UAW's Shawn Fain to political leaders: ‘Support our cause or you will not get our endorsement'

WASHINGTON — UAW President Shawn Fain, who has not yet endorsed President Joe Biden for a second term, had a message for political leaders: "Support our cause or you will not get our endorsement."

Fain delivered those remarks Monday to an applauding audience of members attending the union's national political conference, which is being held this week in the nation's capital. It was not immediately clear whether the UAW might endorse Biden at the event.

"Everything we do is up to the boardroom. ... When we decide to make a decision, we'll make the announcement," Fain told Automotive News after his remarks.

Fain declined to comment on whether the UAW had invited Biden to come to the conference.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

The UAW gathering — which Fain described as a "strategy session," "war room" and "refuge" — comes after a costly six-week strike by UAW members last year that targeted key operations at Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis and ended with lucrative new labor contracts between the union and the Detroit 3.

Even before UAW members finished voting to ratify the record contracts, Fain promised to deliver more gains for workers in the next round of talks in 2028. The effort would require organizing the likes of Tesla and Toyota — an ambitious endeavor supported by Biden.

The UAW launched an organizing campaign in late November that covers 13 automakers: BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. If successful, it would roughly double the number of active auto workers the union represents.

Of the upcoming election, Fain said Monday that it was "critical," a view echoed by UAW Regional 8 Director Tim Smith.

"The 2024 elections are vital to all of us," said Smith, whose region covers Washington, D.C., and 11 states. "Maintaining the White House, holding the Senate and regaining the House is necessary if we're going to protect American working families — and that's us."

In September, Biden became the first sitting U.S. president in modern history to join a picket line when he stood with striking workers at a GM parts depot — an extraordinary show of support for the union's demands for higher wages, better benefits and job security amid an industry shift toward electric vehicles.

Biden, who has called himself the most pro-worker and pro-union president in American history, told the striking workers that the automakers had been doing incredibly well and that "you should be doing incredibly well, too."

"You deserve what you've earned, and you've earned a hell of a lot more than what you're getting paid now," Biden, wearing a black hat with the UAW logo, said at the time.

Biden's focus on fighting climate change — supported in part by efforts to reduce vehicle emissions and jump-start the U.S. EV market — has at times collided with his labor-friendly agenda.

The UAW has cautioned the administration that moving too fast on EVs could hurt union auto workers. The union has been calling for a "just transition" with strong labor standards and high pay for workers.

Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner to receive the Republican presidential nomination, has previously urged the UAW to endorse him for the 2024 election.

Speaking from a nonunion auto supplier in Michigan — a day after Biden joined the GM picket line — Trump said Biden's EV push would "spell the death of the U.S. auto industry."

The UAW has not been supportive of Trump, however, arguing the former president is unfriendly to labor.

"All you've got to do is look at Trump's track record with labor in general and who he is as a person," Fain told reporters Monday, "It's pretty evident where he stands, and it's pretty much contrary to everything we stand for."

Michael Martinez, Vince Bond Jr., Lindsay VanHulle and Reuters contributed to this report.