Shawn Fain, the United Auto Workers president, criticized Donald Trump on Monday but declined to back Joe Biden as he reaffirmed plans to lead a general strike in the US in 2028.
Speaking to union members at the UAW national political conference in Washington DC, Fain said it was time for union members to come together.
“We have to pay for our sins of the past. Back in 1980 when Reagan at the time fired patco workers, everybody in this country should have stood up and walked the hell out,” Fain said. “We missed the opportunity then, but we’re not going to miss it in 2028. That’s the plan. We want a general strike. We want everybody walking out just like they do in other countries.”
A general strike is a mass strike across various industries around similar demands or bargaining positions. In the US, they have been virtually non-existent in recent decades given the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 that restricted secondary strikes and the decline of labor unions in the US since the 1970s.
After successfully taking on the US auto companies, Fain has emerged as a potent political figure, courted by Trump and Biden.
Fain also used his speech to criticize Trump, telling reporters that Trump “is as a person … pretty much contrary to everything we stand for”.
But the UAW has yet to formally endorse Biden, who was the first president to walk on a picket line with striking workers in September 2023. Fain told reporters the union will be holding formal discussions on an endorsement amid rumors that Biden may address the union in person later this week.
i thought this was c/fakenews at first. this is big and we have over 4 years to organize for it. god bless our brave unionists. this is like a first as farce, then as tragedy for that farce of a general strike twitter “organizers” attempted to push a few years back that failed bc of zero actual organization
The UAW first announced it in October when they settled their new contract.
You still see that online general strike push on Instagram. There has been several pushes in the pat few months for strikes for Palestine (even one for this week). I’m sympathetic because it was called for by an actual Gazan, but it unfortunately doesn’t work like that here in the US.
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But the UAW has yet to formally endorse Biden, who was the first president to walk on a picket line with striking workers in September 2023.
Oh wow you walked with them YOU’RE THE FUCKING PRESIDENT SIGN SOME POLICIES TO HELP THEM YOU USELESS SACK OF CRAP
I feel like they will endorse Biden eventually, but they are probably playing hard ball for now
So sad to hear about his upcoming allegations of [bad thing] and subsequent suicide by two bullets in the back of the head
I mean, if there’s anyone in a position to make that happen it’s him
someone pinch me. I’m dreaming right? This is too good to be true
Oh you decided to walk out of the job? Well I decided to replace you with a robot.
Thankfully, the new UAW contract includes the right to strike over plant closures. If one UAW plant tries to shutdown, they all go on strike.
Friendship ended with Bernie Sanders
Now Shawn Fain is my best friend
he’s a rat… don’t fall for it
Guarantee you Biden will urge the workers to find “middle ground” and not be tempted by extremist strikes
Well if hexbear is still around it would be cool if the community got together and helped save up some kind of strike fund for our poorer peeps here. At the very least coming into 2028, if this is still a confirmed thing, I’ll be agitating and saving up for sure.
