Shawn Fain
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Shawn Fain (born October 30, 1968) is an American labor unionist who has served as president of the
United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...
(UAW) since March 2023. An electrician by trade, he worked at a
Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...
automotive parts plant in
Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. Its population was 60,093 according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2024 estimate. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana metropolitan area, Kokomo metropol ...
. He has been a UAW member for 29 years, and is a member of the reform caucus, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD). The first UAW president directly elected by union members, Fain was a central figure in the
2023 United Auto Workers strike The 2023 United Auto Workers strike was a labor strike involving automobile workers in the labor union United Auto Workers (UAW) and the three unionized automakers in the United States—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis. These ...
. In 2023, Fain ran for the presidency of the union against incumbent Ray Curry, leading a slate named UAW Members United that focused on opposing corruption, concessions, and tiered pay structures. In the first election in which members of the union directly elected the president, Fain won the election by 477 votes and took office in March. In office, he advocates a more aggressive negotiating style, more member participation, and for the union to actively support politicians who share the union's agenda. Fain's relative labor militancy and bargaining style contributed to the UAW's decision to authorize the
2023 United Auto Workers strike The 2023 United Auto Workers strike was a labor strike involving automobile workers in the labor union United Auto Workers (UAW) and the three unionized automakers in the United States—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis. These ...
. The strike resulted in wage increases, cost of living adjustments, and the elimination of the tiered wage system. Fain spoke at the
2024 Democratic National Convention The 2024 Democratic National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention in which delegates of the Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party voted on their party ...
on August 19, 2024.


Early life

Fain was born in Kokomo, Indiana, on October 30, 1968. He is the grandson of two UAW GM retirees. His grandfather started at
Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...
in 1937, the year Chrysler workers joined the UAW after a sit-down strike. His father served as the police chief of the Kokomo Police Department. Fain is a graduate of Taylor High School.


2023 United Auto Workers strike

A few days after his election, Fain told the automakers that the UAW was "fed up with the status quo". During 2023 contract renegotiations, Fain advocated for an immediate wage increase of 20 percent for workers followed by yearly gradual increases for a total of 46 percent, which he argues would simply be a way to keep up with the enormous CEO wage increases of auto companies in recent decades. The UAW has since lowered the demanded increase to 36 percent. Fain is also calling for the end of tiered wages and benefits, and the roll-back of concessions made by the UAW during the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, including the reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments and robust pensions. Fain's hard line stance during contract renegotiations contributed to the union's decision to begin the 2023 United Auto Workers strike on September 15. It is the first time in the UAW's 88-year history that the union has launched a simultaneous strike against the Big Three automakers. Fain has garnered significant attention for his unorthodox approach to organizing, with analyst Daniel Ives telling
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
, "This is not your grandfather's UAW ... Fain is playing this like a chess player. He's leading 21st century negotiations for unions". Fain has embraced social media platforms during the negotiations, publishing short form documentary style videos. In a profile in ''The New York Times'' of October 5, 2023, he stated: "Billionaires in my opinion don't have a right to exist." He is also attributed with: "There's a billionaire class, and there's the rest of us." He appears in frequent Facebook Lives where he directly addresses UAW members, quoting from the Bible and
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
. In a livestream from early August 2023, Fain can be seen throwing an offer from automaker
Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...
into a waste basket, stating: "That's where it belongs – in the trash – because that's what it is". In September 2023, he said "The September strikes are so far proving effective, and should give employers second thoughts."


2023 mass auto organizing drive

At the end of the 2023 United Auto Workers strike, Fain pledged to unionize more automotive companies, saying, "When we return to the bargaining table in 2028 it won't just be with the Big Three, but with the Big Five or Big Six." On December 7, 2023, the UAW announced that autoworkers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, had begun a unionization effort, with over 1,000 members signing union cards.


Positions

Fain supports a
four-day workweek A four-day workweek is an arrangement where a workplace or place of education has its employees or students work or attend school, college or university over the course of four days per week rather than the more customary five-day workweek. This ...
. Under Fain the UAW endorsed Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Fain criticized Trump's Executive Order 14251 (ending collective bargaining with Federal unions in a number of agencies) describing it as "100 times worse than PATCO ever dreamed of being" Surrounding the
tariffs in the second Trump administration During Second presidency of Donald Trump, his second presidency, United States president Donald Trump enacted a series of steep Protective tariff, protective tariffs affecting nearly all List of imports of the United States, goods imported into ...
, Fain referred to "global tariffs" as "reckless" but "firmly supports an earlier round of tariffs on the U.S. auto industry".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fain, Shawn 1969 births American electricians Christians from Indiana Christian radicals Living people People from Kokomo, Indiana Presidents of the United Auto Workers Stellantis people Trade unionists from Indiana Vice presidents of the AFL-CIO