The tentative contracts haven't yet been ratified by UAW workers at the Detroit Three automakers but in live webcast Wednesday, union president Shawn Fain took a victory lap defended the deals and laid the gauntlet for the next round of contract talks in 2028.
In a roughly 35-minute monologue, Fain ran down the list of gains won after more than five weeks of cascading “stand up strike” walkouts from General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis noting the automakers' first offer was a 9% pay hike, but the union bargained them up to 25%. Fain revealed the automakers put forth more than 30 different contracts before the two sides reached tentative agreements.
Aside from economic gains, “we won back our dignity as auto workers,” Fain said. “We won back our pride in the UAW and being able to wear this label on our chest. We won back our strike muscle and we won back a vision to lead our labor movement out of 40 years in the desert towards an economy that works for the working class.”
Beyond running the laundry list of gains won by the union in these talks, Fain said he's alreadly laying the groundwork for the next round when, if ratified, these deals will expire on April 30, 2028. Calling the new contracts “just a start” Fain has his eyes squarely on workers at automakers in the U.S. at companies from Japan and South Korea—workers the UAW has repeatedly failed to organize.
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