By Joshua Soffler
To start off the summer, the House of Labor, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is holding its 30th Constitutional Convention from June 7 -10 in Minneapolis.. There, delegates will vote on resolutions to steer the policy of the Federation and elect a President and Secretary-Treasurer to lead the nation’s largest labor federation. Avid readers of Union Democracy Review may know that there has not been a contested election for these positions since 1995 when John Sweeney beat out Thomas Donahue for the country’s top labor officer.
Simultaneously, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) will hold its convention from June 14th to June 18th, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) will hold theirs from June 15th to June 18th. In Las Vegas, Teamster delegates will vote on resolutions and changes to the International Constitution and nominations will be made for international officers to be voted on by secret ballot by the entire membership in October of 2026 with ballots being counted in November of 2026.
In Detroit, UAW members will convene for their 39th constitutional convention. Following a 2021 referendum that allowed for direct elections of International Officers—a result of a Consent Decree between the UAW and the U.S. Department of Justice—UAW delegates will debate and decide whether to enshrine this One Member, One Vote provision into their International Constitution. Along with this, delegates will take up the question of the constitutional definition of “retiree” and their ability to vote in upcoming union elections.
In the beginning of July, 7,000 educators will meet in Denver for the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual Representative Assembly. From August 3rd to August 7th, letter carriers from the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will meet in Los Angeles for their 74th Biennial Convention. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) will hold their convention from August 9th through August 14th in Arlington, Texas. In the APWU (American Postal Workers Union) approximately 2,000 postal worker delegates will also meet in Los Angeles from August 14th through August 20th for their convention.
To close out the summer, delegates of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) will meet in Chicago for their 47th international convention from August 17th to August 21st. Here they will elect new national officers as
President Lee Saunders and Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride announced their retirement earlier this year.
If you have information about union democracy questions and issues coming up at your union’s convention, feel free to let us know.
Check out our new handbook on Running for Convention Delegate on our website to learn more about how to successfully run and campaign for a convention delegate position, prepare for convention proceedings and report back to the membership. Remember to get involved early and reach out to AUD if you have any questions. Organizing your fellow unionists and delegates for democratic union reforms isn’t easy and takes time, and strategic planning, so start now!