Strike raises stakes for UAW leader in bid to reclaim political influence

Shawn Fain took over the United Auto Workers in April with a promise to reverse the union’s waning influence and transform it into a political powerhouse. In less than six months, he has fulfilled that pledge by organizing a historic strike and holding hostage his endorsement of President Biden.

Sworn into office after a contentious election, Mr. Fain became the first rank-and-file member to lead the UAW after rising through the ranks at a casting plant in Kokomo, Indiana, now owned by Stellanis. He quickly went to work and pulled off the first strike in which UAW members walked out simultaneously on all three major Detroit auto manufacturers.

Washington politicians from both major parties took notice and scrambled to support UAW workers, albeit for different reasons. Democrats say the workers are victims of corporate greed, and Republicans claim the Biden administration’s push toward electric vehicles has brushed aside the workers.

Sen. Bernard Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont, and former President Donald Trump are among the politicians holding rallies with the workers. That’s exactly what Mr. Fain wants, labor experts say.

“Fain recognizes this is a political battle as much as it is a battle to change the balance of power between labor and capital,” said Marick Masters, who teaches labor and political activity at Wayne State University in Detroit. “He understands what drives policymakers on both sides and goes after whatever he can do to pull that lever.”

The autoworkers’ strike is in the middle of its second week with no signs of ending soon.

On Friday, the UAW expanded its strike to target Stellantis and General Motors. Members walked off the job at 38 parts distribution centers across 20 states. Mr. Fain said the expanded strike does not target Ford because the automaker is “serious about reaching a deal.”

GM and Stellantis remain far apart on a deal, Mr. Fain said in a video message Friday.

“At noon Eastern today, all parts distribution centers at General Motors and Stellantis will be on strike,” he said. “We will shut down parts distribution until those two companies come to their senses and come to the table with a serious offer.”

Stellantis is an Italian-American conglomerate that owns Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, RAM, Jeep, Peugeot, Citroen and Alfa Romeo.

Workers at three Midwestern facilities — a GM assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Stellantis factory in Toledo, Ohio, and a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan — were the first to walk off the job.

More than 5,600 UAW members work at the latest strike locations, bringing the number walking the picket line to 18,300 — a small fraction of the union’s 150,000 members. The parts distribution strikes could hurt dealerships’ ability to make repairs, the most profitable part of their business.

Mr. Fain’s union is demanding wage increases of 36% over four years, a 32-hour workweek with overtime for additional hours, restoration of retiree health benefits, profit sharing, the restoration of defined-benefit pensions for all workers and cost-of-living adjustments. He says the unions deserve a bigger share of automakers’ record profits.

The three automakers have raised their wage offers from 17.5% to 20%, with large one-time payments and more time off. They have bristled at a 32-hour workweek and restoration of retirement benefits for new workers. When they neared insolvency in 2007, the automakers said the retirement benefits for new workers would make them less competitive than nonunion companies.

“Fain has done pretty well to this point, but he’s not a vastly experienced labor leader on the national scene and it takes a whole lot of skill and experience to maneuver your way through what he’s engaged in,” said Paul Clark, who teaches labor and employment relations at Pennsylvania State University.

Mr. Clark said the strike puts the UAW’s future at stake as the entire labor movement resurges under the Biden administration.

“The ramifications go beyond the UAW. If this falls apart, it’s going to take a lot of wind out of the sails of the labor movement. But if they can win, it’s going to be really significant,” he said.

Political kingmaker was a role the UAW played in the 1960s and 1970s before it started to slide into irrelevance because of plant closings, global competition and the availability of low-wage workers overseas. That resulted in layoffs, contract concessions and diminished clout in Washington.

Compounding the UAW’s problems was a corruption scandal in the past decade that resulted in prison terms for two former UAW presidents, who were convicted of embezzling millions of dollars of union funds for their personal use.

That resulted in a court-supervised election in March that Mr. Fain won by a narrow margin as a reform candidate. Within days, he promised increased political activity and a more militant approach to the bargaining table.

In his first remarks, Mr. Fain said the UAW would become more politically involved by offering grassroots campaign volunteers, endorsements and campaign contributions. He warned candidates that the UAW would hold them accountable in office.

The UAW had supported candidates who abandoned the union on bread-and-butter issues, Mr. Fain said, and that would no longer happen. UAW officials were dispatched to factories, union halls and elsewhere to talk with members about politics.

“This strike certainly has a political dimension to it, and it’s clear that Fain has factored in the politics of where we are right now to give the UAW every advantage he can in terms of bargaining,” Mr. Clark said.

As part of that strategy, Mr. Fain has withheld his endorsement of Mr. Biden for the 2024 election. He said an endorsement would depend on the outcome of the strike. Holding off an endorsement is a big blow to Mr. Biden, who has built his political brand on his full-throttle endorsement of unions. Labor experts say some of Mr. Fain’s rhetoric is political posturing and predict he will ultimately endorse the president.

“They don’t have any place to go,” Mr. Masters said. “If they don’t endorse him and he gets reelected, they will isolate themselves. The environmental movement is the dominant movement in the Democratic Party. It outweighs labor and plays a larger role in campaign financing.”

Mr. Fain told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the UAW endorsement has to be earned and will be about actions, not words.

The White House announced last week that acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior aide Gene Sperling would not be dispatched to Detroit as initially reported but would engage with the UAW leadership and the automakers from Washington.

UAW officials were taken aback by Mr. Biden’s tepid support for striking workers in a speech from the White House on Sept. 15. Former UAW President Bob King said the president “should have done a lot more already” to help striking workers.

On Friday, Mr. Fain invited the president to walk the picket line with striking workers, which Mr. Trump plans to do this week. Mr. Biden said he would join workers on the picket line on Tuesday. 

The White House was initially reluctant to have Mr. Biden join the striking workers but ultimately accepted the invitation.

“The president appreciates Shawn Fain inviting him and including him with all the family and friends of the UAW,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Mr. Clark said he has been “puzzled” by Mr. Biden’s timid defense of workers, given his unabashed support for unions.

“There is sort of a hesitation now when it’s time to put some action behind your words,” he said. “He’s been surprisingly fearful to me, even if it was just some theater by coming to Detroit and marching with workers.

“I don’t know if he’s keeping his powder dry for down the road when things get tougher, but I don’t know what he has to lose by being more aggressive, given the positions he’s taken on the labor movement.”

Mr. Fain has made it clear that he is no fan of Mr. Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. After the former president announced he would skip the second Republican presidential debate to go to Detroit and talk with striking workers, Mr. Fain denounced the plan.

“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” Mr. Fain said. “We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding of what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.”

Although UAW leaders are firmly entrenched with the Democratic Party, they know that many rank-and-file members voted for Mr. Trump.

Mr. Masters said the political divide is nothing new, and he doesn’t expect it to be a factor in 2024.

Although Mr. Fain has deftly navigated the political terrain to garner backing from both political parties, that support from lawmakers and the general public could wane if the strike drags on, Mr. Masters said.

“This could begin to tilt against the autoworkers and against unions in general because most people don’t get retiree health care, 32-hour workweeks or paid as much,” he said. “Right now, people appreciate that workers are fighting for them and wish them well, but things can go pretty sour if we are in for a very long strike.”