One of the few incumbent leaders to win re-election, Browning has served as the vice president of the UAW-Ford department since July 2021. Prior to that, he served three years as a regional director. He also spent a number of years as an administrative assistant to the president. Browning has some notable bargaining experience: He led the UAW’s negotiations with John Deere in 2021 and Caterpillar and Case New Holland earlier this year. Those contracts resulted in significant wage gains and benefits. In the case of John Deere, Browning negotiated the addition of a cost-of-living adjustment, something the union wants from the Detroit 3.

Legel, a veteran of Ford’s labor department, took over as the company’s vice president of labor affairs in December, taking over for the retiring Bill Dirksen. Prior to his current role, he was director of U.S. Labor Affairs, responsible for managing relationships with the union. He joined Ford in 1993.

Booth is among the slate of reformers who won election to the union’s International Executive Board earlier this year. Before being named as vice president, Booth was president of Local 961, which represents workers at GM’s Marysville Axle plant. A Michigan native, Booth joined the union in 1991.

Johnson was GM’s lead negotiator on its most recent contract in 2019, rising to his current role a few months before negotiations began that year. He leads GM’s global manufacturing operations, manufacturing engineering and labor relations organizations. He was previously vice president of North American manufacturing and labor relations.

Boyer was among the slate of reformers who won election earlier this year. He most recently served as a Skilled Trades Committeeperson at UAW Local 140, which represents workers at Stellantis’ Warren Truck Assembly Plant. He was previously president of UAW Local 961, which represented workers at the Detroit Axle Plant, from 1998 until the plant closed in 2010. An Army veteran, Boyer also leads the union’s Competitive Shop/Independents and Parts and Suppliers departments.

Employee Relations: Fields was named to his current position in 2020, replacing the retiring Glenn Shagena. He oversees Manufacturing and Parts Distribution Centers Employee Relations; Labor Economics & Benefit Finance; Wage & Salary Administration; and Center for Employee Development. He also has labor experience at his prior job with BP, PLC in Houston, where he managed labor and employee relations.

Elected as the union’s 15th president in March, Fain could be the biggest wildcard in this round of negotiations. A former member of the union’s international staff from the Stellantis department, Fain ran for office to put the union “back in the fight” for workers’ rights and stop what he deemed a string of concessionary contracts that have been passed since the Great Recession. He has some negotiating experience, being part of bargaining teams in 2009 and 2011, but was a relative unknown before his election and has never held such a position of power. Already, he has indicated a willingness to buck tradition and has ramped up rhetoric.