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The United Auto Workers, along with six unions representing members at the largest U.S. defense contractors, are calling on members of Congress to support a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would ban defense contractors from stock buybacks and dividends. Since 2020, the big five prime defense contractors have spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends than capital expenditures, while defense workers fall further behind.
“The working class makes the defense industry run, but instead of investing in our national and economic security, companies like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Woodward, and dozens more spend taxpayer dollars on Wall Street payoffs to enrich the billionaires,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “It’s time we put an end to defense contractors paying off Wall Street while defense workers and taxpayers pay the price.”
In a letter to members of Congress, the unions call on legislators to “stand with America’s defense workers and seize this opportunity to enshrine” the provision called Section 815 into law, following on an executive order by the Trump administration enacted in January. Section 815 would implement legislation introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) by imposing a blanket ban on Wall Street payouts to incentivize investment in the facilities and workers that make the industry run, instead of short-term stock market paydays.
“With the industry’s center of gravity progressively shifting to investor returns, workers too have paid an enormous price,” the letter continues. “In contract negotiations and organizing campaigns with these employers, we hear time and again that there are not enough resources to provide workers with job security and fair compensation. In just the past two years, this has led to labor disputes and work stoppages at major defense contractors such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Textron, GE Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and more.”
The press is invited to read the full letter here, signed by the following labor organizations:
United Auto Workers (UAW)
United Steelworkers (USW)
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART)
In addition to a slate of endorsed candidates up and down the ticket, the UAW is weighing in on two proposals on the ballot in November as the Union reboots its member-led political program across the state of Michigan.
The UAW is encouraging members and union households to vote No on Proposal 1 to protect the state’s constitution from billionaire and corporate influence that could undermine hard fought victories in recent years like voting rights, fair redistricting, and reproductive freedom.
The UAW is also encouraging union voters to vote Yes on Proposal 2, the initiative that would ban monopoly utility companies like DTE Energy and other corporations from flooding money into Michigan politics.
“Nothing has shaped the current corrupt state of our government like the rise of corporate money and influence,” said UAW President Shawn Fain on the Union’s endorsement of Proposal 2. “Billionaires and corporations are pouring billions of dollars into our elections in America this year alone. They do it to rig the system in their favor, and working-class families pay the price. We’re done with a system that allows corporate greed to dictate our politics. That’s why the UAW endorses a Yes vote on Proposal 2, Michigan Money Out of Politics. This initiative would at least stop a monopoly utility company like DTE from owning elected officials in Lansing, so our elected officials are accountable to the people, not a corporate checkbook.”
The members of the UAW remember and mourn the workers, first responders, and all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. We honor their memory by recognizing the courage and solidarity of working people who, in a moment of unimaginable tragedy, stepped forward to help one another. We reject violence, hatred, racism, and religious bigotry in all forms.
In memory of those we lost, we recommit ourselves to building a more just society—one where working people stand together, every worker is valued, every family can thrive, and no one is targeted because of who they are or what they believe.
Our strength is in our solidarity
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The UAW has officially endorsed JB Pritzker for Governor of Illinois and is committed to electing a working-class champion who will stand up for the nearly 44,000 active and retired UAW members across the state.
Governor Pritzker has a proven track record of standing with working people, protecting workers’ rights, and taking on corporate interests—including his support for the Illinois Workers’ Rights Amendment and the Worker Freedom of Speech Act.
The UAW Illinois CAP (Community Action Program) Council formally voted to endorse Pritzker and will mobilize working-class voters across Illinois to support his reelection.
During the UAW’s Stand Up Strike and the fight to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant, Pritzker stood alongside UAW members and the community—and he has continued to fight for Stellantis to deliver on its commitment to bring good union jobs back to Belvidere.
“Governor Pritzker understands that when we fight for good union jobs, we’re fighting for working people in every community,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Belvidere showed what’s possible when workers, our communities and leaders stand together. Governor Pritzker has been there with us in that fight, and he’s continued to stand up for working people.
You don’t get to turn the courthouse into a hammer against UAW members at Neighborhood Defender Service because they went on strike for fair treatment in the workplace.
If Judge Darnella Williams-Claybourne is proceeding with criminal charges against two public defenders, members of UAW Local 2325, over missed court dates while on strike, the people of Wayne County have every right to ask: What is going on here? A labor dispute is not a license to punish workers for standing together. It is further outrageous considering that striking workers were locked out of their office building, their case files, their emails, and their calendars.
This is a heavy-handed move that sends a nasty message to every employee who dares to organize, especially those who work in the public interest. It’s unacceptable intimidation.
