UAW Reformer Shawn Fain Sweeps Reelection
United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain and the United UAW slate have swept their way to victory in the second-ever one member, one vote direct elections in the UAW.
1,000 UAW members struck American Axle in June 2026.
UAW members won the right to vote following a major corruption and bribery scandal that put several union officials of the long-time Administration Caucus behind bars. Shawn Fain became the first President to be elected in a one-member, one-vote election by the 400,000 members of the UAW in 2023.
Shortly after Fain took office, he helped lead UAW members across the country in a historic “Stand-Up Strike” against the Big Three automakers — Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors — to fight back against years of concessionary contracts and sweetheart deals with the employers. Members won wage increases of at least 25% over four years, plus cost of living adjustments. Starting wages jumped from $18.05 to $28.
And after eliminating the two-tier system at two Detroit-area Ford plants that meant some workers were paid less money for identical work, workers’ wages increased by 53 to 88 percent immediately.
The proof is in the pudding — union democracy makes for more union militancy, as researcher Chris Bohner argued.
Now, Fain and the UAW United slate have a decisive mandate from the membership to continue building a militant, member-driven UAW with powerful contract campaigns, new organizing drives, and strikes. That’s despite attempts at politically-motivated interference from the UAW’s government-appointed federal monitor. They’re on to their next big fight, when contracts expire again at the Big Three automakers: May 1, 2028.