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Find
Out About ...
The USA's
Rank-and-File Union
"UE"
is the abbreviation for United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of
America, a democratic national union representing some 35,000 workers in a wide variety of manufacturing,
public sector and private non-profit sector jobs. UE is an independent union (not
affiliated with the AFL-CIO) proud of its democratic structure and progressive policies.
Most UE members still work in factories related to the union's
traditional jurisdictions — electrical manufacturing, metalworking and plastics. UE
members work as plastic injection molders, tool and die makers, sheet metal workers, truck
drivers, warehouse workers, and custodians. We build locomotives, repair
aircraft engines, assemble circuit boards,
manufacture metal cabinets, produce industrial scales and make machine tools.
UE members are also teachers, speech pathologists and nurses;
clerical workers, graduate instructors,
graduate researchers, scientists, librarians, and day care workers. We maintain county
roads, drive school buses, conduct research in university laboratories, counsel AIDS
victims, treat waste water and engage in hundreds of other
occupations.
On the following pages, you
can learn more about UE ... who we are, our history, what we stand
for ... and why UE members will tell anyone they're proud to be part
of the USA's membership-run union.
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What
do we mean by
"Rank-and-File" unionism?
The
term "rank-and-file" is defined as
"those who form the major portion of any group or
organization, excluding the leaders and officers."
In UE, we use the term "rank-and-file unionism" to
describe how our union operates: it simply
means it's the members who run our union ... in a democratic
and collective manner. The members set the policies of the
union and make all of the decisions of importance that
affect their own local unions.
Long-time
UE officer and organizer Ernie DeMaio defined UE's
unique style of rank-and-file unionism this way: the
members elect the union's officers (local, district and
national) who, in turn, are required to report
on their
stewardship of the union concerning its "policies, program, expenditures
and contract negotiations which must have the prior
consent of the members and their approval on all of the actions
taken, and contracts negotiated, on their behalf. The essence
of rank-and-file unionism is not democratic rhetoric,
but democratic practice. The members run the
union." |
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