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New York, NY – In the latest assault on First Amendment rights, Columbia University has expelled and fired Grant Miner, President of UAW Local 2710, which represents thousands of Columbia student workers. The firing comes one day before contract negotiations were set to open with the University.
The shocking move is part of a wave of crackdowns on free speech against students and workers who have spoken out and protested for peace and against the war on Gaza. As the UAW has emphasized, the assault on First Amendment rights being jointly committed by the federal government and Columbia University are an attack on all workers who dare to protest, speak out, or exercise their freedom of association under the US Constitution.
It is no accident that this comes days after the federal government froze Columbia’s funding, and threatened to pull funding from 60 other universities across the country. It is no accident that this firing has occurred the day before contract negotiations begin. It is no accident that the University is targeting a union leader whose local went on strike in the last round of bargaining. It is no accident that this is happening at Columbia University, where student workers won back the right to collective bargaining in 2016.
Trade unionists everywhere, defenders of the Constitution, of freedom of speech, of academic freedom, and of the right of free association, should be appalled and disgusted by the behavior of Columbia University, and should take it for the clear signal it is. If they can come for graduate workers, if they can arrest, deport, expel, or imprison union leaders and activists for their protected political speech, then they can come for you. For your contract. For your paycheck. For your family. And for your rights.
UAW Local 2710 is mobilizing a response, and calls on all allies of the working class and Americans of good conscience to speak out and stand up against this gross injustice.
Chattanooga — The UAW has filed federal labor charges against Volkswagen for violating U.S. labor law at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. The company is attempting to cut jobs and make major changes without first negotiating with the union, as required by law.
In a statement, UAW President Shawn Fain said:
“Nearly a year ago, thousands of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted to join the UAW, to win the respect and dignified life that union autoworkers at the Big Three have enjoyed for generations.
Since then, the company has failed to meet the basic standard at the bargaining table that 150,000 American autoworkers have won at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis.
Volkswagen is the second most profitable automaker in the world. On Tuesday, the company reported over $20 billion in profits in 2024. And on Wednesday, they announced their intention to cut a shift at their single American plant, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This is a company that makes 75% of their North American products in Mexico, paying highly exploited workers around $7 an hour to sell cars for tens of thousands of dollars in the US. They do this to avoid paying a living wage and drive a race to the bottom in the auto industry. It’s bad for workers everywhere.
And instead of coming to a fair agreement for their American autoworkers in Tennessee, Volkswagen is choosing to attack American auto jobs.
The UAW has notified the Trump Administration of Volkswagen’s unacceptable, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American conduct. It is no accident that they want to ram through a layoff in America in the days before expected auto tariffs take effect, as they profit from high exploitation labor in Mexico.
The 4,000 autoworkers in Chattanooga deserve better. America deserves better. And the UAW is going to fight like hell to deliver for Chattanooga, for Volkswagen autoworkers, and for the whole working class.”
This latest charge highlights a continuing trend of union-busting tactics by Volkswagen aimed at silencing American workers. The UAW is committed to holding the company accountable and protecting workers’ rights on the job.
The UAW represents 100,000 higher education workers, including campus staff, student workers, faculty, research assistants, and postdoctoral fellows, at Columbia University and beyond.
Drawing on our long tradition of protest, support for international peace, and commitment to education for all, the UAW condemns in the fullest terms recent actions taken by the Trump administration to cut federal research funding; to detain, intimidate, and deport students; and to attack our members’ First Amendment rights.
As we stated under the previous Presidential administration, “The UAW will never support the mass arrest or intimidation of those exercising their right to protest, strike, or speak out against injustice.”
The Trump administration’s decisions will impact critical research, academic work, and the livelihoods of all campus workers including thousands of UAW members, and are unacceptable.
Allentown, PA – In a new video, members of UAW Local 677, who build Mack Trucks in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, speak out against broken trade deals that are threatening thousands of good blue-collar jobs. The video highlights the deep frustration and disappointment felt by workers who have dedicated their careers to producing quality trucks in the Lehigh Valley, while the company pursues plans to offshore jobs to a new low-wage, high-exploitation facility in Mexico.
“We’re collateral damage, basically, to someone’s stroke of a pen. And it’s scary to think that that happens in this world today. It really does make you reevaluate what you mean to your employer. Or what you don’t mean to your employer,” says Nicole DeFuso, a skilled trades apprentice at Mack.
To view the full video, click here.
