How (and When) to Build a Union Reform Caucus: Advice from a Grocery Worker
Northern California Safeway worker Eric Marcuz (at right) and a co-worker. Photo: Essential Workers for Democracy
Quick! What do these exciting stories have in common? Educators bringing a new fighting spirit to their unions, from Los Angeles to Chicago to Massachusetts. Members overthrowing corrupt leaders in the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers. Grocery workers and letter carriers rebelling against subpar contracts. Building trade workers organizing to turn their locals around.
The answer is union reform caucuses. A reform caucus is simply a group of union members who are organizing together to improve their union and build its power to fight the boss more effectively.
Labor Notes has assembled a new guide on how (and when) to build a reform caucus, and how to navigate the challenges of developing one.
NOT EVERYONE
Not everyone should start a reform caucus, nor is every situation ripe for one. If you have ideas for making your union better, the first step is to talk with your fellow members about what improvements can be made, and then approach union leaders together in a calm, strategic way, or try to get involved through official union structures. But if these efforts are not successful, then it may be time to lay the groundwork for a caucus.
Eric Marcuz is a Safeway grocery store worker in northern California and a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 8. Frustrated with out-of-touch leaders and a lack of transparency in the local, he has become a leader in the reform caucus Essential Workers for Democracy, which is fighting for better contracts as well as a better UFCW.
Trying official channels can be important, Marcuz said, because “you might be surprised. Union staff might encourage you and help you. An antagonistic approach will get you an antagonistic response.”
But when Marcuz and his co-workers tried going to union leaders, “all of us had the same experience—our concerns weren’t being heard,” he said. “We had gotten a petition together to make our union meetings accessible remotely” because the local is spread out. Local 8’s 30,000 members span 450 miles, from Bakersfield at the southern end of the Central Valley to Redding, far north of Sacramento. “They said they weren’t going to change something they had done the same way for 30 years.”
Leaders in Local 8 have also been reluctant to mobilize the membership, refusing to address issues like wage theft through collective action. When members tried to become more active, Marcuz said, they were repeatedly told “that’s not how it works in our union.”
FOCUS ON YOUR WORKSITE
Any would-be reformer needs a group of like-minded fellow members who can get on the same page about a vision and next steps. But how to find these people? Marcuz’s advice is to “hyperfocus on your worksite.” Certain moments, like an upcoming contract, can be particularly good times to reach out to co-workers.
“If you don’t have an opportunity like that, though,” Marcuz said, “you can find out about other issues that impact your co-workers, and have conversations where you recognize you feel the same way about the issues. Maybe it’s a manager that’s mistreating an employee, or a pay issue that’s not being resolved. Use that as a reason to organize.”
The most important lesson EW4D reformers are learning, he said, is that “what’s really important for us as union members is that we build that power ourselves, and that we build it up from the bottom up.” You can’t just complain that the union isn’t solving your problems.
His parting advice: “I would like to encourage reform activists to join a reform organization,” Marcuz said. “You need a place to go to be reassured that your work is important. Being able to plug into a solidarity network is essential. There are workers all across the country who are going through the same thing.”
[Download the new Labor Notes guide, “How to Build a Reform Caucus.”]
