Youth Committees Involve Young Members

When Cami Automotive in Ingersoll, Ontario hired 500 new employees, Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 88 wanted to make sure it had a plan to get the new hires, many of them under 30 and starting their first union jobs, involved in the union.

Local 88 leaders came up with an inspired answer: start a youth committee. According to Local 88 President and Labor Notes Policy Committee member Cathy Austin, “The original concept was to get a youth committee started and if that was successful, to get a youth member-at-large on the union’s executive board.”

WINNING THE UNION OVER

Not everyone in the union was enthusiastic about the idea at first. “There was a lot of debate in the union and quite the debate on the floor,” said Austin. “In the beginning people asked, ‘Why do they need a special committee? I never had a youth committee.”

Austin continued, “Eventually everyone recognized the energy the youth had and the elections won people over. Four to five people ran for the youth position on the board and they were so bright, articulate, and enthusiastic they won people over when campaigning.”

Once the union agreed to the committee and a young person took a seat on the executive board, some union members voiced concerns about promoting young workers into leadership in a two-tier work environment. Said Austin, “One of the first things that was said was, ‘Why send them to conferences—they’re going to be gone at first layoff?’ But that’s just asinine. If they do get laid off or leave, they’re going into the workforce with all that union knowledge.”

John Bridges, co-chair of the youth committee, said the logic behind supporting the committee was clear: “The importance of a youth committee is to engage younger members in the union. We all know that the working world is getting a lot older. If we don’t fully engage the youth who’s going to protect the older workers’ pensions?”

GETTING INVOLVED

Said Austin, “The youth wanted to know, ‘What we can work on?’ I said, ‘You’re the youth and if you want to do it, do it. If you’re interested in doing something, talk over it with the committee,’” said Austin.

The youth committee took on several projects that strengthened its networking capacity, while also supporting progressive causes.

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Many new hires worked the midnight shift (or “C shift”) and lacked access to the union hall for socializing and interaction with the union.

Bridges said they combated this by hosting an annual C shift breakfast “to get midnight people out to the hall. We got donations to support CanFar, a youth AIDS awareness organization. We also had a yard sale and all the money went to WarChild, an organization supporting children in war-torn areas.”

Austin said that through the committee’s organizing, solidarity was built between the youth committee and the retiree chapter. She explained, “Retirees were looking for volunteers to help for picnic and the youth committee volunteered. Ever since, the retirees and youth committee do things together. Young folks like to hear the stories of the retirees, like our strike of 1992, and the older folks like the energy of the youth.”

MAKING IT HAPPEN

Austin was clear about the role she thinks unions should have in helping committees like this one flourish in other locals. “I don’t think it happens if you don’t help to make it happen,” she said. “You need to give support and space to get it started and give young members wide latitude to decide what they’re interested in doing. There’s a 1,000 ways to get involved in the union—let them find their way.”

To get new ideas, the youth committee links up with similar committees across the CAW and compares notes. Austin said this can lead to action, explaining, “It was the youth committee that went to the protest [in support of Delphi workers] at the [Detroit] Auto Show. It’s easier for them to pick up and go.”

Bridges said that to get other young people involved in the union, they had to lead by example: “I attend our membership meetings regularly. Two and a half years ago the company hired a lot of new hires that haven’t worked in a union environment before. They were afraid to get involved, but after seeing us going to meetings they want to get involved. We explain what’s going to happen and they might go to the next meeting.”

STRENGTHENING THE UNION

Austin reported that the youth committee has helped keep young people engaged in the union in ways they weren’t able to before: “There’s a different way of communicating with young people and they’re more technically astute. Without the youth committee, we wouldn’t know how to reach the young people in the local.

“The best reason [to support a youth committee] is because they have a stake in the union. It’s an interesting and scary time in the union right now. Some unions are extending the amount of time needed to grow into full wages, and with two-tier wages, two-tier benefits, and two-tier pensions, they have a lot at stake right now. Without their voice in the union, it’s a lose/lose situation for them and for us.”