Going on strike does not mean a public defender suddenly stops caring about clients. It does not mean they turned their backs on the defenseless. And it certainly does not mean they surrendered their rights as workers. Public defenders went on strike last month precisely because they knew they couldn’t continue to do their critical jobs for their clients and our community without creating a more sustainable workplace.
Our members fought for fair wages, healthcare, and better workplace standards. We are proud of the collective bargaining agreement that was reached, and they have been hard at work representing the people of Wayne County since then.
Judge Darnella Williams-Claybourne is the sole judge in Wayne County seeking to punish UAW workers, out of the over forty judges in the county who presided over hearings for which NDS attorneys did not appear during the strike. The UAW demands that the proceedings for criminal contempt be dropped immediately. Workers should not have to choose between their livelihood and their basic right to stand together.
Today, outside the Lorain County Commissioner’s Offices, UAW Local 2192 members at Job and Family Services announced the launch of a major political operation that the Union will lead to oust vulnerable Commissioner Jeff Riddell in his re-election bid this November.
After defeating his primary opponent by just 18 votes in May, Commissioner Riddell enters the general election as a vulnerable incumbent. That creates an opportunity for the UAW’s large-scale political operation to take on one of Lorain County’s most vocal opponents of JFS workers and their strike.
“We have held the line, and we are not going to watch our county’s public services deteriorate while our elected officials refuse to do their jobs,” said UAW Local 2192 Bargaining Chairperson Gina Jones. “If the Commissioners elected to run the county will not solve this crisis, then the people of Lorain County will demand change at the ballot box.”
The UAW is planning to run the largest voter canvassing program in Lorain County alongside area labor partners, where UAW members will be talking to Republicans, Independents, and Democrats in Lorain County several times a week.
The operation will involve knocking on tens of thousands of doors and making phone calls to UAW families and neighbors – including both other UAW members, and members of union households. Between now and November’s Election Day, the Union is planning several statewide “days of action,” where hundreds of UAW members from across Ohio will come to Lorain County to knock on doors for the Commissioners’ race.
“It’s safe to say that we have a plan to knock on every single union door in Lorain County to tell them that Commissioner Jeff Riddell needs to go,” said Jones.
While the UAW plans to talk with voters about its endorsed candidates for governor, U.S. Senate, and Congress, it will also dedicate significant resources to the Lorain County commissioner race, including literature, canvassers, digital communications, and more.
“We’ve done our part offering an olive branch time and time again, as the Commissioners outright refused to even meet,” said UAW Region 2B Director David Green. “Meanwhile, the service crisis that JFS workers have been warning about is becoming more visible to everyone because the Commissioners are too stubborn to resolve the retention and staffing crisis in their own workforce.”
The UAW’s endorsed candidate against Commissioner Jeff Riddell is Carolyn White, an experienced public servant who has already shown a willingness with listening to working-class people in the County, unlike current Commissioners like Riddell and David Moore. While White is a Democrat challenging the Republican Riddell, Lorain County is the only County in Ohio that voted for both Sherrod Brown and Donald Trump in 2024.
The UAW rejects any escalation on Canada, a country with strong unions and labor standards. If we’re going to increase tariffs anywhere, it should be on countries where automakers continue to offshore jobs because they can pay workers $3 an hour, force them to work in unsafe conditions, and crack down on independent unions.
Here at the UAW, we are fighting to end the free trade disaster. Free trade pits workers against each other across borders and is fueled by corporate greed. That’s why we will always support strategic tariffs, including the 232 tariffs on auto and heavy truck. Tariffs work, but only if they are deployed intentionally to protect workers and grow our manufacturing communities.
It’s time to permanently end offshoring and the race to the bottom. We need well-designed tariffs, and a comprehensive rewrite of the USMCA and other bad trade deals.
Members of the United Auto Workers at John Deere voted today to reject the company’s proposal to extend the current collective bargaining agreement through 2029.
“While John Deere continues to outsource jobs, 1,600 workers are still laid off. Our members rejected Deere’s offer to extend their contract because they know their worth and what they deserve,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “The company failed to make an offer that addressed the issues weighing on the minds of our members, especially job security. We’ll see Deere at the table in 2027.”
The company’s financial record makes clear why workers believe they deserve an equal voice in decisions about the contract.
Deere made nearly $5 billion in profit in 2025 and expects to make another $4.5 billion to $5 billion this year. Last year, the company spent $1.1 billion buying back its own stock and paid shareholders $1.7 billion in dividends, with another $7.9 billion set aside for future stock buybacks. Meanwhile, CEO John May received $27.9 million in total compensation in 2025.
“Our members see billions going to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, said UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson, Agricultural Implement Department Director, “while the workers whose skill and labor make those profits possible are asked to accept less. Our members know their value and said NO to their offer.”
