News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena have been restored. Click here to learn more.

UAW president Shawn Fain promises union members will get their ‘fair share’ from automakers

Jack Neher
/
WDET

The U-A-W opens national contract negotiations this summer.

And new union president Shawn Fain told the Automotive Press Association he wants to have a good working relationship with car companies.

But Fain argues the union has not received a fair share of the money automakers made since the government bailed them out in 2009.

He says U-A-W members want to restore cost-of-living pay raises and pensions back to previous levels…ensure equal wages for workers doing similar jobs regardless of seniority and guarantee that automakers won’t avoid unions while creating new electric vehicle facilities.

Fain notes that Ford General Motors and Stellantis are all building new electric battery factories as joint ventures with other companies.

But he says only G-M is ready to have the union bargain for workers at one of the plants.

Quinn Klinefelter is a host and Senior News Editor for 101.9 WDET, anchoring midday newscasts and preparing reports for WDET, NPR and the BBC.