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In a virtual press conference this afternoon, UAW President Shown Fain modestly discussed the UAW’s influence in the 2026 mid-term elections. [In effect he was building organized labor’s Triumphal Arch, while citing the legendary UAW President Walter Reuther who said that there is direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the labor movement fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls. -AutoCrat.]
“The UAW’s influence in the 2026 cycle will feed directly into legislative and political campaigns to fight for the union’s ‘four core issues’ wages, healthcare, retirement, time off – as we head into the 2028 round of bargaining at the Big Three automakers, where contracts expire on May 1, 2028. The flagship economic fight of the next Congress will be delivering on retirement security for all workers, including defending and expanding Social Security and Medicare,” the UAW said in a statement just before the election.
The UAW built its biggest political program in recent history. For the mid-terms, with dozens of member-to-member volunteers knocking on the doors of more than 100,000 UAW voters in Michigan and making 500,000 phone calls. “Priority areas in Michigan included congressional districts where the UAW’s density is higher than previous margins of victory, which helped sway results and flip CD-04, CD-07, and CD-10. The UAW’s membership was also instrumental in cementing the trifecta by helping recapture the State House,” the UAW said.
The focus of the program was empowering members to have honest conversations with UAW families about UAW’s core four issues: wages, healthcare, retirement, and time off. Since launching in July, the member-led program has reached hundreds of thousands of working-class voters across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, California, Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Washington, North Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maine. The groundwork has been substantial.
By election day, the union member accomplished:
- More than 300,000 doors knocked on.
- 750,000 calls were made.
- More than 4000 volunteers were recruited.
The Upcoming Congressional Session with Shades of Blue
President Fain started with the home of the UAW [The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America – UAW – AutoCrat] in Michigan. “One, we won four key congressional races in Districts 478 and 10. In every one of those races, UAW voters are the margin of victory. We won six key state Senate races across the state. We had 11 key State House races. We want every one of those. An out of 17 targeted state legislative races. UAW voters were the margin of victory in 13 of those districts. And so, you know, look, the UAW is on the March in Michigan. We’re clear about the stakes for working class people in this country. And we need serious organization and working-class leadership to build on the boldest Michigan State agenda in history,” Fain said.
“So we want to export that to the federal level. So we’re going to take our power to the Michigan State House to win big on our 4 core issues, which are better wages, adequate healthcare, retirement security and getting time off the job, having a life outside of work. And, and I’ll tell you right now, we plan on winning unemployment insurance for striking workers as we gear up for our biggest fight yet ahead of us in 2028 on Mayday.
“We plan to carry the power that we’ve built in 2026 into our next major fight, which is the 2028 big three contract negotiations and like I said, it expires on May 1st, 2028. And so, you know, we are really, really happy with the results, really happy with the massive amount of work that our members are doing. That’s what this is all about me. It’s we, we have a number-driven union, and this fight was led from the shop floor up… And just proving again, like we did in the primary, just in the, in the (Michigan) Senate race alone that… the many can overcome the money any day of the week (Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won)….I’m really happy and looking forward to building on what we’ve been starting in 2023 and, and moving forward now in 26 and, and building on that up to 28,” Fain said. [Remarks lightly edited for clarity and space – AutoCrat]
“We look at this as serving notice not just in Michigan, but nationally…. We’ve been very clear for the last three years with the Democratic Party recently, like, you know, we are going to target races, We’re going to target people. We’re going to put our resources with candidates that might carry that agenda and sustain with working class people and, and I don’t care if you’re Democrat, Republican, Independent, if you’re not with us, we’re not going to be there for you. So the days of us just blindly endorsing people because of party affiliation, those days way behind us. We’ve made that clear to the leadership the last couple years,” Fain said.
“I was elected UAW president four years ago and I can tell you at that time, as a 28-year member, I was very frustrated with where we were politically; how we approached politics; how we approached bargaining; how we opposed organizing pretty much every aspect of our union. That’s why I ran for president and I ran to change those things.… You know, we live in the richest country in history of the world and, you know, working class people have been left behind. They’re struggling to get by paycheck to paycheck, trying to afford rent. And there’s no excuse for that in the richest country in the history of the world. While, you know, one person becomes a trillionaire, you know, while one person spends $350 or over $400 million on one election cycle, it’s criminal that what they’ve done. And I believe this election is a mandate for change. But it is up to the Democratic Party now to deliver. And if they don’t deliver, we’ll be the first ones to call them out on it. So we’re going to be pushing for a lot of things. And it’s our obligation as labor leaders, as a union to, to drive that agenda because a lot of working class people don’t have that voice. We are the voice for them,” Fain said.
