkers that were pro-war, but I found much more support than I had originally anticipated. Some people in favor of the resolution told me they do plan to vote for Trump, even though the resolution clearly states that Trump is no alternative because he also supports the genocide and that we need to break from both warmongering parties. Some of them really like Trump, as I had anticipated, but I found many more who said that they have to vote for Trump to avoid a Harris presidency because, in their view, Trump is the lesser of the two evils. This became more common the more people I talked to.
It seems like a lot of working people are fed up with the two-party system and how neither party represents us. Some other coworkers shared my view of rejecting both Harris and Trump,but said they didn’t think they would be voting. They described to me that they feel as though nothing they do, whether it be at the ballot box or any other political effort, will change anything for them and their lives will not improve. They find it easier to disregard the choice and try to carry on living as happily as they can just focusing on their local situation, and to not worry too much about who is President; they don't think it matters when both major parties sell out working class people.
Discussing these topics and how we can actually fight back with the people you know in your daily life, including family, friends or coworkers, is so important. When people see you taking action and standing up against the political elites, the established power structures of capitalism, and labor leaders who have not done a good job representing workers, they are inspired. That sort of action is contagious. People would rather see action than just hear about what is wrong with the world.
We Need a Fighting Labor Movement Led By a Militant Rank and File
My resolution was put forward to the General Council on October 13th. I showed up early to hand out the resolution to the delegates, but the resolution was not received as well here as it was with my coworkers. Some of these people are pro-war while others may oppose the war but do not want dissenting views when it comes to whom the union supports in the Presidential race. Whatever their affiliation, most of the delegates read what I had to say, but did not want to engage further, and then waited for the meeting to start.
When the time for presenting new business came up, I was able to speak about my concerns and why I think this resolution is so important. I told the members listening at the halI some of the key issues that I thought were most important.
As soon as I was done speaking, the labor leaders there immediately, and undemocratically, brought the meeting to a close, preventing any discussion. I was not able to get any of the council representatives to put the resolution forward for a vote, but I at least got it in the hands of some of the members and got a chance to speak about the urgency of the moment. Despite this, the next day when I came back to work, many of the workers who were interested in my resolution wanted to know how the meeting went, including some of my coworkers who said that they think nothing will change. This shows me that working people care about these issues and recognize how our system doesn't work. This is all the more reason we need to demonstrate that there is an alternative pathway in life than to give in to the status quo. That with our combined worker power we can make a change.
Even if my local leadership did not allow this resolution to be voted on, I have learned who the most supportive coworkers are. We will continue to organize against the genocidal war in our workplace, as well as discuss other things we should be fighting for in our workplace. And even if some people did not agree with our resolution at this current moment, maybe they will want to talk with us in six months, or a year from now, as both the Democratic and Republican party continue to put the interests of the billionaires over the interests of ordinary workers like us.
If you want to get involved, please consider becoming a member of Workers Strike Back and also attending the Workers Strike Back mass organizing conference on February 22nd to discuss next steps towards building a new party for working people and to keep pushing the antiwar and labor movements forward. The time is now. The people of Palestine, and people all over the world including here in the U.S., need us now more than ever. We need to stand in solidarity with the working people and oppressed people of the world. The labor movement, and all working-class people, need to be urged to actively get in the fight. Real change can only come when we use our power in numbers and make demands that threaten the established power structure. This includes organized strike action to shut down the bosses profits. Working people all over the world need to urgently get organized and help Workers Strike Back fight for the biggest possible vote against the genocidal war and to help us build a new mass party for working people. When we fight, we can win.
Justin’s petition he used in his union
