Exclusive Interview: Shawn Fain's Vision For UAW
In a remarkable upset, United Auto Workers have elected reformer Shawn Fain as their new president. Fain is the first democratically-elected president in the history of UAW, the major 400,000-member union.
Fain ran on aggressively challenging corporate power and empowering rank-and-file workers. Unlike outgoing UAW leaders, he backed a historic (and successful) measure in 2021 to give all workers the right to vote in union elections.
Fain ran as part of a slate of reform candidates under Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD). They waged an against-the-odds campaign that criticized UAW leaders over top-down decision making and cozying up to corporate management.
Fain sat down with Faiz Shakir and spoke to us exclusively about the future of UAW and unions in America.
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Пікірлер: 149
No time to mince words, no time to use euphemisms. Just telling corporations exactly how it's gonna be and sticking to that fight. About god damn time and I'm proud to finally see someone like him in the reigns. Glad to see workers have gotten enough of being left behind and are pushing for some serious change. Here's to hopefully many more years of union growth!
I am extremely grateful to this man! I recently retired and walked away angry with what is going on! Longer hours and less people to do the jobs that used to take 3/4 people! I was NEVER a lazy person but there comes a time to say ENOUGH! Stay strong and support UNIONS! It is our only hope! 🙏❤️🇺🇸
This man is gonna help change our union and show the world what a UAW autoworker gets vs non union workers!
@JohnT.4321
Жыл бұрын
That is the way it should be. The rank and file electing their top representative. I hope the UAW becomes more like the IWW in their fight against capitalists exploitation of the working class.
@Obamaistoast2012
Жыл бұрын
I work for a non union company and they pay me better than the union would, I also worked in a ford plant for a while and the union did not impress me.
@shaunhall960
Жыл бұрын
❤
@donedeal8385
Жыл бұрын
They'll shut the rest of the plants left in the US.
@MutualistSoc
Жыл бұрын
Why at the IUAW meeting did he tell people they need to be "realistic with their expectations" about the upcoming contract. Saying he only has 6 months to prepare.
Happy to see Mr. Fain of the UAW and Mr. O’Brien of the Teamsters come out fighting for their unions and workers across the board. Hope that union power comes back strong and making big business and corporations ready to sweat.
One union for the world, together we are strong!
@JohnT.4321
Жыл бұрын
Unions united as one would be a real force to contend with.
@PutsOnSneakers
Жыл бұрын
USA =/= "the world"
@benji-menji
Жыл бұрын
Well at least one union to be the figure for the many unions we need in many industries. If he is really as good as he says, I'll be excited.
@b_uppy
Жыл бұрын
Wrong premise! That greatly increases the opportunity for neglect of union workers. There is lack of incentive to follow thru because workers will lack choice. It will be run by globalist elitists who know how to rig the system.
As a former postal worker, I sincerely hope the APWU abandons the political marriage bed and starts working for its members again. Union leaders should side with workers, not politicians.
Congrats Shawn, so glad I could vote for you! #UAW
I worked for a telecommunications company and was a union member. I'm retired now but I've got it made because of the union.😁. I hope more union get formed to fight the power brokers who are getting fat off peoples labor ungratefully.
The UAW is BACK! Absolutely love this guy. He is calm on the surface but you can tell he is a fighter. Like he said, get ready. No more tiered workforce, no more concessions. It's go time.
@EroticInferno
Жыл бұрын
Workers unite!!!
@JohnT.4321
Жыл бұрын
@@EroticInferno Along with the rest of the world's workers.
@Jason-kg3oc
Жыл бұрын
@GuyInCLE Thats 100% not going to happen. The only reason that happened with the rail workers was because of an obscure law from the 1920s regulating interstate commerce on railways.
We need to be as strong as the French workers are! We need to look at whats happening there and stand in solidarity with the people of France and learn how to stop the wheels of capitalism in its tracks when the situation requires it. The world doesn't spin when people with grease under their fingernails tell the people with dirt on their hands they've had enough. Workers in the US have a lot to learn about standing together against corporate greed and government corruption, but it can still be done.
@karengossett1475
Жыл бұрын
I absolutely agree! America is still a young Country and we need to learn from other Countries! 🙏❤️🇺🇸
@eleSDSU
Жыл бұрын
@@karengossett1475 firstly, it's not young, just younger than France. Secondly, we should have destroyed that imperialist hellhole as soon as it was born, there is no fixing a fundamentally evil country like the US, a country that runs by design on slavery and oppression; grow up gringa.
What every union needs.
My father was negotiator for Teamsters Union back in the 1960s and 1970s!
@b_uppy
Жыл бұрын
It was good until Hoffa was disappeared. Think threats were made to union workers with Hoffa's disappearance...
@maryjanehensley1363
Жыл бұрын
@@b_uppy Yes, my father was gassed by the company, but lived to sue them!
