Resolution to adopt a principle of militant, rank-and-file unionism in the wake of the 2018 teachers' uprisings in right-to-work states in the U.S.

WHEREAS in the United States, the JANUS decision has forced public-sector unions away from strategies that rely on the Democratic Party and service-union models, and in Canada the conservative government of Doug Ford in Ontario has already begun his attack on public employees and low-wage workers;

 

WHEREAS in the United States, the pre-K-through-12 education workers in right-to-work states over the past few months have demonstrated that rank-and-file unionism and disruptive action have successfully combated business unionist tendencies and won major concessions in the face of hostile attacks;

 

WHEREAS social-justice unionism can only be effectively implemented in a union that is internally democratic, where the rank-and-file are empowered, where the most marginalized members are those shaping union decisions, and where building a broad base is central to union strategy;

 

WHEREAS the consequences of certain kinds of actions of labor militancy will fall disproportionately on members most marginalized by differentials in race, gender, sexuality, ability, citizenship status, and class.

 

WHEREAS graduate workers, like all workers, can most effectively win through labor militancy;

 

BE IT RESOLVED THAT CGEU commits to promoting rank-and-file, democratic unionism, and encourages locals to create democratic practices that include the right for members to organize dissident caucuses. CGEU stands against all cases of the ossification of member unions’ highest governance bodies, and advocates for our unions’ executive leadership to be regularly replaced by rank-and-file workers. CGEU advocates that member unions’ most marginalized members be primary decision-makers in all matters dealing with union governance.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT CGEU commits to posting resources on rank-and-file unionism on a separate page on the CGEU website.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT CGEU supports striking education workers across the US in pre-K-through-12 sectors and in higher education.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT CGEU encourages SENS-UAW at The New School, GWC-UAW 2110 at Columbia University, and all graduate workers fighting for union recognition across the U.S. to carry out actions that are as disruptive as strategically necessary in order to win union recognition and fair, social-justice contracts that build power for graduate workers and all workers on campuses.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT CGEU encourages unions organizing graduate workers to include all graduate workers on a given campus in their recognition campaigns and discontinue practices that carve up potential units. Particularly, CGEU encourages unions to put additional resources into organizing STEM RA’s in light of STEM’s structural power in the university.

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT direct, militant, and disruptive actions by academic workers are the key to building justice in higher education.