In 2023, Mack Truck workers went on strike to win a new agreement at the iconic truck maker. During those negotiations, the company falsely represented plans to further invest in Pennsylvania. Instead, the company has broken ground to build a facility in Monterrey, Mexico, where workers are likely to make less than $4 an hour.
The UAW has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges at the National Labor Relations Board over the company’s bad faith bargaining. Mack’s decision to build a plant in Mexico—rather than keeping production in the United States—is the direct result of disastrous trade policies such as NAFTA and its successor, the USMCA.
These policies, backed by both major political parties, have paved the way for corporations to chase lower wages and weaker labor protections, leaving American workers behind. The move threatens good-paying union jobs, undermines the region’s economic stability, and represents what workers have called “a slap in the face” after years of dedication and commitment.
“The products are being sold for the same amount if not more. But that’s all going into the pockets of the corporations,” says Michael Shupp, a Local 677 member at Mack.
The newly released video provides firsthand accounts from UAW Local 677 members, who express their concerns about job security, economic uncertainty, and the erosion of domestic manufacturing. It calls out the bipartisan failure to protect American workers from these trade policies, which have fueled a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions, allowing corporations like Mack to exploit cheaper labor abroad at the expense of U.S. jobs.
The UAW has been vocal in demanding the immediate renegotiation of the USMCA, recognizing that for 40 years, so-called “free trade” has devastated the working class. Corporations have driven a relentless race to the bottom, killing good blue-collar jobs in America while exploiting workers in other countries with poverty wages. The union has also encouraged the use of tariffs as a tool in the fight to undo the injustice of anti-worker trade deals.
“I remember when I was a kid, my dad would talk about NAFTA. Now you read up on this stuff and you see how much destruction that certain things can have,” says DeFuso.
“We need to have laws that are going to support us and not have to be worried about potentially losing our jobs,” says Dan Hand, a Committeeperson with Local 677.
The union has expressed that if corporate America chooses to jack up prices on the working class or throw their own workers under the bus just to avoid paying their fair share, they should pay a penalty. The working class took the full hit when NAFTA hollowed out manufacturing towns like those in the Lehigh Valley, and they shouldn’t bear the brunt of undoing it, too.
The UAW is actively engaged in negotiations with the Trump Administration regarding its plans to end the free trade disaster. The union is looking to negotiate the terms of the upcoming auto tariffs in April in a way that benefits the working class. The union is demanding serious action to incentivize companies to change their behavior, reinvest in America, and stop cheating the American worker, the American consumer, and the American taxpayer.
Full text of video here:
The policies that reflect trade have not been on the worker side for many years.
And here we are.
Having them breaking ground in Monterrey, Mexico, for a Mack facility.
Collateral damage basically to someone’s stroke of a pen. And it’s scary to think that that happens in this world today.
When the company is looking at where they can go, they’re going to find the cheapest place possible. And in 1994, GM was moving to Mexico because they could pay their employees $0.48 an hour. Mack is currently moving to Mexico because they can pay their employees $3 to $4 an hour.
Really does make you reevaluate.
Wait, what you mean to your employer, or what you don’t mean to your employer?
Now, with this information, as far as with the Mexico plant, this is the first time that myself, in over 26 years, and I’m actually concerned about the longevity of the plant.
I remember when I was a kid, my dad would talk about NAFTA, and he was so mad about it. And I was just like, I don’t know what that is.
But now you read up on this stuff and you see how much destruction that certain things can have.
We need to have laws that are going to support us and not have to be worried about potentially losing our jobs.
The products are being sold for the same amount, if not more. But that’s all going into the pockets of the corporations.
Like, this is our life. This is our livelihood.
There’s a lot of question marks as far as where we’re going to be in the future.
You know, the work is important to us.
Maybe they had this in the back of their mind the whole time, that they would just move this plant and save the money on wages, going to a foreign country where they’re going to pay them pennies on the dollar to do the same labor that we do.
They’re building a bigger divide between the haves and have-nots.
The income down in Mexico is very low compared to what it is here.
They need to support their families as well.
You want to feel like your livelihood matters.
It will definitely affect work here in the Lehigh Valley.
I have 25 years in the place. You know, I planned on retiring from there.
Who wants to see us go?
Nobody, really.
When it comes to manufacturing, those are good jobs that we need to fight for.
