UAW

Union workers could decide this election — and their unions know it

7:00am October 30, 2024

With much at stake on Election Day, labor unions have deployed canvassers to knock on doors in swing states. With polling tight, the focus is on turning out the vote.

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Latest Stellantis Contract Proposal To Auto Workers Includes Reviving Idled Illinois Plant

Union autoworkers won big after striking. A year later, some face an uncertain future

5:00am September 13, 2024

Last fall's strike against Ford, GM and Stellantis yielded record contracts for autoworkers. With a slowdown in car sales, Stellantis workers now face job cuts, production slowdowns and uncertainty.

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Jeremy Kimbrell has worked at the Mercedes plant in Vance, Ala., since 1999. Having been involved in several failed union drives, he says this latest one feels different.

Seeking to defy history, the UAW is coming closer to unionizing in the South

6:07pm April 05, 2024

Autoworkers at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., will vote in mid-April on whether to join the United Auto Workers union. Mercedes workers in Tuscaloosa County, Ala., will soon follow.

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President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally March 9 at Pullman Yards in Atlanta.

Biden meets with the Teamsters today. But don't expect an endorsement any time soon

11:43am March 12, 2024

by Don Gonyea

The 1.3 million member union is in every battleground state. Former President Donald Trump has also met with the organization and made his pitch. But don't expect an endorsement any time soon.

President Joe Biden hugs Steven Hadfield, who introduced him, during an event on prescription drug costs, in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023, in Washington.

Politics & Government

Here are some of the guests who represent the themes of tonight's State of the Union

7:57am March 07, 2024

by NPR Staff

The guest list includes a woman whose sister was killed in the Uvalde shooting, the United Auto Workers president, and a naval officer who helped protect ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

Fliers from a recent UAW strike in Chicago.

Why workers are resorting to more strikes this year to pressure companies

9:07am October 28, 2023

by Danielle Kaye

This has been a watershed year. So far in 2023, there have been 22 major strikes: 17 at companies, making it the largest number of strikes in the private sector since 2011.

Union academic workers and supporters march and picket at the UCLA campus amid a statewide strike by nearly 48,000 University of California unionized workers on Nov. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Education

UAW members aren't all assembling cars. More and more are unionized grad students

4:11pm October 19, 2023

by Andrea Hsu

At its peak, the United Auto Workers union had 1.5 million members. Today, the "A" in UAW might as well include academia, as roughly 100,000 of the union's 383,000 members work in higher education.

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Steven Rattner says the gap in pay between workers and auto executives is "unconscionable."

National

Why the Obama era 'car czar' thinks striking autoworkers risk overplaying their hand

5:45pm September 29, 2023

by Manuela López Restrepo

He was the lead adviser for the Obama administration when the government bailed out auto companies in 2009. Now, he is weighing in on the union strikes against the big 3 American automakers.

With the General Motors world headquarters in the background, United Auto Workers members attend a solidarity rally as the UAW strikes the Big Three automakers on Sept. 15 in Detroit. President Biden will join the workers in solidarity on Tuesday.

Politics & Government

Autoworkers will get a historic visitor to the picket line: President Biden

6:10am September 26, 2023

by Deepa Shivaram

Biden will join the United Auto Workers in Michigan on Tuesday, an extraordinary step for a sitting president.

UAW workers picket outside of the Stellantis Mopar parts facility in Naperville, Ill., on Sept. 22, 2023. The UAW strike against Big Three automakers may not have much of an impact on car shoppers, though that could change.

Economy

How the UAW strikes could impact car shoppers

6:00am September 23, 2023

by Camila Domonoske

Historic as the UAW strikes may be, analysts say the actions are unlikely to impact car prices too much — for now. A new strike on parts distribution centers, however, could sting.