Tag Archive for: Brandon Campbell

Over 800 workers for Woodward MPC in Niles, Illinois, will take a strike authorization vote after the company has illegally refused to bargain for months, signaling a potential work stoppage at a key producer of defense and aerospace equipment in the Chicagoland area.

“I’ve got a message for the company: Woodward, the clock is running out,” said UAW President Shawn Fain, rallying today with Woodward MPC workers. “We will be holding a strike authorization vote. Woodward has a choice to make: This company can either negotiate a fair contract for the workers who make this place run. Or the workers will shut shit down, with the full backing of the UAW International Union.”

“We’ve got a company that has been given billions in taxpayer dollars through federal contracts and state subsidies, while the workers who pay the taxes can’t get a damn raise,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Is that justice? Hell no. What we are asking for at Woodward is really simple. When you make billions off of your workers, pay them what they’re worth. Let them have basic time off. Make the progression fair, and get back to the negotiating table.”

“Woodward is offering our members a thirteen cent raise at a time when the company is making record profits,” said Jose Tapia, Woodward worker and President of UAW Local 5101. “That is what they offered, and then they refused to bargain. So, before this company decided to break the law and walk away from the table altogether, they told us what they think of us. Because they think they can offer us nothing. Break the law. And we’ll take it. We are here to show them exactly how wrong they are.”

Woodward workers voted to affiliate with the UAW last fall. Since then, the company has committed over three dozen unfair labor practices, including total refusal to negotiate with the union. Workers are fighting for industry-leading wages, fair progression, time off, and job security.

Woodward has made over $1.7 billion in profits since 2020, and has paid its CEO over $30 million in that timeframe, while workers struggle to make ends meet. The over 800 workers are members of UAW Local 5101.

Local 551 is one of the most historic units in the UAW. The local’s roots go all the way back to the very beginning of the union in 1935, and over 5,000 of its members work at the iconic Ford Chicago Assembly plant, the automaker’s oldest operating manufacturing facility.

So, it would probably surprise many people to learn that the plant’s nursing staff has never been unionized. Yet, that was the case until April of this year, when the six nurses at Chicago Assembly withstood a vigorous anti-union campaign from the company and voted to join the UAW.

The organizing win is a testament to the determination of the nursing staff, who had attempted to unionize in two previous efforts that came up just short in recent years, and the unwavering support of Local 551, the UAW Ford Department, and Region 4.

“Every worker deserves to have a union,” UAW Vice President and Director of the Ford Department Laura Dickerson said about the union’s support of the nurses in their fight. “Every worker deserves to have the support they need to form their union if that’s what they choose to do. Our decision to get behind these six workers really came down to that belief.”

Mary Quasney, an associate nurse at the plant, said she felt they needed more say in how their workplace operated, citing concerns about chronic understaffing and the company’s lack of training opportunities as reasons for the organizing drive.

“We felt like management didn’t want to make any type of financial investment in us that would allow us to increase our skills and our knowledge,” Quasney said. “We felt like we were understaffed, and that can have negative effects on the work we do. We truly care about the workers in this plant, and we want to provide the best care possible for them when they come to us.”

Ford plant management was adamantly opposed to the nurses’ efforts from the get-go and ran an aggressive intimidation campaign to dissuade them from organizing. The company held multiple one-on-one meetings with nurses and distributed anti-union flyers filled with misleading information.

UAW representatives made sure to hold multiple meetings of their own with nurses to counter the company’s false messaging and were readily available 24/7 to answer any questions nurses may have about what joining the union would entail.

Throughout the organizing drive, Local 551 leaders and members working at the plant continuously showed their support for the nurses, stopping by the medical department to offer positive words of encouragement, recording a solidarity video, and delivering support cards with messages urging nurses to keep fighting.

“The support from the workers was amazing,” Quasney said. “They truly had our backs the entire time. I think it made us want to be a part of the union even more.”

On April 9, nurses voted 5-1 to join the UAW.

“I’ve been a member of this local for over 30 years, and during that entire time, the nurses here have never been unionized,” Local 551 President Chris Pena said. “So, to see them finally win a seat at the table, everyone at the local is incredibly proud of them for demanding a voice.”

