Tag Archive for: Shawn Fain

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UAW President Shawn Fain to Rally with American Axle Workers in Michigan Ahead of May Contract Expiration

UAW President Shawn Fain will join UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle & Manufacturing (also known as Dauch Corporation) for a rally in Three Rivers to kick off the campaign for a record contract at American Axle. Official bargaining with the multi-billion-dollar corporation began March 23, and the current agreement expires on May 31.

WHO: UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle (AAM), UAW President Shawn Fain, UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes, Assistant Director Scott Zuckschwerdt, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, with other political, labor, and community allies and supporters

WHAT: Solidarity rally to kick-off contract negotiations

WHERE  Three Rivers High School, Performing Arts Center, 700 6th Ave, Three Rivers, MI 49093

WHEN: Sunday, March 29 at 1:00 P.M.

Influenced by the success of the UAW’s 2023 Stand Up Strike at Ford, GM, and Stellantis, American Axle workers are ready to make up for nearly two decades of lost wages and benefits. UAW Local 2093 members laid out their demands in a video released earlier in March, which include: no concessions, fairer wages and profit sharing, better health care, stronger retirement, and job security.

In 2008, workers at American Axle took major sacrifices to save the facility from closure during the Great Recession. Many long-time workers who were making as much as $29 an hour in 2008 saw their wages slashed to $14.50. Today, eighteen years later, workers are still yet to make up all that lost ground, with wages at American Axle currently topping out at $22 an hour after a five-year progression, with inflation-adjusted wages cut in half from their pre-2008 levels.

Meanwhile, since 2022, as a Tier 1 parts supplier to General Motors, American Axle has generated $2.9 billion in profits. Over that time, the company’s CEO has been paid $47.9 million, with the top five executives receiving nearly $100 million in compensation – while UAW members working at the Three Rivers plant struggle to afford basic needs, with some even forced to sleep in their cars.

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UAW Condemns Violent Attack on Tornel Rubber Workers in Mexico, Urges Immediate USMCA Action

The UAW today condemned the shooting of striking workers at the Tornel Rubber Company in Tultitlán, Mexico, calling it a grave attack on fundamental labor and human rights and urging swift action by Mexican authorities and USMCA partners.

On March 18, four workers were injured when armed assailants opened fire on workers on night duty as they lawfully exercised their right to strike.

The strike at Tornel Rubber Company stems from alleged violations of the Mexican Rubber Industry Contract-Law, including:

  • Non-implementation of a 40-hour workweek
  • Unpaid 44-day year-end bonus
  • Denial of proper vacation premium (25–31 days)
  • Failure to pay social security contributions
  • Non-recognition of official paid holidays (Feb. 5, Mar. 21)

The UAW is calling on Mexican authorities to ensure the safety of workers and to carry out a transparent investigation to hold those responsible accountable.

The situation reflects broader concerns about efforts within the rubber industry to weaken established labor standards and collective bargaining agreements. The UAW is urging the governments of the United States and Canada to take immediate action under the USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism. Specifically, the UAW is calling for USTR to immediately self-initiate a complaint under the USMCA’s Rapid Response Mechanism.

“What happened at Tornel Rubber is an outrage. It’s an attack on human rights, on labor rights, and on the basic democratic freedoms of workers. The right to strike, to organize, and to bargain collectively are non-negotiable. When workers are met with gunfire for exercising those rights, the UAW will not tolerate it. We’re committed to fighting like hell to make sure every worker can stand up, organize, and demand what they’re owed without facing violence,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.

The UAW emphasized that failure to respond decisively risks undermining labor reforms and trade commitments across North America.

UAW Demands:

  • Immediate protection for Tornel workers and their families
  • Full enforcement of the Rubber Industry Contract-Law
  • Public condemnation of the attack by Mexican authorities and industry leaders
  • Independent USMCA complaint initiated by the U.S.

The UAW reaffirmed its solidarity with Tornel workers, who voted on March 22 to continue their strike.

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UAW Applauds USTR for Taking on Race to the Bottom with New Section 301 Investigations

“The UAW is glad to see the U.S. Trade Representative taking on companies and countries using wage suppression and anti-union laws,” said UAW President Shawn Fain, in response to new Section 301 investigations announced by the United States Trade Representative. “For decades, we’ve let companies offshore good jobs from the U.S. to countries where workers have no rights and are denied a living wage. Right now, we still have factories closing and leaving the country while the working class suffers the consequences. Instead of driving a race to the bottom, we need a trade policy that puts workers first.”