Spring Hill, TN — Nearly 1,000 UAW members at Local 1853 overwhelmingly voted to ratify their first local agreement with Ultium, a joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution. The local agreement builds on the successes of the national contract that Ultium workers joined as a major win of the 2023 Stand Up Strike.
A majority of workers Ultium Spring Hill signed cards last September and immediately launched their contract campaign, building on the agreement that is rapidly becoming the cornerstone for battery plants across the nation.
“When we voted to join UAW, I knew it would be a big deal. Now, I don’t have to worry about losing my job out of nowhere or going broke from a medical emergency,” said Derrick Kinzer at Spring Hill and bargaining team member. “We do the hard, dangerous work of building EV batteries, and now we’ve got a union contract that guarantees our future.”
“Building EV batteries is just as risky as working with combustion engines, and these workers deserve the best wages, health care and safety protections as they have in the Big Three,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “Ultium workers stood strong and won their fight. Now it’s time for Volkswagen—an even bigger, richer company—to quit dragging its feet and do right by its workers in Chattanooga with fair pay and fully paid health insurance.”
“We now have our health care costs covered, just like General Motors workers,” said Barry Hope, a battery worker at Spring Hill and bargaining team member. “I’m just like any other union autoworker—and now my benefits are guaranteed in writing, ensuring financial security for my family and access to necessary care when we need it most.”
Smith added, “Ultium workers are setting the bar for Southern workers and charting a brighter future. From Georgia to Kentucky to Texas, folks in these new EV plants know they deserve fair pay and benefits, just like union workers before them. And you can bet the UAW is going to stand with them to make sure they get their fair share and a collective voice on the job.”
More than 5,000 Tennessee autoworkers have joined the UAW in the last year.
UAW GM members,
I hope the new year finds you well. As we continue building a more militant, fighting, and transparent union, I plan to provide regular updates in 2025 on the activities of the GM Department.
Record Profit Sharing
In January, GM announced it will deliver a record profit-sharing payout of $14,500 to eligible workers on February 28, 2025. I want to congratulate the membership on this news. As always, you performed beyond all expectations. Your skillfulness made the company’s profit possible.
There have been questions regarding temporary workers’ eligibility to receive the profit-sharing payout, and I would like to clarify where things stand. Per our 2023 collective bargaining agreement, all temporary workers, both full-time and part-time, are eligible for profit-sharing. This is the first time temporary workers at the Big Three have been eligible for the profit-sharing plan since its inception.
Raising the Standard for Our Members at GM Sanitation
Your UAW GM Department has contracts with ten sanitation companies that service our worksites, and I’m happy to share that we just locked in the final one with Hydrochem.
We’ve made great progress in winning economic justice for our members at these sanitation companies in recent years, and the agreement with Hydrochem is no different. By the end of the new contract, our wage floor across our UAW-represented sites will be raised from less than $18 an hour to more than $26 per hour. Some sanitation workers will make as much as $40-plus an hour by the end of the agreement. Thanks to our members’ solidarity and our negotiators’ resilience, we’re raising the bar for all GM sanitation workers.
Second Round of SAP Successfully Completed
In January, we successfully concluded the second round of the Special Attrition Program (SAP). Congratulations to these members on a well-earned retirement. I want to shout out our members who walked the picket lines for six weeks during our Stand Up Strike in 2023 so that we could win hard-fought gains like this improved SAP. It’s important to note that we don’t anticipate another SAP opportunity until 2026.
Job Security
Your UAW GM Department leadership understands that these are uncertain times: Federal policies are changing and tariffs may affect our industry. Under our 2023 agreement, GM agreed to build electric vehicles at several of our facilities, including Fairfax Assembly, where many UAW members are temporarily laid off while the plant retools. Our department regularly meets with GM and is requesting information from the company about its plans at Fairfax and other potentially affected plants. We will keep your local leadership updated as more information becomes available. Enforcing our contract and protecting our jobs is my highest priority.
In solidarity,
Mike Booth
Vice President and Director
UAW General Motors Department
For 40 years, we’ve seen the devastating effects of so-called “free trade” on the working class. Corporations have been driving a non-stop race to the bottom by killing good blue-collar jobs in America to go exploit some poor worker in another country by paying poverty wages. Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals. We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.
There’s been a lot of talk of these tariffs “disrupting” the economy. But if corporate America chooses to price-gouge the American consumer or attack the American worker because they don’t want to pay their fair share, corporate America bears the blame for that decision. The working class suffered all the pain of NAFTA, and we won’t suffer all the pain of undoing NAFTA. We want to see corporate America, from the auto industry and beyond, recommit to the working class that makes the products and generates the profits that keep this country running.
