Posts tagged Michigan
Union boss at center of warring socialist factions in battle for control
August 12, 2026 // The WSWS has acknowledged Fain's links to socialism, reporting that Fain's former chief of staff, Chris Brooks, and a current union official Jonah Furman, are both Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members. Furman also previously served as the former communications director for the UAW and was brought on board as Fain's top assistant after Fain ascended to the union's presidency, according to Sage Journals. Furman previously worked for the 2020presidential campaign of socialist Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as well as the congressional campaign of Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,according to Sage Journals. Brooks left UAW leadership in 2023 after a federal monitor reported him to be involved in improperly attempting to have the duties of the UAW's secretary-treasurer removed, Reuters reported. He is now a columnist at Jacobin, a socialist magazine.
Longtime Union Leader Prepares to Step Back From a Movement Under Threat
July 30, 2026 // Mr. Saunders had to reckon with another internal division after George Floyd’s murder, when a subset of members called for law enforcement groups to be banished from the union. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is a liberal union, but its political composition can be quite diverse: Its 1.4 million dues-paying members across the country include nurses in Michigan, transportation workers in New York and corrections officers in New Mexico, along with domestic workers, clerks, cops and librarians. Mr. Saunders thought it would be a mistake to push out the police.
Second public defender union goes on strike
July 29, 2026 // The union said that during its most recent bargaining session, NDS management offered a one percent COLA and did not include no-cost healthcare over the term of the proposed three-year contract. NDS also has offices based in Texas and Michigan, where union members staged picket lines on Friday. The union was joined on their first day of striking by Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who previously worked at NDS Harlem as an investigator before winning the Democratic primary for New York's 13th congressional district in June.
Wayne County public defenders launch strike over healthcare, wage fight
July 24, 2026 // The union, which represents not just lawyers but also investigators, social workers and paralegals, has been fighting to maintain cost-free health insurance in addition to a 3% annual raise, instead of the 1% raises they’ve been offered.
GM lays off more than 1,000 workers, adds 50 robots at flagship Detroit plant: ‘We’re disgusted’
June 24, 2026 // The automaker insists the cobots are not replacements to human workers and are actually necessary at the Detroit-Hamtramck electric-truck plant to stay competitive while improving “safety and ergonomics” for the workers, according to Crain’s Detroit Business and a company spokesman.
GM lawsuit could fuel debate over calls for worker seats on corporate boards
June 23, 2026 // General Motors filed its lawsuit against Chrysler in 2019, after the U.S. Department of Justice successfully prosecuted executives, employees, and union officials at Chrysler for financial and collective bargaining corruption. At the center of the suit is Iacobelli’s role as a labor relations executive responsible for union negotiations and labor-management programs. The lawsuit claims that the union used Iacobelli’s position at GM to obtain confidential information and create bargaining contracts at Chrysler that gave it a competitive advantage over GM.
Shawn Fain seeks reelection as UAW convention tackles major policy issues
June 15, 2026 // Key issues include: Increasing strike pay from $500 to $625 per week. Potentially reducing union dues from 2.5 hours of pay to 2 hours. Determining how aggressively to fund future organizing campaigns. Clarifying membership and retiree eligibility rules. Protecting the union’s direct election system. The convention comes as the UAW navigates the aftermath of a corruption scandal that sent two former presidents to prison and placed the union under federal oversight. Notably, court-appointed monitor Neil Barofsky has criticized Fain and other senior leaders over transparency and internal governance concerns, with another report expected soon.
UAW Reaches Tentative Deal to End Strike at Supplier to GM Trucks
June 11, 2026 // The UAW workers were pushing for wages closer to the $29 an hour they used to earn in 2008 before agreeing to a 50% wage reduction to keep the plant open during the economic recession. The plant’s top wage rate for regular production workers is about $22 an hour.
‘Now we have the war’ | Nearly 1,000 UAW workers remain on strike in Three Rivers
June 3, 2026 // “The company wanted a fight, and now we have the war,” UAW 2093 Bargaining Chairman Josh Jager told 13 ON YOUR SIDE Tuesday. Workers walked off the job at 12:01 a.m. Monday, launching round-the-clock picketing outside the facility that manufactures axles and driveline components used in major automaker supply chains. By Tuesday afternoon, union members were still stationed at entrances across the sprawling plant. “We're manning up picket sites 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Jager said. “They're out there holding that line. They're not going anywhere.”
UAW goes on strike at key General Motors truck supplier plant
June 1, 2026 // Nearly 1,000 workers at a Michigan automotive supplier went on strike, stalling the production of key parts for General Motors’ midsize and full-size pickup trucks. Workers at the American Axle plant in Three Rivers, Mich., are at an impasse with the company over a new labor contract. Workers say their pay hasn’t recovered from 2008, when they agreed to slash wages in half to keep the plant running during dire economic times, despite high profit at American Axle in recent years on the strength of GM’s truck sales.