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After UAW Tariff Push, Detroit Diesel to Add Third Shift, Hire More, and Recall Laid Off Workers

Detroit Diesel, a manufacturer of diesel engines and axles in Detroit, has announced the addition of a third shift, the recall of laid-off workers, and the hiring of dozens more, in response to strategic tariff pressures.

In October, after months of lobbying, the federal government imposed a 25 percent tariff on heavy truck imports to prevent further offshoring and drive investment in the US heavy truck industry. The move is the latest win for UAW members in the union’s fight for reshoring and reinvesting in good union jobs.

“Strategic, targeted tariffs are an important tool in the toolbox to undo the damage of our free trade disaster and bring back good union jobs to the U.S.,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Companies like Detroit Diesel, and their parent company Daimler Truck North America, need to step up to reinvest in the workers who make the product and stop laying off American workers while making billions in profit. We applaud this first step in the right direction.”

“Detroit Diesel UAW members build a high-quality product that makes this company billions, and it’s only right that this company would invest right here in Michigan and recognize that success,” said UAW Region 1A Director Mark DePaoli. “We congratulate our members who are coming off of layoff and all those who will join our union with the creation of these new jobs.”

In 2025, workers from the Detroit Diesel Axle unit voted by 99 percent to ratify a new contract that won profit-sharing and cost-of-living adjustments for the first time after authorizing a strike.

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Volkswagen Workers Make History, Ratify First Union Contract at Major Southern Auto Plant

In a historic victory, Volkswagen workers have voted by 96 percent to ratify their first union contract. The deal locks in 20 percent wage increases, healthcare cost reductions, job security guarantees, an enforceable grievance procedure, and much more. The ratification vote caps a years-long campaign by Volkswagen Chattanooga autoworkers to join the UAW and win a better life with a union contract.

Members of the press are invited to use b-roll and photos from ratification.

“Volkswagen workers have moved yet another mountain,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “From having the courage to stand up and form their union, to having the backbone to authorize a strike and hold out for a contract that honors their worth, VW workers are leading the way for the entire labor movement and non-union autoworkers everywhere. Welcome to the UAW family.”

The over 3,000 Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW in April of 2024. In October of 2025, after more than a year of negotiations, workers voted to authorize a strike in order to win a fair contract. In early February, they reached a tentative agreement with the company, which has now been ratified.

“This victory shows what happens when workers stand up and refuse to be ignored. We didn’t just win better wages and raise standards at our plant — we forced respect onto the table and got it all in writing,” said Yogi Peoples, a Bargaining Committee member from Assembly. “Our victory here at Volkswagen should send a message to autoworkers everywhere: don’t let management divide you. When workers fight together – united and unafraid — we can beat the odds and win!”

“Southern autoworkers are standing up, and I expect many more to follow Volkswagen’s lead,” said UAW Region 8 Director Tim Smith. “Workers are done being left behind, and VW is just the first step towards justice for autoworkers everywhere. Who are we? U-A-W!”

Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga voted 3-to-1 to join the UAW in 2024, with support from the Volkswagen Works Council and IG Metall. Soon after the victory, workers elected a 20-member negotiating committee made up of their peers. After months of negotiations, the contract marks a breakthrough for nonunion autoworkers and manufacturing workers across the South. The agreement ensures that Volkswagen workers have a legally binding, enforceable contract guaranteeing fair pay, more affordable healthcare, safer working conditions, and clear protections against favoritism.

The details of the agreement are available at UAW.org/VW.

 

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UAW President Shawn Fain Joins Lorain County Jobs and Family Services Workers Preparing for February 18 Strike Deadline

With two days to go before a February 18 strike deadline, UAW President Shawn Fain and Region 2B Director David Green joined UAW Local 2192 members at Lorain County Jobs and Family Services in making preparations to walk off the job on Wednesday morning if County Commissioners continue to refuse to agree to a fair contract.

“The workforce crisis at Lorain County Jobs and Family Services is a public service crisis,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Today, the UAW is standing up for strong public services that Lorain County residents depend on. An agency that can’t keep staff because they can’t afford to eat lunch or have their children on their healthcare plan – that’s an agency in crisis.”