The UAW is in active negotiations with the Trump Administration about their plans to end the free trade disaster. We look forward to working with the White House to shape the auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class. We want to see serious action that will incentivize companies to change their behavior, reinvest in America, and stop cheating the American worker, the American consumer, and the American taxpayer.
Cranbury, NJ – The push to unionize Volkswagen has gone national, as VW autoworkers at a large distribution center in New Jersey have reached supermajority support and just became the first VW workers on the East Coast to file to unionize with the UAW. They join more than 4,000 VW workers in Chattanooga, TN, who won their union with UAW nearly a year ago. The New Jersey facility is now VW’s second in the country to organize with the UAW in the past 12 months.
“Every autoworker in America deserves a union,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Volkswagen workers made history in Chattanooga last April, and now, New Jersey VW workers are stepping up. We won’t stop until every autoworker who wants a union has one.”
“We saw what was going on at the Big Three, and then Volkswagen workers in Tennessee won their union despite pushback from management,” said Sergio Sumano Jr, a warehouse worker with 7 years at the Volkswagen PDC/RDC in New Jersey. “Now, it’s our turn. We deserve fair pay, affordable benefits, and a secure retirement – just like every other unionized autoworker in the U.S. If Volkswagen wants to operate in America, they need to treat us with the same dignity as their workers overseas.”
“Operating in New Jersey means operating with full respect for labor law and the rights of working people,” said Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), who represents the congressional district in New Jersey where the VW workers filed and many are constituents. “I’m proud to stand with the inspiring New Jersey Volkswagen workers unionizing with UAW and telling corporate power that working people will not be brought to heel.”
“Volkswagen has been getting away with exploiting their U.S. workers for far too long,” said UAW Region 9 Director Dan Vicente. “It’s clear the balance of power is shifting. Autoworkers across the country witnessed workers demanding their due during the Stand Up Strike. When they see what can be won when we unite together, anything is possible.”
After winning their union on April 19, 2024, VW workers in Chattanooga are now fighting for a first agreement that reflects unionized auto manufacturing standards in the U.S. as well as the company’s record-breaking profits. Volkswagen lags behind its competitors in wages and benefits and treats its U.S. workers worse than its foreign workforce. With the one-year anniversary of the workers’ union win approaching, pressure is mounting at the bargaining table.
“Volkswagen racked up $24.4 billion in profits in 2023 by paying their large U.S. workforce poverty wages with shameful workplace benefits and conditions,” said Steve Cochran, a UAW member and 14 year skilled trades worker at Volkswagen Chattanooga. “Volkswagen must be held to account for failing for decades to provide good jobs for U.S. workers, and the only way that’s going to happen will be by workers in VW, Tennessee, and elsewhere standing together to take action and demand better. Since we won our union, we’ve won key protections at work including the right to have a voice on the issues that matter most – and now we’re working to negotiate a historic first contract that will finally give Volkswagen workers in the South the same good union standards workers have won at Stellantis, GM, and Ford.”
Volkswagen PDC and RDC workers in New Jersey distribute aftermarket parts across the country. They will be the first Volkswagen distribution workers to join UAW; in Tennessee, the Volkswagen workers assemble cars inside auto plants. Regardless of location, job, or employer, UAW members welcome all Volkswagen and other non-union workers across the country to join the fight for economic and social justice, in the auto industry and beyond.
Indianapolis — The UAW has reached a groundbreaking tentative agreement with Rolls-Royce ahead of the contract’s expiration at midnight on Wednesday, February 26. This agreement follows a major rally the day prior and the escalation of a credible strike threat against the world’s second-largest manufacturer of aircraft engines.
The five-year agreement, covering more than 800 workers in Indianapolis, delivers significant economic gains, including the elimination of wage tiers, double-digit wage increases, a true profit-sharing plan that the company cannot manipulate arbitrarily, improved retirement benefits, and a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) that will now be rolled into base pay for all workers.
In a direct address to membership, UAW President Shawn Fain outlined key parts of the deal and reflected on the tenacity of the Rolls-Royce membership and bargaining committee.
To view President Fain’s remarks in full, head to UAW’s Facebook page, and read Fain’s prepared remarks below. The media is invited to use these materials.
