Mon, November 13, 2023
United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain is expected to make an appearance on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to discuss the role of unions in fighting back against “corporate greed,” following the UAW’s record deal last month to end the longest auto strike in 25 years.
Fain will be among several speakers at a hearing Tuesday titled “Standing Up Against Corporate Greed: How Unions are Improving the Lives of Working Families” held by the Democratic-led Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Fain’s appearance comes roughly two weeks after the UAW reached a tentative agreement with GM, capping off the union’s six-week strike against the three major automakers. The UAW reached tentative agreements with Ford and Jeep-maker Stellantis days earlier.
“The fight that the trade union movement is waging against corporate greed has everything to do with rebuilding a struggling middle class that was once the envy of the world,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the HELP Committee, said in a statement. “Historic union victories won by the UAW, Teamsters, and many others are not only improving the lives of union workers, they are beginning to improve the lives of working families all over America.”
Fain will joined by International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who led the union to a tentative agreement with the United Parcel Service (UPS) this summer, just days before their contracts were set to expire, and Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-Communication Workers of America.
This year has seen several historic union efforts, including simultaneous Hollywood strikes, the Kaiser Permanente health care workers strike, the averted Teamsters strike against UPS and ongoing negotiations between American Airlines and unionized flight attendants.
The UAW’s strike against the Big Three lasted for about six weeks, expanding multiple times. The union demanded cost-of-living pay raises, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, union representation at new battery plants, pension increases for retirees and more.
The tentative agreements with each of the automakers includes 25 percent wage increases over the course of a four-year contract, among other benefits.
Several political leaders, notably President Biden, were vocally supportive of the strike, with many even joining the picket lines at some point.
Last week, Biden, who has touted himself as the most pro-union president in history, spoke to a crowd of UAW workers in Illinois to celebrate the UAW’s victory and take a swipe at former President Trump’s record on jobs and union workers.
Biden joined striking workers on the picket line in Michigan in September, marking the first time a sitting president has done so. Trump spoke to a rally at a nonunion shop in Michigan the following day.
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