Teamsters in the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) are building momentum in a nationwide campaign to win One Member, One Vote for union officers.

Teamster members have elected our International Union officers in one member, one vote elections since 1991. 

But national BMWED officers are elected only by the delegates who attend union conventions—not by rank-and-file members.

As a result, over 30,000 Teamsters in the BMWED have no direct say in electing the union leaders who negotiate their contracts.

A proposed bylaws change to establish one member, one vote will be debated and voted on by delegates at the BMWED National Convention in June in Chicago.

Supporters of the change have formed One Member One Vote for a Strong BMWED.

“I’m fighting for our Right to Vote because it gives the power to the members,” said Scooby Stearns, a CSX worker in Florida. “It’s our union and we all deserve a voice.” 

The group is holding webinars and trainings to help members learn how to run for delegate, understand election rules, and talk one-on-one with coworkers about the Right to Vote.

BMWED members who want to participate in the campaign can sign up on bmwedvote.org.

Organizing Across the Country

In order to win the vote in June, activists are organizing lodge by lodge to win delegate seats in advance of the BMWED Convention.

In some cases, organizing simply means showing up to a meeting and volunteering to serve as a delegate to make sure the lodge is represented by a member of that lodge rather than passing their votes on to a delegate from another lodge or to an officer.

In others, it requires turning out enough co-workers to win a contested vote at a lodge meeting.

Those efforts are already paying off. Lodges all across the country are electing delegates who support one member, one vote to replace ones who opposed it last time.