“Some people might be asking, ‘Why so much effort for only six workers?’” Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell said. “But for us, it didn’t matter whether it was six workers or 600. Those nurses deserve the same support as anyone else. Our union was committed to making sure that was the case at Chicago Assembly.”

Now that the nurses are UAW, they will soon elect a bargaining chairperson and then begin negotiations with the company on a first-ever contract. For Quasney, finally having a voice on the job is just one of the many benefits of joining Local 551.

“We’re all just very excited to be joining the UAW,” Quasney said. “Local 551 does so much great work in the community and holds a number of events for its members every year, and now we get to be part of that. We’re very happy.”

The UAW kicked off an event-filled Day 2 of its 2026 National CAP Conference, calling out corporate greed and focusing on the four core issues that will guide the union into 2028.

UAW President Shawn Fain gave an impassioned keynote address to the nearly 1,000 UAW members in attendance. “12 billionaires own as much wealth as the bottom half of society,” Fain said. “Our democracy is dying at the hands of an authoritarian billionaire class. The question we are here to answer is, how do we rise to the occasion? This is our defining moment. We need to send a clear message as a working class: A Billionaire dictatorship is not an option for the American people. Divide-and-conquer politics has no place in the working class!”

UAW Vice Presidents Mike Booth, Rich Boyer, and Laura Dickerson stressed the importance of winning real retirement security, not just in collective bargaining agreements for UAW members, but for the entire working class.

“If we want to win back real retirement security in this country, we have to win big at the Big Three in 2028. But then we have to keep going,” Booth told attendees. “Our union has always connected the bargaining table to the ballot box. What we win for our members, we want for every working-class person. We have to take our fight from the union hall to the halls of Congress.”

“These companies make billions of dollars off of our members’ work. And after we give decades to these companies, we’re asking for something simple: the right to a dignified retirement,” Boyer said. “But not just for us. We believe that every American should have access to quality, affordable healthcare.”

“We have retirees living in poverty. We have retirees working minimum wage jobs to survive. We have working people early in their career wondering how they ever retire,” Dickerson said. “In 2026, in the United States of America, at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, is that something we can accept? I say hell no.”

Region 9A Director Brandon Mancilla spoke on the need to fight for more time off the job for UAW members: “It’s about more than just a paycheck. It’s about more than just our rights on the job. It’s about a much bigger question: What kind of life does the working class deserve? In the richest country in the history of the world, what kind of life can working class people expect to have?”

Guest speakers for Monday’s session included Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-6), SEIU-USWW President David Huerta, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14).

“For too long, healthcare has been used as a weapon against workers,” Dingell stated. “The time is now to ensure every American has quality health care. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we’re not going to stop until every single American is guaranteed health care. This is a human right.”

“Our country needs a labor movement that is ready to lean in,” Huerta implored, calling for worker solidarity in the labor fights ahead. “We should be preparing now for May Day 2028 to shut the whole thing down. Right now, our union is working to align our contracts with yours. When you go on strike, we’ll go with you!”

“We do not pledge of allegiance to Wall Street. We don’t pledge of allegiance to greed,” Ocasio-Cortez told an energetic crowd. “We pledge allegiance to no one president. We pledge allegiance to a nation. Our nation. The United States of America. To the betterment of all people.”

UAW Local 2250 member, Don Looney, who is running to represent Missouri House District 63, fired up the crowd, calling on UAW members to stand up and be the change needed in legislative halls across the country and to “kick ass for the working class!” You can find out more about Brother Looney’s campaign here.

In the afternoon, delegates attended various workshops to sharpen their knowledge on political topics based on the union’s four core issues.

Day Three of the 2026 National CAP Conference will convene at 9 am tomorrow.

Recap of Day One of the National CAP Conference

For more information on this year’s event, visit UAW.org/CAP2026.