@b_uppy
Жыл бұрын
@@maryjanehensley1363 Some companies are run by sociopaths.
@eleSDSU
Жыл бұрын
@@maryjanehensley1363 in the words of Miles O'Brien, "not just a hero, a union man".
Oh man, this guy got some heavy words. Respect.
@karengossett1475
Жыл бұрын
Yes! 👍🇺🇸💙
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them." -Frederick Douglass "A hundred years ago, poverty had to be endured. Today, it is imposed." This system isn't broken. This system is working exactly as it was designed to.
@joeldavis5815
Жыл бұрын
Well put!
@JohnT.4321
Жыл бұрын
That is correct and the Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the same coin in service to the capitalist class.
@scottabc72
Жыл бұрын
Whats the source for the second extremely accurate quote?
GO UNIONS!!!!!!
Well done! 👍👍👍👏👏👏 GO UNIONS!!!!!! 💪💪💪
That's an important move, to secure work with the new tasks they are like moving goalposts...to a whole other field and starting the game clock and scoreboard fresh, not acceptable.They are dodging legal rights to bargain those new job tasks. Much success UAW brother and sisters.
Niiiice. I like this guy 👍
I'm UAW, and I'm happy to see someone new. I just hope he's not corrupt and will actually do what he says he will do.
I have no clue on anything in the auto industry, but kudos to this guy he seems like a peoples' man
👏👏👏 Congratulations 😊
Only Unity and Solidarity make us Strong💪❤!
If a big victory like this can come up in america, big, similar things hopefully happens in other countries around the world, because a new standard has been set, if I made any sense with that sentence
Congratulations, Shawn Fain!
My Grandfather was a UAW for many years, as well with some Uncles etc, Majority if not almost all of my Family is Blue collar working class, and i'm proud to say i am too. If not for us, that's exactly it, These corperate companies would not be where they are today without us.
"We need to be realistic about our contract expectations, we only have 6 months to prepare" - Shawn Faine.
Excellent interview President Fain! We are so excited and ready for change!!!
This is good to see.
Thank you, Faiz! A fkn 84-hour wk?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@frankd.506
Жыл бұрын
Faiz Who's that ?
Let's destroy the (not) new bourgeoisie overlords.
Politicians need to put up or shut up instead of just relying on people to just making empty campaign promises and not following through once they’re in office.
Good man. Fight like hell
Let’s go!
In solidarity with all Workers ❤
I'm proud to have him as our president. Go Shawn! Go UAW!
I'm so excited about Shawn and the UAW! It's time for workers to stand up and demand their fair share and appreciation for what they/we do for our fellow humans!
Solidarity!
As a member I feel like I voted for the right guy.
UAW Proud and STRONG!!
“Mr Fain is helping me find my gun”
If UAW really thinks "global" it will not exist. The fact is US manufacturing is just not competitive.
Solidarity. ShakeUp
Wow, I had no idea they were subverting the union with EV development.
@Failure_Is_An_Option
Жыл бұрын
Not true at all.
He’s going to kill off the remaining auto industry in the US
But for the workers, there would be no businesses!
👍 great news right here!! From Australia
Oh hell yeah!
Unions should speak through the workers, no? Unionism should a fight against leaderism.
Yep❗
#UAW is on the rise!
We need a union for every profession.
@dalfokane
Жыл бұрын
Self-employed people don't need one, though it can be useful for supporting each other
@ninja1antelope
Жыл бұрын
@@dalfokane that is a good point.
@Failure_Is_An_Option
Жыл бұрын
LOL... I'll have no part of it.
It's UNACCEPTABLE that "The first democratically elected UAW President" got elected in 2023!! DISGUSTING 😤😤 HOPE SHAWN CAN DELIVER!! 🎉🎉❤❤
Foreigner here, why has there been no democratically elect president of UAW before?
@Failure_Is_An_Option
Жыл бұрын
You're connected to the same internet as the rest of us. Use it.
@Swordphobic
Жыл бұрын
@@Failure_Is_An_Option Because I want to know what people say about the issue, and not some corporate mouthpiece.
@ariss3304
11 ай бұрын
@@Swordphobicthe red scare placed conservative mafia into unions across the country and dismantled them Ronald Reagan is a great example. He was a government informant and took presidency of the actors union and destroyed it
Unfortunately big corporations in the past just leave for cheap labor countries, and/or pass the cost to consumers. I do agree completely that the work isn't worth the cost to the worker anymore. Government overreach and greed is part of the problem too, humans are greedy and cut throat you cant change a culture by force so vote with your dollar that is the best way to change anything in a materialistic world.
How about this Sir Tom: first congrats, now build your own bank, hospital, medical clinics, don't steal the pension monies, invest in buying your own companies! UAW needs to re industrialize the USA!
