From the floor

What some of our delegates had to say

More than 1,200 delegates from over 400 local unions in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico attended the 35th Constitutional Convention. Here are some samples of their "conventional wisdom":

Vera Newton
UAW Local 862, Lousiville, Ky.

“I see women and I see minorities, and I see strength. With this team, we can reach from one generation and pull up our next generation. I have a concern that our next generation doesn’t understand what our union forefathers went through. King’s team is the bridge that connects his father and our fathers to our children – a connection from the old to the new.”

John Anthony
UAW Local 602, Lansing, Mich.

On the proposed resolution “An Urban Agenda”
“This issue is near and dear to our hearts because one in four children lives in poverty. They are not around the corner from us, they are next door to us.”

Scott McAllister
UAW Local 5286 president,
Dallas, N.C.

“This convention was one of the best experiences in my entire life. To be around all my union brothers and sisters that share my same passion and love for the UAW and union activism as much as I do was incredible ... This convention was my first, and the experience just blew me away. We have a lot of work to do and it’s going to take each and every one of us to get the job done.”

Herb Fulsom
UAW Local 55,
Williamsville, N.Y.

“I’ve been a UAW member for 33 years, and I think organizing is our life’s blood. Without it, we starve. Organizing is the way we’ll make progress in the future. We need to bring the standards back up instead of down. There’s power in numbers, and we need to get back the numbers.”

Adrienne Baitinger
UAW Local 412, Warren, Mich.

“I realize more than ever that the word union is not just a word. We can elect leadership that believes in the same concepts for workers’ rights that I believe in. I wish the membership could be here, and it makes me proud to be a union member knowing that organized labor can make a difference.”

Ghana Goodwin-Dye
UAW Local 909, Warren, Mich.

“This convention has given me the feeling that the UAW is going back to grass roots, showing the positive side of this great union, raising the standards and continuing the fight for the average, middle-class worker.”

Diane Doubrava
UAW Local 6000, Lansing, Mich.

On the “Domestic Violence”
proposed resolution
“We need to stop sweeping domestic violence under the carpet and offer protection to all those who need it.”

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