Posts tagged automakers
Dale Buss: UAW’s Deere gamble sends a warning to Detroit automakers
October 28, 2026 // What Fain didn’t tell the employees was that Deere’s offer was better than just about anything Fain got anywhere else. Earlier this year, Fain hailed the UAW’s first contract with Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga as a historic victory. Yet that agreement provides general wage increases of just 3% in 2027, 2028 and 2029 before a final 6% increase in 2030. Deere was offering its workers 4% raises in both 2026 and 2027, on top of a $3,000 bonus and the continuation of their existing pension, health-care and cost-of-living protections. Which raises the question: was Fain’s real motive in rejecting Deere’s generous offer Deere employees or his larger 2028 general strike plans? The existing Deere contract expires on October 31, 2027. The UAW’s contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis expire just six months later, on April 30, 2028.
Op-ed: Sean O’Brien is just Randi Weingarten in a hard hat
September 20, 2026 // Unions across sectors, including the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, and largely private-sector Communications Workers of America, want contracts to cover sex change procedures and abortions, while other unions demand workers submit to diversity, equity, and inclusion programming. Conservatives should not expect organized labor, whose members are now nearly half directly employed by governments, to be anything other than fully committed to Big Government and other entities that support Everything Leftism. There’s no clean way to divide organized labor against itself, so any conservative who wants to empower union bosses needs to know they are empowering all of them, including the ones they know better than to help.
First Shift: UAW urges caution on Canada tariffs
September 1, 2026 // Automakers and suppliers face mounting investment uncertainty after high-stakes trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed Aug. 21 amid the ongoing USMCA review.
AUTOS UAW Q&A: Presidential candidates on monitorship, future of oversight
August 10, 2026 // Five members are challenging Fain, a popular president and political figure. Fain was at the helm of the union in 2023 when it secured handsome raises after a simultaneous strike of all three Detroit automakers (Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis). The upcoming election was complicated by news that Fain is facing a grand jury investigation directed by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that he improperly used his post to seek benefits for his family members. Fain has denied the allegations.
Detroit automakers, union to negotiate amid EV pressures and tariff tensions
July 15, 2026 // As the automobile industry transitions to electric vehicles, various workforce challenges are set to arise. Apart from the obvious labor disruptions, the skills required to manufacture electric vehicles differ significantly from those needed for internal combustion engines. Additional training will be necessary for the workforce as automakers invest in new manufacturing technologies. The implications of these workforce-related disruptions will be deeply felt in labor negotiations between automakers and unions.
Op-ed: When Labor Policy Leaves Its Workers Behind
June 2, 2026 // The Faster Labor Contracts Act empowers unions at workers’ expense. Some Republicans failed to see this charade in the House, but hopefully the Senate will have more common sense.
Monitor: Shawn Fain, staff unfairly blamed UAW treasurer over investments
May 15, 2026 // Reports of the mismanaged finances were leaked to the news media in 2025, prompting a request from U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, a few months later to explain, as news agencies had reported, how the union had missed out on approximately $80 million by failing to reinvest the strike fund. Mock had largely been blamed for the misstep as the top steward of union funds, but Mock has also been the target of retaliation schemes in the union, something the monitor has reported on in-depth before. This finger-pointing over the investment flub was retaliatory, too, the monitor concluded in his latest report issued on Thursday, April 30. According to the 82-page report, numbers were "exaggerated," and blame was placed unfairly
UAW shuffles leadership after monitor details retaliation scheme
December 30, 2025 // A federal monitor found evidence of retaliation, falsified allegations and deleted text messages involving senior UAW officials. The UAW reinstated key department leaders, disciplined staff and changed compliance reporting lines. Oversight remains in place as the union prepares for upcoming leadership elections and continued reform efforts.
How unionizing hurt VW (it has nothing to do with wages)
December 19, 2025 // “You’ll find that the pay scales of the non-union automakers in these right-to-work states are pretty competitive with UAW,” Payne says — but in the ability to adapt to changing markets. Unions add a layer of management that makes it more difficult to shift production, change processes, and retool lines.
Shawn Fain: Future of UAW ‘hangs in the balance’ as strike looms at Volkswagen plant
November 7, 2025 // To Fain, anything shy of total job security is not good enough. The current negotiations at Volkswagen remain stalled over a clause in Volkswagen's current offer that stipulates the company will not close the plant or cut jobs "unless conditions beyond the control of the company arise that make compliance with this commitment impractical." "American workers live in fear," Fain said. "Fear that if they ask for a dollar more, the boss is going to fire them or move the damn plant. That's economic terrorism."