Three major automotive companies in the United States (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) have been on strike since September 15 after the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and executives failed to reach an agreement.
The union led by Shawn Fain is demanding a greater share of workers in the profits generated by combustion trucks, they are also asking for guarantees that they will keep their jobs as manufacturers switch to electric vehicles and an increase in their wages. But who is this man who is behind these protests that can paralyze the country’s economic activity?
We recommend: Canadian Ford workers extend the negotiation deadline to avoid a strike
The combative leader of the UAW
Shawn Fain, 54, has been a member of the United Auto Workers (UAW) for 29 years. The native of Kokoma, Indiana, joined the union in 1994 mainly because a good part of his family, including his grandparents, belonged to said organization.
Shawn started out as an electrician for Chrysler at the Kokomo Casting Plant. He later served as president of Education and Bylaws and later as president of the UAW Legislative and Citizenship Committee, a program that serves as the political-legislative arm of the local union in the workplace and a vital political activator in the workplace.
In 2003 he opposed the 2/3/120 schedule when it was initially launched at the Mack Engine Plant, as well as the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) agreements.
He was elected five times as a member of the Skilled Trades Committee and Plant Shop president for Local 1166. In 2007, Shawn protested agreements that implemented “two tier” and cut workers’ wages in half, but also He opposed the stoppage and closure of plants, for which he was repeatedly removed from political life since other members considered that he did not support the other members.
The salaries of auto workers vary depending on their seniority in the company, it is a tiered salary system and disadvantages newer workers who start with much lower salaries than those who have been there longer.
The oldest, who are those hired in 2007 or before, earn $33 per hour; However, those who arrived after 2007 receive around 17 dollars and this increases by 6 percent each year. In addition, they have fewer benefits and the bonuses are usually smaller. This system is called “two-tier” and is one of the reasons the UAW protests.
In 2009, during the Chrysler bankruptcy, he was elected negotiator and three years later he was named International Representative of the UAW and, in 2015, he was the president of the International Subcommittee on Skilled Trades.
Another reason that brought Fain to the leadership was an embezzlement scandal within the UAW where various members were accused of diverting money for gambling and even buying cocaine. At that time, Fain worked as an international representative at the Stellantis training center, supervising professional training programs, where he denounced that leaders looked more to the interests of executives and less to workers.
“I always felt like leadership was too close to the company, but really the only people who could know what was really happening were the people who had to approve expenses. I wasn’t in that kind of role then,” he told Bloomberg.
Finally on March 26, 2023, Shawn Fain was elected to be president of the UAW. Currently, Fain is the public face of the union struggle that seeks to obtain benefits and better salaries.
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Fain continues to gain followers and has even been compared to Senator Bernie Sanders for his criticism of millionaires, “the billionaire class continues to take more and more and the working class continues to be left behind,” he said for the CBS program, Face the Nation .
2023-09-19 19:32:47
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