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UAW President Shawn Fain Prepared Remarks on Rolls-Royce Negotiations, February 26, 2025
For months, the Local 933 bargaining team has been hard at work, negotiating to win a contract for our members that truly represents the massive profits they make for this company.
Our members at Rolls-Royce do incredibly important work.
The company is the second largest manufacturer of aircraft engines in the world, and the facility here in Indianapolis produces aircraft engines for our nation’s military.
Our members are proud of the work they do, and it’s their blood, sweat, and tears that make Rolls-Royce’s billions in profits possible.
I’m proud to stand here today with this bargaining team and Region 2B Director Dave Green to announce to our membership that we have reached a tentative agreement that reflects the hard work and sacrifices made by our members.
So, let’s take a look at what’s in the TA. First: We are ending wage tiers at Rolls-Royce!
For the lowest tier — Tier 4 — you are going to see an $18.79 raise over the life of this agreement. That’s a raise of 68%.
That’s a life changing wage increase.
For Tier 2, they will immediately be brought to the legacy rate.
At the beginning of the final year of the contract, ALL PRODUCTION WORKERS at Rolls-Royce will be making a top wage of $46.37 an hour. And that does NOT include COLA.
Similarly, At the beginning of the final year of the contract, skilled trades will be making over $50 an hour.
Next, I want to talk about COLA.
Rolls-Royce has a big COLA. But not everyone gets it, and nobody gets it folded into their base pay.
This means that our wages don’t necessarily keep up with inflation over time. It also means that when workers get a raise, it doesn’t include the COLA.
With this agreement, EVERYONE gets COLA, with the same strong formula we’ve had previously.
And everyone will get COLA folded into their base pay.
We also are seeing healthy general wage increases, more than twice as high as the previous contract.
We told the company, we needed wage increases in EVERY year of the agreement.
At the new UAW, we will no longer accept lump sum bonuses in the place of wage increases which increase our lifetime earnings.
That’s how you raise the standard of living for the working class. That’s what we deserve and we aren’t going to accept anything less.
I’m also excited to announce that we won back true profit sharing at Rolls Royce.
For years, Rolls-Royce has been giving out a bonus that they called profit share, but that bonus was based on a formula that wasn’t transparent and that management could change on a whim.
Now we are back to a profit sharing formula based on the company’s publicly shared profit margins. That’s the same way we do it at the Big Three.
Our new profit sharing formula means the company can’t lie, they can’t hide, and it means that Rolls-Royce members are going to earn on average thousands of more dollars than they have in the past.
We worked hard to get more vacation for our members.
Some workers in the middle of their career are going to see an additional two days of vacation. Workers with four years or less are going to receive an ENTIRE additional week of vacation.
One of the biggest and thorniest issues in bargaining was retirement.
For legacy workers, we are excited to announce that we successfully increased the monthly Basic benefit rate from $60.94 to $65 per year of credited service.
That’s a bigger increase to the monthly Basic benefit rate than the last two contracts combined. It’s the biggest increase in twenty years.
For those with a 401(k), we raised the company match from 5% to 7% while keeping the additional 3% company contribution.
There is so much more that was won in this contract, but these are just a few of the highlights that we were excited to share with you tonight.
While the bargaining team behind me are extremely proud of this TA and all of the work that it took to win it, we know that, ultimately, this decision is up to our members and our members alone.
The membership is always the highest authority in the UAW.
In the coming days, Local 933 will be rolling out highlighters and sharing the TA’d language and holding roll-out meetings where members will be able to ask our bargaining team any questions they have before they vote on whether to ratify this agreement.
I want to close by saying this bargaining team has worked their assess off for the membership.
They stood up to the company and demanded a historic agreement and I’m proud to say that is exactly what they won.
Following the success of the Stand Up Strike at the Big Three, we have seen UAW members win massive gains in historic agreements at Allison Transmission, Daimler Trucks, Cornell University, and now here at Rolls-Royce.
And all of those victories were made possible by the membership. Winning strong agreements is only possible when our members are organized and united.
It only happens when the company looks over the shoulder of our bargaining team and sees an army of fired up and fed up members who are ready to do what it takes to win what they deserve.
That is exactly what happened here this week when hundreds of members showed up to rally in support of their bargaining team and show the company that they were ready to strike if needed.
I’m so proud of my UAW family and I’m incredibly honored to be back home again in Indiana, the home of Local 933 to celebrate this massive victory.
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