Around 150 UAW Local 2192 members at Jobs and Family Services in Lorain County provide critical frontline public services – including child welfare support and public benefits administration – to some of the county’s most vulnerable residents. Despite the essential nature of this work, the workforce is facing severe economic and staffing instability. JFS management and the Lorain County Commissioners have refused to offer a fair contract after months of negotiations.

In the last five years, turnover has reached crisis levels at JFS. That’s while County Commissions have increased healthcare costs for workers by 50%, as average wages remain less than at Jobs and Family Services in other Counties across Ohio.

“UAW Local 2192 has been ready and remains ready to negotiate and settle this contract immediately,” said UAW Region 2B Director Dave Green. “But right now, the County is giving workers – and the public – zero options. Resolving this crisis matters to every family in Lorain County because when workers can’t afford to stay on staff to do the critical work at Jobs and Family Servies, public services simply can’t function.”

The current conditions have created a crisis for the JFS workforce with many facing harsh financial hardships. And while the workers struggle to make ends meet, the County adds dozens of administrative positions that earn six-figure salaries.

“We are prepared to reach a fair agreement that stabilizes our workforce at Lorain County Jobs and Family Services and protects critical public services,” said UAW Local 2192 Chairperson Gina Jones. “But right now, we have JFS workers putting their children on Medicaid, skipping meals, or relying on food banks because they can’t afford the County’s health plan – the same people who administer public assistance programs to others in need. That’s why UAW Local 2192 members are unified and ready to strike on February 18 unless the County changes its position.”

UAW Local 2192 members at JFS remain ready to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement for the people of Lorain County. In the meantime – as no proposal on the table or any willingness from the County to reach a deal that addresses turnover, retention, and service collapse – workers will maintain a deadline of February 18 when they will launch strike lines outside the JFS building at 42485 North Ridge Road beginning 6:30 a.m. sharp.

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UAW’s Four Core Issues Take Center Stage on Day 2 of 2026 National CAP Conference

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

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UAW Endorses Independent Dan Osborn in Nebraska U.S. Senate Race

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.

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UAW Biannual Political Conference to Bring Hundreds of UAW Members to Capitol Hill, Feature Michigan Senate Candidate Forum

The UAW will hold its biannual Community Action Program (CAP) Conference in Washington, D.C., from February 8–11, bringing together nearly 1,000 union members from across the country to strategize and build power for the working class.

The conference agenda will focus on the UAW’s political vision and four core priorities: wages, health care, retirement, and time off. Participants will also address the growing threats to the American Dream posed by corporate greed and divide-and-conquer politics.

On Monday, February 9, UAW President Shawn Fain will deliver a keynote address outlining the union’s political vision for taking on the billionaire class.

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, the union will hold its first candidate forum of 2026, featuring leading candidates who are running for Michigan’s U.S. Senate. The forum will be livestreamed on UAW social channels.

WHO:  The UAW’s National Community Action Program (CAP)

WHAT:  “Building Working Class Power: Our Time to Lead” – the Union’s Biannual CAP Conference

WHERE:  Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20009

WHEN:  February 8-11; MI Senate Forum during February 11’s morning plenary

The Michigan U.S. Senate candidate forum will take place during the final morning plenary starting at 9:45 am on Wednesday, Feb. 11. The candidate forum will also be Livestreamed on UAW digital channels, including YouTube and Facebook. For more information on the UAW’s CAP Conference, including the agenda, visit UAW.org/CAP2026.

Members of the press are invited to attend the Monday and Wednesday sessions. RSVP is required.

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Statement from UAW President Shawn Fain on the Killing of Alex Pretti

“The UAW stands in solidarity with the family and loved ones of our fallen union brother Alex Pretti and all those standing up for justice in Minneapolis and beyond. Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, and a member of AFGE Local 3669. He was a fellow union member doing what UAW members do all the time – heeding a call for solidarity and exercising his Constitutional rights. For that, he was killed in the street. Our union mourns his loss and our thoughts are with his family, his union, and his community.

As proud trade unionists, we value our Constitutional freedoms. The right to free speech and the right to protest are core to who we are as Americans and as union members. The killing of peaceful protesters like Alex Pretti threatens our rights and our Constitution.

In moments like these, the labor movement must not be silent. Unions in Minnesota took action last Friday, January 23, by participating in a general strike and protested across the state. If the right to protest or speak freely is under attack, then our rights as workers are not safe. Our freedom to strike, or to walk a picket line to win a better life, may be threatened next.”

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