- UAW boss Shawn Fain said he hopes to find common ground with President Donald Trump.
- In addition to supporting tariffs, Fain would like to see the USMCA renegotiated.
- The union recently got its wish after Stellantis confirmed the Belvidere plant will build a new truck.
In the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election, the United Auto Workers union – headed by Shawn Fain – endorsed Kamala Harris. At one campaign rally in Detroit, Fain wore a T-shirt reading ‘Trump Is A Scab, Vote Harris.’ Now, Donald Trump has returned to the Oval Office for his second term, and the UAW will have to work with him. According to Fain, that’s something he’s willing to do.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post published an opinion piece written by Shawn Fain, expressing hope the union can find common ground with Trump. One of the more significant Trump policies Fain has thrown his support behind is tariffs.
Read: UAW Boss Hits Out At Donald Trump, Calls Him A “Job-Killer”
The new President has threatened tariffs against several countries, including Canada, Mexico, and China. While Trump appears to have a preschooler’s understanding of how tariffs work, Fain suggests that tariffs “should bring jobs back to America, put products in communities such as Belvidere, Illinois, and push companies to invest in good jobs, not exploit workers abroad.”
“We need tariffs not only to protect our communities but also to create leverage for negotiating a fair-trade system,” he added. “American workers deserve tariff rate quotas that guarantee a significant percentage of goods sold in the United States are made right here at home. We need to know that if we go to work and build a good product, our jobs won’t be offshored just so companies can do another round of stock buybacks.”
USMCA concerns
The UAW boss believes the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) must be renegotiated and needs stronger labor rights. Fain also wants a seat at the table when USMCA is “finally rewritten.” He added that without tariffs, corporations will continue to “ship jobs out and ship products in at rock-bottom rates without penalty.”
“We do not agree with Trump on much of his domestic agenda, but we hope to find common ground on overhauling our devastating trade policies and rebuilding U.S. manufacturing,” he added in his opinion piece.
There has been some good news for the UAW since Trump took office. Stellantis chairman John Elkann recently met with the new President and committed to building a new mid-size truck at the group’s idled Belvidere facility in Illinois. This is something the UAW has been pushing for since its contract negotiations with Stellantis in 2023. The carmaking giant also plans to build a next-generation Dodge Durango at the Detroit Assembly Complex.