 

 

Additional Day Two speaker remarks:

 

Region 2B Director Dave Green on the fight to save the Conn-Selmer plant in Eastlake, OH: “The epitome of hypocrisy and greed: the owner of Conn-Selmer, billionaire John Paulson, has been on TV talking about bringing jobs back to America. But when it saves him a penny, it’s fine to kill those jobs and ship them overseas. The system is broken. We need to fix this broken system.”

Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell on how UAW members win: “These companies don’t move an inch because of who you’ve got in negotiations, or how tough you talk, or how hard you pound the table. These companies respond to power. As a union, the real power we’ve got is our membership. If the membership is ready to strike, ready to protest, ready to vote, ready to move in unity, then, we’ve got real power.”

Region 6 Director Mike Miller on the need for the labor movement to take on the Trump administration: “We’ve got to remember that whether it’s funding cuts in California and Washington State, or plant closures in the Midwest – the story is the same. These are threats to our job security, to our basic ability to earn a decent wage and to live a decent life. And the task in front of us is the same too. Our only option, as a union and as a broader labor movement, is to organize and fight back on a massive scale.”

 

Photos courtesy of Brian Hedger and UAW Comms Staff

The UAW has voted to endorse Dan Osborn, an Independent candidate for U.S. Senate from Nebraska.

“Dan Osborn is one of us. A union member who came up through the ranks to fight for economic and social justice for the working class,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We don’t need another lawyer or corporate hack who only cares about the richest Americans in the U.S. Senate, we need independent blue-collar fighters like Dan. Wealth inequality is out of control in our country. The rich continue to take all the profits while the affordability crisis leaves working class people scraping to get by paycheck to paycheck. If we’re going to change this system, we need to elect working-class people to the halls of Congress who understand this. We’re proud to stand with Dan Osborn and ready to elect him to take on corporate greed and our rigged political system.”

“UAW Region 4 is on the front lines of the class war on blue collar America, and Dan Osborn is right there with us,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, whose region covers the state of Nebraska. “Dan is an independent, who is loyal only to the working class. From his leadership in the Kellogg strike to taking on Tyson as they try to devastate the Midwest with another massive plant closure to pad Wall Street’s bottom line, Dan has proven he’s got the guts and the experience to take corporate America head on, and working Nebraskans are ready to elect him to the U.S. Senate.”

“The United Auto Workers helped build this country and ushered in our nation’s greatest eras of prosperity for working people,” said Dan Osborn. “With their leadership and working class representation in the Senate, we can return to that prosperity and level the playing field for workers once again. I am honored and humbled by their endorsement, and I will always be a fighter for them and all working people in the U.S. Senate.”

The UAW will convene for its biannual Community Action Program Conference in Washington DC, February 8-11, where Osborn will address hundreds of UAW members. For more information, visit UAW.org/cap2026.

WASHINGTON—This week, UAW members from the Agricultural Implements sector took to Capitol Hill to raise the alarm on the devastating impact of bad trade deals, and fight layoffs and plant closures across the agricultural implements and construction equipment sector.

Since 2023, John Deere has laid off hundreds of workers and offshored multiple products from Iowa to Mexico. Caterpillar (CAT) operates three major manufacturing facilities in Mexico, with rampant labor abuses, driving a race to the bottom. And this month, CNH announced plans to close its Burlington, Iowa plant after nearly a century of operations.

“The American taxpayer and the American worker have invested millions of dollars and decades of blood, sweat, and tears to make these companies what they are today,” said UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson, Director of the Agricultural Implements Department of the UAW. “To take that investment and kill American jobs to pay off Wall Street is a slap in the face to American workers, consumers, and taxpayers. DC needs to step up and stop corporate greed.”

“Executives at these companies think that the devastation of plant closures, lost jobs, broken homes, and the destruction of blue-collar communities are not their problem,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, “But the UAW is going to make these decisions a major problem for these corporations and their Wall Street buddies. We’re in Washington, D.C. this week to make their corporate greed a problem for politicians across the Midwest—regardless of if they are a Democrat or Republican.”

