Four Lessons From the UAW’s Turn Toward Class Struggle
Chris Brooks, former chief of staff to United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, was key to an attempt to transform a once mighty union hobbled by corruption and lethargy. Here’s what he learned from that process.
UAW president Shawn Fain addresses autoworkers at a rally at the UAW Local 551 hall in Chicago. Illinois, on October 7, 2023. (Jim Vondruska / Getty Images)
Shawn Fain won the runoff to be president of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in March 2023, and the union he was elected to lead was in free fall.
The standard of living for unionized autoworkers had once been the aspiration of blue-collar workers everywhere. But after decades of concessions, the lives of new hires at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis now resembled that of their nonunion peers at Toyota, Honda, and Mercedes.
A wide-ranging federal corruption investigation had sent a number of high-ranking UAW officials to prison, including two previous presidents. The UAW’s Detroit headquarters, affectionately named “Solidarity House,” served almost as a physical allegory for the union. At the time of Fain’s victory, it sat vacant, having been gutted to the studs and completely rebuilt following a highly suspicious fire several years before.
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