Fain’s Battle with Stellantis

Nearly every month since UAW President Shawn Fain took office, he’s racked up a laundry list of grievances against companies. His current beef with Stellantis has lasted several months. Most recently, he raised objections over the auto manufacturer’s layoffs amid falling profits. Fain has been baselessly claiming Stellantis is “rolling in the dough” and is urging union members to authorize a coordinated national strike over a few issues:

    1. Layoffs
    2. The delayed reopening of the Belvidere Assembly Plant amid Stellantis’ financial troubles.

Fain’s call for an outside-of-contract negotiations work stoppage has met with mixed results. On the one hand, Stellantis workers at a Los Angeles parts center authorized a strike; on the other, workers at Fain’s home local in Kokomo, Indiana, declined. However, the UAW is undeterred, filing Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against Stellantis over Belvidere and the potential move of Dodge Durango production from Detroit to Canada. Stellantis insists it’s making these decisions based on the company’s financial outlook, but Fain has maintained a combative stance.

The UAW’s Own Staff Pushes Back

If only Fain had paid as much attention to the UAW’s own staffers—they might not have felt the need to unionize, too. The UAW has now joined a 2024 “bingo card” of union hypocrisy alongside the National Education Association (which recently locked out staffers over a three-day strike) and SEIU Local 1199, which allegedly fired a staffer for organizing.

Back in September, we wrote about how UAW Staff United (USU) accused the union of retaliatory behavior for firing USU organizer Alex Chan and bargaining in bad faith over a first contract. USU filed ULP charges and held a strike authorization vote, with a local of 40 workers overwhelmingly voting in favor of a walkout in NYC and surrounding areas.

A Growing Divide Within the UAW

The fact that UAW staffers feel the need to unionize against the international union speaks volumes. In just 18 months, USU has established 34 locals across New England and Puerto Rico. According to USU members, there’s a distinct “disconnect” between the UAW’s values and how it treats its own workers.

Additionally, Alex Chan revealed to The Guardian that the UAW refused to come to the table on the issue of wages in a big way.  Yep, the union that went to bat against the Big Three and emerged with 33%+ raises for its members has, according to Chan, only been giving “laughable” raises of 3% for the past four years, which is far lower than the high-profile UAW contract battles of late.

More Bad News for Fain

Finally, this week, Hydra-Lock workers in Detroit decertified the union with help from the National Right to Work Foundation.

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