UAW members in D.C. met with the offices of Representatives Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Ro Khanna (D-CA-17), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA-1), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA-2). They also met with the offices of Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS). In addition to the members of Congress, workers also met with staff from the Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

In their meetings, UAW members laid out three core demands for how to better navigate the offshoring of midwestern jobs by corporate greed:

  1. Make it here to sell it here. UAW members are calling for the Commerce Department to launch a new Section 232 investigation into imports of heavy equipment and machinery.
  2. End the race to the bottom. UAW members are demanding the United States Trade Representative to prioritize protections for heavy equipment manufacturing in the July 2026 review of the USMCA, including strong Rules of Origin, tariff rate quotas, and a sectoral minimum wage.
  3. Job security. UAW members are demanding members of Congress pick a side and make sure Deere, CAT, and CNH return production from abroad and stop the layoffs, offshoring, and plant closures.

“American manufacturers, built on American values, are making decisions every day to close and move plants without looking at the people and families that they are impacting,” said Marcques Derby, UAW Local 807 Chairperson at CNH in Burlington, Iowa. “Politicians have a real say. Most of them take campaign contributions from companies that are offshoring good jobs held by their constituents. It’s our elected officials that need to utilize their voice—we elected them for that, didn’t we?”

In addition to this week’s lobbying efforts, hundreds of UAW members from across the U.S. recently submitted stories about the devastation of so-called “free trade” and the urgent need for a worker-centered transformation of our trade deals. The UAW International also submitted an extensive comment calling for transformative changes to North American trade policy that put the international working class first, ahead of corporate interests, which can be viewed here. The UAW will be making trade and the fight against mass layoffs and plant closures a major focus of our 2026 electoral efforts heading into the midterm elections to win for UAW members and the whole working class.

Burlington, IA – In the latest attack on southeast Iowa’s working class, multibillion-dollar transnational corporation Case New Holland (CNH) is threatening to devastate the blue-collar community of Burlington, Iowa, by closing a nearly century-old plant. CNH has made $6.6 billion in profits in the last three years alone and has spent over $3.1 billion of that on shareholder distributions and CEO pay.

In a new video, “Keep Case in Burlington,” CNH workers, retirees, and local politicians speak out against the economic war being waged on Burlington and towns like it across the country.

On Friday, November 7th, UAW President Shawn Fain, UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson, and UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, will join local leaders and community members to speak out against the company’s threats, and to rally to save Burlington from yet another devastating plant closure.

 

WHAT: KEEP CASE OPEN: Rally to Protect Our Jobs, Our Town, Our Future

WHEN: Friday, November 7, 3:30 p.m.

WHERE: 400 North Front Street, Burlington, IA 52601

WHO: UAW members and supporters, UAW President Shawn Fain, UAW Vice President Laura Dickerson, UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell, UAW Local 807 President Nick Guernsey, Mayor of Burlington Jon Billups, and others invited.

The UAW has officially endorsed Rob Sand for Iowa Governor after a unanimous vote of the UAW Iowa CAP (Community Action Program) Council.  Sand, the state’s Auditor, has taken on corporate interests in Iowa time and again, and has held the billionaire class accountable.

“We’re supporting candidates like Rob Sand who’ve proven they can stand up to corporate America,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Our members, their families, and their neighbors, will be sending a clear message to the billionaire class with Rob’s election to the governorship: Iowa is not for sale.”

The UAW represents approximately 20,000 active and retired members across Iowa, from John Deere to Case New Holland to Lennox International, and many more.

Detroit, MI – After months of negotiations, over 900 UAW members in Orlando, FL (Local 788) and Denver, CO (Local 766) have walked out on strike at Lockheed Martin, after the company committed multiple unfair labor practices and refused to present a fair economic proposal that meets the membership’s needs.

The strike begins during a time of record taxpayer-funded profits for the U.S. government’s largest defense contractor. Lockheed Martin made $24 billion in profit and paid its CEO $66 million over the last three years. Profits were up the first quarter of 2025, with Lockheed taking in another $1.7 billion. These mind-boggling profits aren’t going anywhere: the Trump administration is positioned to deliver a more than $1 trillion defense budget in 2025.

