UAW President Shawn Fain calls on other auto worker unions to align contract expiration dates

Members of the United Auto Workers are examining tentative contract agreements between the union and Detroit’s Big Three automakers, and voting on whether to approve the deals.

In a Facebook Live video over the weekend, UAW President Shawn Fain touted “record contracts” with Ford Motor Company, Stellantis and General Motors that include significant wage increases and cost of living adjustments, among other benefits. Fain attributed much of the union’s success to its new strategy of striking against all three companies at once, adding that the union’s new goal will be to organize auto workers across the country. 

“The Big Three aren’t the only auto companies making record profits. Auto workers at Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Tesla, they deserve record contracts too,” said Fain. “And we’re going to do everything we can to support them in the fight to win what they deserve.”

Union leaders set an expiration date of April 30, 2028 for the tentative contracts, so that workers can strike on May 1 — International Workers’ Day — and invited other unions across the country to align their contract expiration dates with the UAW so they can strike together.

“We invite unions around the country to align your contract expirations with our own, so that together we can begin to flex our collective muscles,” said Fain. “If we’re going to truly take on the billionaire class and rebuild the economy so that it starts to work for the benefit of the many, it’s important not only that we strike, but that we strike together.”

Fain also criticized auto industry complaints that higher wages for union workers will force car companies to raise their prices. He says the new deals give workers what he calls a fair share of profits car companies have earned for many years.