UAW chief, having won concessions from strikes, aims to expand membership to nonunion automakers
Entering contract talks with Detroit’s three automakers, Shawn Fain set lofty expectations for what he could gain for his union members — and delivered on many of them. He secured significant pay raises, improved benefits, the right to strike over plant closures and a raft of other concessions.
But to the United Auto Workers president, the agreements that emerged from talks that were marked by six weeks of strikes were merely the start of a victory streak and a renaissance for the 88-year-old union. Now, Fain has set his latest ambitious goal: To gain UAW membership in nonunion companies across the industry — from foreign automakers with U.S. operations like Toyota to electric vehicle makers like Tesla to EV battery plants that will likely represent a sizable share of auto jobs in the decades ahead.
Already, Fain asserted in an interview with The Associated Press, the contracts have benefited workers in nonunion auto companies: Soon after the UAW won major pay raises for its workers, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan — all nonunion operations — raised their own workers’ pay in what Fain characterized as an obvious bid to stop the UAW from unionizing those workforces.
