Five Unions With One Member One Vote
One member one vote is a basic democratic principle that every member of a union should get to vote directly for executive officers such as President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Vice Presidents.
While some unions have more insular undemocratic processes, more and more unions are moving toward a one member one vote model. Check out these five big unions that have one member one vote and how they conduct their elections.
The United Steelworkers elect their International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, International Vice Presidents, and other officers by one member one vote. Each local union is entitled to nominate a candidate for each office by a meeting of local union members. Balloting is conducted by each local union and all members receive a mailer informing of them of when and how they can vote.
Source: USW Constitution
ILWU elects its International President, two Vice presidents, and a Secretary-Treasurer by one member one vote. Candidates are nominated at the international convention. Direct elections open to all rank-and-file members are held by secret ballot after the convention.
Source: ILWU's "How the Union Works"
The National Association of Letter Carriers elect their President, Executive Vice President, Vice
President, Secretary-Treasurer, and other officers. Nominations are accepted at the national convention and balloting is conducted by mail.
Source: NALC Constitution
UAW is one of the most recent unions to adopt one member one vote after a 2021 referendum passed by 63% of members. Nominations for International President, International Secretary-Treasurer, International Vice Presidents, and Regional Directors are accepted at the international convention and voting by rank-and-file members is conducted by mail.
Source: UAW International Election Rules
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters adopted One Member One Vote in 1989. The union holds direct elections for General President, General Secretary-Treasurer, and other officers. Nominations are held at the convention and elections are held no more than 6 months following the convention by secret ballot open to all rank-and-file members in good standing.