Resolution on Democratizing the NYC Area Community Action Program (CAP)
Adopted by the ALAA Joint Council April 14, 2026
“There’s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.” - Walter Reuther, UAW President 1946-1970
As a union, many of our shops are dependent on city, state, and federal grants and programs for funding. While organizing against our employers remains the most effective way to improve our working conditions, government grant funding and requirements on deliverables create ceilings on wages and workload for even the most militant shops.
As a union made up of mostly legal workers serving the working class, many of our clients and families are the direct beneficiaries of government programs and subsidies that are constantly threatened with funding cuts.
The city, state, and national government doesn’t only control our ceiling for funding and workload, they also explicitly restrict our organizing. Because of federal labor law, we are legally restricted from many forms of work stoppages, we are legally restricted from coordinating sympathy strikes, and union militancy is often channeled into a grievance process instead of direct action due to the fear of severe legal consequences.
Labor law as it is currently written exists to serve the bosses and undermine union power, but that was not always the case. The only way to roll back restrictions on labor power and improve the legal conditions of our organizing is by exerting pressure on politicians to change the rules of the game in our favor. Like our bosses, politicians only respond to power and pressure.
For these reasons and more, the UAW established the Community Action Program (CAP) at the 21st Constitutional Convention in 1968. Today, UAW CAPs exist at the local, regional, and state levels across the country.
For ALAA’s purposes, the NYC Area CAP coordinates Region 9A endorsements of NYC candidates, lobbies on behalf of ALAA priorities (among other Locals represented at the NYC Area CAP), and acts as ALAA’s primary “legislative and political arm”. While the NYC Area CAP is open to members attending meetings, their meetings are not made accessible without initiative and additional steps on the part of the member. Unfortunately, many rank and file members of ALAA seem unaware that the NYC Area CAP exists, or what it is advocating for on their behalf. Our union prides itself on rank and file leadership, and this resolution hopes to make the NYC Area CAP more accessible to members and increase democratic participation.
According to the most recent NYC Area CAP bylaws, the President of ALAA serves as our CAP representative. There are also eight (8) NYC Area CAP Executive Board positions:
Chairperson
Vice-Chairperson
Financial Secretary
Recording Secretary
Member-at-Large (4)
As the NYC Area CAP representative for ALAA, our President can nominate and vote for UAW members for any of the 8 Executive Board positions, as well as vote to amend the NYC Area CAP bylaws.
The 8-person Executive Board and the Local Union Presidents form the voting body of the NYC Area CAP. Currently, ALAA has two members serving on the Executive Board in addition to our Local President acting as ALAA’s representative.
This resolution proposes three democratic reforms of ALAA’s participation in the NYC Area CAP. These reforms are intended to demystify the NYC Area CAP and make it easier for rank and file members to know what NYC Area CAP is advocating for on our behalf, and to participate in making those decisions.
The first proposal is to require monthly updates from ALAA’s NYC Area CAP representatives. This will help members become familiar with the NYC Area CAP and its role in our union’s political advocacy, and help them to plug in more easily with Region 9A and ALAA’s political efforts.
The second proposal is to develop a list of policy positions and/or other factors that candidates seeking endorsement from the NYC Area CAP must meet. If a candidate does not meet the requirements set by membership, then ALAA NYC Area CAP representatives would be restricted from voting to endorse the candidate unless the Joint Council votes to approve the endorsement. The list of requirements would be developed later and passed by Joint Council vote.
The third proposal is to require that candidates for nomination to the NYC Area CAP Executive Board be selected by Joint Council vote, instead of solely by the ALAA President. This will give members agency over who is representing their interests at the NYC Area CAP, and provide a way to hold representatives accountable to membership’s priorities.
THEREFORE, be it resolved that:
The ALAA member with the highest rank on the Executive Board within the NYC Area CAP must provide a monthly report at each Joint Council meeting. If no ALAA member is serving on the Executive Board, then the ALAA Local President will make the report. The monthly report will summarize all actions taken by the NYC Area CAP that month, whether they be legislative, candidate-focused, or otherwise. The monthly report will also detail any actions taken by ALAA members and representatives during the course of their responsibilities (how representatives voted, proposals put forward, etc), provide information about any opportunities for members to be involved, and request feedback from members about how to proceed in the future.
The Joint Council shall vote on a resolution containing a list of policy positions and/or other factors that candidates seeking endorsement from the NYC Area CAP must meet. Once the list is passed via Joint Council resolution, if a candidate does not meet all requirements set by membership, then the ALAA NYC Area CAP representatives must vote no on endorsement, unless the Joint Council approves the candidate endorsement by majority vote. Local CAP will assist with developing a list of requirements through consulting membership, and will hold at least one town hall meeting publicized through the Monday Update and Gaggle. Local CAP will then present the proposed list to the Joint Council for a vote.
If a vacancy occurs for any NYC Area CAP Executive Board position, or two Joint Councils prior to the Triennial Conference, the ALAA representative to the NYC Area CAP (the Local President) will promptly inform the Joint Council of the vacancy and request members submit nominations to fill it. Prior to the meeting at which nominations and elections are to be held for the vacant positions, the Joint Council will vote on the candidates for each vacant position. The candidate which receives the most votes will be nominated by the ALAA representative to the NYC Area CAP for the vacant position, and all ALAA representatives or ALAA members eligible to vote must vote for the candidate nominated by the Joint Council. If more than one Member-at-Large position is vacant, then a corresponding number of candidates will be selected for nomination for the vacant positions. No ALAA member will nominate candidates for NYC Area CAP Executive Board positions other than the ALAA representative to the NYC Area CAP (the Local President).