Yes. "THINK GLOBAL." Transnational unions.
People that Fight for others😁
Corporations have no obligations to anything but shareholders. Until we're willing to commit some crimes that is.😂
❤️🇺🇸❤️
I support worker rights and unions. Fair and honest pay, compensation for time worked, and all forms of protections
5:26. It's almost like workers of the world should unite....
Hopefully this guy is not all talk Norwood Jewel and General Holy field sold our company down the river thanks UAW so glad my union dues were used for lavish party's and spending money for all you fine folks in the senior union leadership
Time for everyone's interests to be at the table otherwise we will continue to have poverty throughout the world.
That’s the game, they come across as pro-union while securing the employer and appealing to the workers, then sell you out on the backend while taking your dues the UAW is now a sad joke
Can't say I'm surprised that a reformer won a democratic election after the old guard refused. It's almost like they care more about their power than what the workers want. If only my union could win the right for democracy above the state level.
Organize to control the conditions of your labor!
Unions have lost credibility with these crazy labor-concession contracts; new hires are paying the same dues for half the benefits, while helping to fund the gold-plated packages of a bunch of grandfathered-in loafers.
Alright I like this guy and I agree, let's all organize to battle the corporations to revive the American Dream and the American middle class!
Too bad it's too late for the Caterpillar contract. Sold out again.
i was in the uaw get em bro
Pray for dead fight, like hell for the living
They were not elected before?
Make us proud Shawn! Do right by us, and we will stand behind you 100% of the way
Seems like a very decent level headed guy with a can do attitude. Something thats missing in america.
UAW international union or a local??
Yes because UAW is horrible, my parents worked for GM, one for 45 years one for 35. Their union contracts are trash and nothing more.
The photo for this video is very misleading. Shawn Fain had nothing to do with the 2021 John Deere master agreement. The only current IEB member to be involved with that set of talks is VP Chuck Browning.
I’ll start believing in unions again if he does what he says he’s going to do
It's great for UAW workers but what about the other workers above and below them in the supply chain? UAW cares no more for people than the car companies do. Unions increase production costs and companies price gouge and it all gets passed along to the end consumer making everything more expensive. It is getting to the point that only union workers and corporate executives will be able to afford the cars they build. The unions and the corporations are a pot and a kettle. They are both power hungry, greedy monoliths that are just worried about filling their own pockets and crushing competition. If you don't like where you work, go work somewhere else. If you don't take care of employees, you will lose workers. The automotive field is the worst! Compare US built vehicles to those built everywhere else. American vehicles are junk with so many recalls, owners share custody with the repair shoppes. Corporations cut corners for profits and the union workers don't care about quality work. Corporate and union greed combined with monopolistic practices and closed shop rules is why Americans have lost so much manufacturing.
Sad he keeps saying big 3, when really it’s the dying 3. His vocabulary indicates the status quo is safe.
@RagingKabuto
11 ай бұрын
😂
This guy sounds like a fighter. Love it.
Auto-workers need to transition to e-Bike manufacturing. e-Bikes & multiplex housing are the future.
@bobbysworld281995
Жыл бұрын
Just copy Vienna and make it fancier and *ahem* socialized.
@ecoRfan
Жыл бұрын
Yeah cause people can’t afford cars or houses so they get the cheaper option.
@darksid007
Жыл бұрын
You can't farm with e-bikes Evs are not going to solve pollution by it self.
Muh quo
The UAW should be pushing the big three to stop building EV’s. It’s losing them billions.
Don't expect anything different out of this guy. In the UAW debates he denounced all forms of Socialism and Worker ownership. And recently at the big house in the meeting him he told people we have to be "realistic" about our contract negotiations. Because he has only had 6 months of preparing for a contract. The New Boss is same as the old boss.
The "American dream" isn't dead, it has evolved and people need to as well. Workers do live check to check, but just because you pay them more doesn't mean they'll learn how to budget properly.
@eleSDSU
Жыл бұрын
Oh sweetie... you are so confused lmao, it seems you are still under the impression that personal responsibility a.k.a. "pull up yourself by your bootstraps" alla Ben Shabibo is a way out of these systemic issues. Maybe you should take a couple history/economics classes to disabuse you of such nonsensical ideas.
@reedraikes7471
Жыл бұрын
American dream is dead as fuck, I have a better chance of banging Arianna grande than ever owning a home
I hope you all heard the “and we need to get a piece of that”. He’s referring to your paycheck through dues. Unions are nothing like they used to be. It’s an absolute shame. They’re now worse then the corporations they supposedly push against. This shits gross.
Why does this feel like an ad?
This is amazing, but the backlash will be worse.
Used to be you could be a shoe salesman and make enough to buy a house. Now a shoe salesman can barely make rent on an apt. while at the same time the tops of corporations and those companies are making record profits.
Robotics and automation so bye bye
Communism