Chris Bohner: "1 Member, 1 Vote" And Finance Unionism
What does it look like when your union amasses wealth, yet union membership continues to decline? Chris Bohner coined a new term for this: Finance Unionism, and he breaks down what happens when a union prioritizes the balance sheet and what it takes for unions like UFCW to get back on the track of increasing membership and spending money on organizing and membership action. Through the years, union membership has steadily declined while the financial balance sheets have never looked better. Partly due to wage increases–as dues are tied to wages–investment and rental income, but mainly because they are spending less on organizing and strikes than what is being accumulated.
Given big unionized worker wins like with teachers, at UPS, the Autoworkers and in Hollywood, the landscape has potential to shift the labor balance of power in favor of the worker. With one member one vote, union members across the country have the power to question the re-elections of incumbents over and over, to contest races for the top union positions, and form reform caucuses as we have seen with Teamsters and the UAW. Although UFCW elections aren’t until 2028, rank and file members all over the country have the possibility of continuing the momentum that Teamsters and UAW have created over the summer with one member one vote. Will UFCW start spending on organizing its members or will the balance sheet remain top priority? If UFCW members join together for reform, they can take back their union.
From Chris Bohner:
In 2024 there will be officer “elections” covering over 7 million union members at seven unions. All of the seven unions use a delegate/convention system rather than “one member, one vote” (1M1V) for officer elections. Here’s what I’ll be watching for:
Will some of the longest-tenured top officers like Randi Weingarten at the AFT (16 years) or Mary Kay Henry at SEIU (14 years) stand for reelection, and/or will the election be contested? The longest-serving top officer at a large union is Douglas McCarron of the Carpenters who has served for 29 years (and membership has declined by nearly 100k since 2000).
Will new reform caucuses emerge at large unions, and will 1M1V resolutions be introduced at some of the big upcoming conventions?
Apart from political reporters writing stories about Biden waving to the convention crowd and accurately noting he is the most pro-union president in our lifetime, will there be any coverage of these conventions by the new burgeoning cadre of labor reporters? Will there be any reason to attend other than the swag?
Perhaps I was too harsh calling union conventions “a choreographed beauty pageant thrown by the ruling party in a one-party state” in the Jacobin article (but have you been to one?), so maybe the 2024 union election cycle will prove me wrong. I hope so.