While Lockheed rakes in billions in taxpayer dollars, they are refusing to deal adequately with the union’s main demands. Under their latest offer, workers at Lockheed would work between 16 and 23 years to reach top rate for most pay classifications. Over 80% of the UAW workforce would remain in an unfair, extremely long pay progression. Even worse, the company is proposing a measly starting rate of $15 per hour. Lockheed is also refusing to recognize Veterans Day as a holiday, an insult to all UAW members who have proudly served this country.

“Lockheed’s workers have to wait years and even decades before seeing a comfortable standard of living, while its executives are swimming in taxpayer dollars,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Lockheed is a textbook example of corporate greed and I’m proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our members as they fight for their fair share.”

“UAW members at Lockheed Martin voted 99.3% in favor of authorizing a strike” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “We are standing together in solidarity and we will have each other’s backs until we get a fair contract. Who are we? UAW!”

The striking Lockheed Martin workers are not the only UAW members in the defense sector standing up to billionaire class greed. Thousands of UAW marine drafters in Groton, CT are fighting for a fair contract, while General Dynamics, like Lockheed, makes billions from government contracts.

OSHKOSH, WI – Yesterday, more than 90 members of UAW Local 291 who proudly make essential components for military and heavy construction equipment at Cummins Inc. in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, walked out on strike after the company failed to offer a fair contract agreement that respects workers and their families.

“Despite the UAW Local 291 Bargaining Team’s continued efforts, Cummins management has refused to offer a contract that addresses our members’ priorities: fair wages, affordable health care, and job security,” said UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell. “Cummins is holding our members’ economic proposals hostage by their continued refusal to bargain, while demanding harmful concessions. That’s not bargaining in good faith.”

Last week, the UAW-Cummins Bargaining Committee demanded that management stop playing games with workers’ futures. Cummins refuses to move on wages unless the union agrees to damaging proposals, including:

• Harmful language expanding the use of temporary workers
• Changes to inventory procedures that undermine job security
• Increases to an already excessive number of mandatory Saturday shifts

“We’re not creating tiers at Cummins – period. They need to back off their temp worker proposals,” said UAW Local 291 President Ryan Compton. “This company is making billions in profits while many of our members struggle to make ends meet. We won’t stand for it.”

Despite earning over $13 billion in profits over the past three years, Cummins continues to stall contract negotiations with UAW Local 291. First, management delayed bargaining until the day before the contract expired. Now, they are claiming they can’t meet again with union negotiators until April 21.

“It’s unacceptable,” added Campbell. “Our members are the ones building the industry-leading drivetrain systems that power this company’s success. They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”

In late February, Local 291 members held a practice picket in Oshkosh, preparing for this moment. Now, they are walking the picket line, ready to fight for a contract that restores the losses they’ve suffered and delivers real economic justice.

Like many other UAW members who have stood up to unfettered corporate greed, the sentiment on the picket line is that workers are fed up with being left behind. They know what they’re worth and their willing to fight to get what they deserve.

Today, the UAW released a powerful new video calling out Stellantis for failing to honor its commitments to UAW members and criticizing CEO Carlos Tavares for mismanaging the company. The release coincides with a one-day general strike by Italian unions to protest Stellantis’ significant production cuts and the broader impact on metalworkers across Italy.

The video can be accessed here and the media is invited to use the footage. 

UAW members from Belvidere, Illinois, including UAW Region 4 Director Brandon Campbell and UAW Local 1268 President Matt Frantzen, joined the strike and spoke to the hundreds of thousands gathered to protest Stellantis’ baldfaced corporate greed. UAW members secured a commitment to reopen the idled Belvidere plant in their 2023 contract, but the company has not fulfilled its promise.

Pictures from the general strike in Rome can be accessed here and the media is invited to use the images.

The UAW’s new video highlights Stellantis’ refusal to follow through on the $19 billion in product and investment commitments made during the 2023 Stand Up Strike. These promises include reopening the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois—a crucial agreement that Stellantis is now trying to backtrack on. In the video, UAW President Shawn Fain directly addresses Stellantis members , urging them to stand up and fight for their jobs and futures by going to ShitcanCarlos.com to sign a strike authorization pledge.

