UAW President: Relationship with Stellantis ‘fractured’ after idling of Belvidere Assembly

Fain, who was sworn in as the union’s fifth president in as many years last month, has indicated he intends to take a more aggressive tone with the Detroit 3 in contract negotiations later this year. He said Friday the companies must better prioritize union workers.

“I sat the other day with some corporate leaders that want to talk about how they respect our workers,” he said. “Well, don’t talk to me about respect when you’re making billions of dollars in profits for a decade and you’re closing plants, not because of a lack of work, not because of hard times, because you’re just choosing to chase something else and the members aren’t a priority. That’s not respecting people.”

The U.S. auto market continues to recover from the pandemic and microchip shortage, though it remains well below its highs before COVID-19 disrupted sales, while rising interest rates and new-vehicle prices have sidelined some buyers. And industry profits remain robust, though price cuts are spreading among EV makers.

Detroit automakers, preparing for a possible downturn, have also trimmed white-collar ranks in recent months through buyouts or layoffs.

The union plans to fight for higher wages, better benefits and more job security as the industry transitions to EVs. Fain said it must win back concessions made during the Great Recession.

“Our members and our retirees made a lot of sacrifices during the bankruptcies, unfairly, and when things go bad, we make sacrifices,” he said. “But when things pick up, it should be equitable as we move forward. It hasn’t been. There’s been over a decade of high profits and we’ve seen things get better for the companies. On the back end, things like cost of living adjustments and job security language were suspended — not eliminated— and we’re still sitting without those things.”