Fain promises more gains for UAW in 2028 as ratification nears

Even before UAW members at the Detroit 3 finish voting to ratify lucrative labor agreements, the union's president is promising to deliver more gains for workers in the next round of talks in 2028.

Shawn Fain admitted in a Facebook livestream this week that he failed to fully deliver on goals such as getting pensions for all auto workers again, and he said the proposed contracts include only a "first step" toward addressing issues related to the electric vehicle battery plants the automakers are opening.

But he argued that the UAW squeezed all it could out of Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis in this year's negotiations and that to go further, the union needs to organize the likes of Toyota and Tesla — a goal endorsed this week by U.S. President Joe Biden.

"Our union has gone in the wrong direction for decades, and we're taking on the hard work of getting back to our full strength," Fain said. "There are too many nonunion auto workers and too much power behind the forces of corporate greed for us to win everything we deserve in one go. That's why we're building our strike muscle to go even further in 2028."

Fain's work getting the 2023 deals in place isn't over yet, though.

While the union's tentative contract with Ford appeared easily headed for ratification, early voting was more mixed among workers at GM and Stellantis. Hourly employees at Flint Assembly in Michigan, one of GM's largest plants, rejected the tentative deal by a slim margin. Some GM workers have voiced displeasure over the loss of annual bonuses (replaced by cost-of-living adjustments that are expected to result in higher overall payouts), a lack of retirement security for all and much less new manufacturing investment compared with the Ford and Stellantis deals.

The union's Unite All Workers for Democracy reform caucus, the platform Fain used to win the presidency this year, chose not to endorse the deals, saying on its website that it was staying neutral and leaving the decision up to members. The caucus posted its own analysis of each contract, pointing out areas where bargainers did or did not meet the original demands Fain laid out in August.

Still, Fain took a victory lap this week between meetings explaining the deals to members, touting the highlights on national TV shows and appearing in Belvidere, Ill., with Biden to celebrate the agreement with Stellantis to reopen the idled assembly plant there in 2027.

"The deal you reached set a new standard," Biden told workers. "These deals are game changers not only for UAW workers but for all workers in America."

A day later, American Honda said it would give 11 percent raises to its nonunion U.S. manufacturing workers and cut in half the time it takes to reach top wages. Honda's announcement followed a similar move by Toyota Motor North America that Fain called the "UAW bump."

Some discontent within the UAW's rank and file relates to the issue of retirement.

Fain entered negotiations demanding pension plans be restored for all workers, ending what he called "tiers" of retirement security because those hired since 2007 get 401(k) plans instead. He also wanted the companies to pay for health care for all retirees.

"Both of these issues are extremely difficult and expensive to fix, primarily because the Big 3, being so driven by Wall Street, refuse to have the liability on their books," Fain said. "But it's not just the cost, it's the Wall Street influence of not taking on any future obligations to our members."

The union did get the companies to agree to boost 401(k) contributions to 10 percent from 6.4 percent, increase existing pension contributions, and pay current retirees and spouses $500 a year. But Fain acknowledged that members wanted more and argued the union could be in a stronger position to do better on the issue in 2028 if it represents a larger share of the nation's auto workers.

"When we win full retirement security, it will be because we organized the nonunion automakers, we got our own house in order and went to war for economic justice," Fain said.

That could be a difficult task. It's one the union has tried and failed at before.

Marick Masters, a labor relations expert at Wayne State University in Detroit, said the union won as much as it could on retirement benefits in this round of bargaining, and he was skeptical any automaker would be more inclined to restore pensions in the future.

"If [the union gets] a lot more out of the companies, then [the automakers would] be in more serious positions with their investors than they already are," Masters said.

With voting complete at roughly half of Ford's UAW-represented facilities this week, the tentative deal was passing by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

At Chicago Assembly Plant, roughly 57 percent voted for the deal after being on strike for nearly a month. It's the first time a majority of the plant's work force supported a tentative agreement since 2003, according to local union leaders.

About 56 percent of workers at Ford's Kansas City Assembly Plant, one of its largest plants, voted for the deal. And about 68 percent voted in favor of the deal at Ford's Mustang plant in Flat Rock, Mich.

Voting on the Ford deal is scheduled to wrap up next week.

Meanwhile, GM's deal with the union has received less support from workers.

Some of GM's smaller Customer Care and Aftersales facilities — where workers would get immediate raises of up to 79 percent and move onto a higher pay scale — have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the deal. But workers at the Romulus Engine and Pontiac Stamping plants in Michigan and the Parma Metal Center in Ohio voted against it.

Masters said the early rejections at GM were "concerning" and that they could help persuade others to vote against the deal. He said the onus was on leadership to continue to sell it and dispel misinformation.

"You've got to work it day by day," he said.

Should any of the deals be voted down, Masters said, the bargaining teams would be placed in a difficult position.

"It's a record contract, and I think it's unlikely they'd get something much better," Masters said. "Things can be tweaked, but I wouldn't expect it to be an order of magnitude different."