“This is about your job, your life, and the question is, are you going to let Carlos Tavares tell you to sit down and shut up?” Fain asks in the video. “Or are you going to stand up and fight for what’s right, for what you deserve?”

As Stellantis has filed frivolous lawsuits and robocalled members in a desperate effort to block the union’s actions, three UAW locals have already passed strike authorization votes, with more locals preparing to follow. The union’s grievance process, initiated due to Stellantis’ failure to reopen Belvidere and invest in future production, is moving forward. If grievances remain unresolved, a strike at one or more Stellantis facilities could begin within weeks.

The UAW video serves as a call to action for members and allies, clearly stating that the union will not back down in its fight to hold Stellantis accountable.

For more information, visit ShitcanCarlos.com, where viewers can learn about the campaign to “Keep The Promise” and find the latest updates on the fight against Stellantis’ mismanagement.

The full transcript of President Fain’s narration is below:  

UAW family, as you may have heard, Stellantis has filed more than a dozen frivolous lawsuits against our Union. This is an act of desperation, plain and simple.  

Two weeks ago, nearly 200 leaders from UAW locals across the country came to Detroit to discuss the situation at Stellantis.  

At the meeting, we reviewed the clear evidence that CEO Carlos Tavares and Stellantis are seriously violating the product commitments in our national agreement. Stellantis has not kept its commitment in Belvedere and has unallocated the Dodge Durango from the Jefferson North Assembly Plant.  

For years, this company has picked us off, plant by plant, and our leadership lacked the will and the means to fight back. The Stellantis Council unanimously decided that those days are over. All 200 UAW leaders unanimously recommended to the membership that every UAW worker at Stellantis prepare for a fight and that we all get ready to vote yes to authorize a strike at Stellantis.  

Now in response, Stellantis is trying to use the federal courts to stop our campaign to get this company to keep the promises they made to American auto workers in our 2023 contract.  

Stellantis management has launched a campaign of intimidation and harassment against our members, our local unions, and the International UAW to try to get us to back down from the fight to save our jobs.  

I have bad news for Stellantis: we’re not going anywhere.  

Their corporate lawyers are claiming that our fight to keep jobs in Belvedere, Detroit, and America is based on what they call “sham grievances.”  

But here’s the real sham: over the past nine weeks, Stellantis has spent over a billion dollars on stock buybacks, all while saying they can’t afford to keep their commitments to their own employees. In fact, Stellantis has spent $3 billion on stock buybacks this year alone.  

Our proposal would cost a fraction of what Carlos Tavares has pissed away on Wall Street to save his stock price, which is down 55% since March.  

The real sham is this campaign of intimidation and interference in our Union’s business.  

Stellantis managers are calling members, threatening their jobs. They’re emailing our local presidents threatening lawsuits.  

This is what happens when a CEO is cornered and isolated. His dealers in America and Europe are turning against him. His suppliers and shareholders are suing him, and he’s pushing our customers away. 

And the sham is that he will walk away with a golden parachute of millions and millions of dollars, while American autoworkers are left holding the bag.  

The sham took place this week when he was asked about stepping down or being replaced. Carlos Tavares said, and I quote, “I signed a contract.”  

Well, Carlos, the workers at Stellantis signed a contract too, and it’s time for you to honor it.  

Our fight is about honoring a contract that Carlos Tavares signed. Our fight is about tens of thousands of American auto worker jobs, our families, and our communities.  

This is about your job, your life, and the question is, are you going to let Carlos Tavares tell you to sit down and shut up? Or are you going to stand up and fight for what’s right, for what you deserve?  

These aren’t sham grievances. These are our lives. Carlos Tavares is a sham CEO with a sham strategy to drive this company into the ground.  

We will once again save this company from mismanagement, from corporate greed, and from killing tens of thousands of good jobs, but only if we stick together. Only if we stand up.  

So, are you in? If you are, sign your strike authorization pledge today. And you can do that by going to shitcancarlos.com.  

Let me repeat that: you can sign a strike authorization pledge by going to shitcancarlos.com.  

Let the company know where you stand. And together, let’s tell Stellantis, the days of plant closures are over, and Carlos Tavares needs to go.