Will the Next Generation of Retirees Remain UAW Members?

Retired membership status allows UAW members to remain part of our union beyond our working years.

However, the term “retired” is widely considered to mean eligible for or receiving a retirement benefit, e.g. Social Security, a pension, or employer-provided healthcare. How can we ensure retired workers who aren’t eligible for these benefits are included?

How is a retiree currently defined in our constitution?

The UAW Constitution says that “Any member in good standing who is retired, shall be entitled to a ‘retired membership status’ (Article 6 - Membership, Section 19). This definition requires that you have been paying dues on time during your time as a member, and are considered to be retired. Retired members can pay voluntary dues if they choose, but are no longer required to. Retired members can still participate in their local and vote in local and International elections, but can’t vote for grievance handler or bargaining unit positions and can’t run for officer positions themselves. Retired members can, however, run for Convention Delegate positions.

What are the limitations of this definition?

The term “retired” is widely considered to mean eligible for or receiving a retirement benefit, e.g. Social Security, a pension, or employer-provided retiree healthcare.

For example, Big 3 workers hired prior to 2007 (“legacy” or “traditional” employees) can retain UAW membership status in retirement, as they collect a pension and retiree healthcare benefits. However, Big 3 workers hired after 2007 cannot retain UAW membership status in retirement because of the tiered system where newly hired employees were no longer eligible for the same retirement benefits.

A wave of concessionary contracts spread this tiered system throughout much of our union following the Great Recession. Employers now designate these employees as “separated” or “terminated” after retirement. This places them in the same category as a member who quit their job to change careers.

This poses a problem because many members who are currently ineligible to receive a pension in retirement still wish to remain active in our union well beyond their working years.

How will the existing definition impact the 2026 IEB Elections?

Currently, our union is under the supervision of a court-appointed Monitor, who will use the existing interpretation of a retired member to determine voter eligibility in this year’s International Executive Board (IEB) elections. This means we should expect the 2026 Election Rules will leave out non-legacy members who have retired from participating in union elections.

How can we expand the definition of retiree to be inclusive to non-legacy workers?

The Constitutional Convention coming up this June 15th through 18th is an opportunity to amend the UAW Constitution to include non-legacy, separated retirees in the definition of retired member status. UAW Member Action supports the Amendment to Expand Retired Membership Status to Non-Pensioners, which would define retired member status based on a member having attained ten years of employment in a UAW shop and reaching at least the age of 55, or having attained at least 30 years of employment in a UAW shop. 

The proposed amendment would expand retired membership status to UAW members in good standing who have permanently retired from employment of a UAW-represented workplace, regardless of pension eligibility or receipt of retirement benefits. This would include any UAW-represented employment regardless of sector, industry, or type of work. 

Learn more about how to pass this amendment at your local and run for Convention Delegate to support this measure. 

How can we win real retirement security in our contracts?

While the amendment we propose above will ensure members can remain a part of our union when they retire regardless of pension eligibility, our sights are still set on real retirement security for all workers. This amendment is intended to fill a gap, not replace a pension and healthcare in retirement with a UAW membership card.

In order to win back retiree healthcare and pensions for non-legacy workers, the UAW has called to align major contracts for 2028, when we negotiate next with the Big 3 and Daimler Truck. It’s time for us to start planning ahead for this moment, organizing contract campaigns, and building public support for our demands.

The Resolution to Fight for Retirement Security Union-Wide in 2028 and Beyond would set our union’s priorities around building strong contract campaigns, coordinating across different bargaining tables, and expanding these gains outward to suppliers and other sectors if we succeed at the Big 3 and Daimler. Learn more about how to pass this resolution at your local.