September 23, 2025
Fall CAP Meeting Begins
Text and Photos by UAW Region 8 Webmaster John Davis

The 2025 Fall CAP meeting for UAW Region 8 kicked off at 9:00 AM at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The Citizenship and Legislative Committee, most often referred to as the Community Action Program (CAP), is the worksite political-legislative arm of the local union and the vital workplace political activator.

CAP committee members work on identified key issues adopted by convention action.

This agenda includes:

Protecting worker rights
Fair trade
New initiatives for working families
Health and safety
Other issues that affect working families

This meeting was planned with speakers to discuss the issues facing America’s working-class families. The day kicked off with Region 8 CAP Rep Mark Dowell introducing opening prayer, national anthem, pledge and introduction of Region 8 Director Tim Smith.

“Never in the history of this nation has the working class found themselves under attack to this extent,” stated Director Smith. “The anti-worker organization The Heritage Foundation published a roadmap for destruction of the working in class in 2024 called Project 2025. The White House, Congress, Senate and the Supreme Court have been hard at work implementing this dangerous plan.

Now more than ever our efforts on political action are needed. It is time that we realize EVERY race is vital to our survival; locally, state and nationally. If we don’t start electing labor friendly candidates right away, our entire way of life could disappear. Working class Americans are under fire from all directions. Workplace safety, income security, food security, health care, retirement security, a livable environment, education for our children, a sustainable future and the idea of democracy are all worth fighting for.

Director Smith recognized his staff who were in attendance to help out.

During Director Smith’s remarks he recognized Haley Chatelaine, Vice President of Local 2750. Local 2750 recognize the workers at the National Institute of Health. “Our members are scientist who work on finding cures for rare diseases.” Haley stated. “Rare diseases are not profitable for pharmaceutical companies so they avoid working on them. The NIH is a perfect example of your tax dollars are work. Our job is saving lives.”

UAW Region 8 CAP Representative Kevin Huddleston introduced Leonard Anguilar Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas AFL-CIO. “I am proud to report we have 250,000 union members in Texas,” Anguilar said. “We are faced with a lot of things right now. Working people are under attack from all sides. Organizing is the key to building the power to stand against these attacks. They want to take away our pay, our benefits, our right to bargaining. When you look at the redistricting in Texas, with Missouri next, then Florida and Indiana. We have to fight back.”

Next came San Antonio Food Bank Representative Mario Obledo. Founded in 1980, the San Antonio Food Bank serves 25 counties and 100,000 individuals a week. In the past year, the Food Bank has handled over 91,000,000 pounds of food for those who are food insecure. “We appreciate the help and assistance you give our organization,” Mario Obledo stated. “Now more than every food banks are important to provide assistance for those who food insecure.” On Wednesday, the Fall CAP participants will be volunteering at the Food Bank to help prepare food for distribution.

UAW Region 8 CAP Representative Anthony Towner introduced International UAW Community Service Representative John Weyer. “If we stand together, we can win at the bargaining table,” John Weyer said. “Community Service brings our members together to serve the community and our members. Our departments want to bargain record contracts, defend and enforce contracts, lead effective local unions and design and execute campaign strategies. Community Service is inward looking. Preparing our members for a strike. We are outward looking to support the communities we live in.”

Special guest for day one was U.S. Congressman Joaquin Castro. Representative Castro serves the district that includes San Antonio. “My grandmother Victoria Castro was the first one of my family to move to the United States,” Representative Castro stated. “She was orphaned and her nearest relative line in San Antonio. We still have her immigration papers and when it asks why was she coming to the United States the answer was “to live.” In America we have what I call the “infrastructure for opportunity.” This provides the right to participate in democracy and the promise of a better way. We are facing serious times in our democracy and I think that is one reason we are seeing a resurgence in union organizing in this country. We face issues like artificial intelligence. AI has a lot of potential, but we need to make sure we are looking at the way it is being used.

We face a growing issue in this country as ICE agents have been arresting people, without warrants, hiding behind mask and without due process. I fear eventually these raids will go beyond the scope of the current subjects and ultimately include people who disagree with the government. People are feeling the rising cost of health care. Three years ago I was diagnosed with a form of cancer that requires a shot that has seen the cost go through the roof. I don’t know how people without health care deal with this. That is why the work unions do is so important.”

UAW Region 8 CAP Representative Mark Dowell introduced Helen Brosnan of the National CAP Department. “There is no short cut to democracy and that is through building power” Brosnan stated. “We are seeing the decimation of all of our rights. There are threats that we face every day. We have to use our leverage at the bargaining table and with elected officials. We have to invest in skills training to build our movement from the ground up. People often ask why we are involved in politics. We have to be to make sure all working people are getting a fair shake in the halls of government.”

The final speaker of the day was Rajiv Sicora, International UAW National Legislative Director. “We are seeing the powers of the president stretched as never before,” Sicora stated. In the second term we are seeing universities targeted, NLRB targeted, free speech being challenged and a anti-worker agenda the likes we have never seen. Trump has fired Gwynne Wilcox illegally, leaving the NLRB without a quorum so they can’t make major rulings. Our Region 8 members at the National Institute of Health have been defunded, 30% of workers at the VA have been fired hurting benefits to our Veterans.”

The day ended with a breakout session of individual State CAP Councils.