UAW

In the richest, most powerful country in the history of the world, working people can have a good life — but together, we have to fight for it. Proud to stand with the UAW now and always ✊🏽

On this day, June 20, 1941, the UAW and Ford Motor Company signed their first collective bargaining agreement. Henry Ford, company founder and president, despised labor unions and was hell-bent on doing whatever was necessary to keep workers unorganized. He hired Harry Bennett to run Ford’s Service Department, the company’s internal police force and union-busting department. Bennett, a former boxer with ties to the mob, was a ruthless enforcer of Henry Ford’s wishes. He would fire any worker he suspected was sympathetic to the union cause and wouldn’t hesitate to have workers assaulted if that meant keeping workers from organizing. Bennett was so detested for his actions that one newspaper outlet referred to him as “America's Most Reviled Corporate Thug.” Bennett hired ex-athletes, former criminals, and tough characters into the Service Department to patrol the Rouge to keep workers from organizing. Winning their union was a long and bitter struggle for workers at the manufacturing giant. As writer Ken Coleman wrote in a 2021 article: “The UAW-Ford conflict was years in the making.” On March 7, 1932, thousands marched from Detroit to the Rouge Plant, protesting massive layoffs and working conditions at Ford during the Great Depression. The march became known as the Ford Hunger March. When marchers arrived in Dearborn, city police and Ford Service Department henchmen shot and killed four workers and wounded many more. Five years later, on May 26, 1937, Ford security guards at the Rouge plant violently assaulted UAW organizers attempting to distribute pro-union leaflets in what became known as the Battle of the Overpass. On April 1, 1941, Bennett fired eight pro-union workers at the Ford Dearborn Rouge plant. In response, workers at the plant staged a strike. Although the strike would ultimately be broken, it applied even more pressure on Henry Ford to recognize workers’ desire to unionize. However, the greatest factor in Henry Ford's reluctant change of heart to negotiate with the UAW may have been his wife, Clara. She feared that her husband’s refusal to work with the unions would result in more riots and bloodshed and threatened to leave him if he did not sign the contract. Faced with the proposition of his wife leaving him, Ford finally agreed to bargain with the union. The company and the UAW would sign the first-ever collective bargaining agreement on this day, 85 years ago. 📸 @ReutherLibrary

This was an amazing experience! The show of solidarity was incredible. We will continue to do what got us there and pave the way for others in the South.

"As workers at the University of Pennsylvania pursued a first contract, Trump’s second presidency rendered the administration cowed, the labor board unreliable, and international workers afraid. The antidote: high-participation, worker-led organizing." ow.ly/cp5X50ZbQXC

Thank you brother Steve Dawes, Director of @UAW Region 1-D for your leadership and for an outstanding career. Enjoy your retirement from your brothers & sisters of the affiliated local unions of the South Central Michigan AFL-CIO Labor Council youtu.be/XjkKXeS7LeM?si…

Happy Juneteenth from the UAW! #StandUpUAW

The @UAW has spent generations fighting for us, and I’m proud to fight alongside them today. #1u

Bargaining and organizing go hand in hand. The more we win at the bargaining table, the more workers want to join the UAW.

I am honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. I have always fought for Michigan workers, from voting to repeal so-called Right-to-Work legislation to showing up for our unions on the picket line as they fight for fair contracts. (1/2)

ICYMI: UAW Local 2093 members at American Axle/Dauch Corporation voted 80% in favor of ratifying a new contract with the company. ow.ly/eQZ250ZbVLh

"Working class Michiganders are getting squeezed from every direction -- groceries, gas, rent -- you name it. UAW members need more people in Congress who give a damn. Sean McCann showed up for UAW Local 2093 members on strike at American Axle on day one, no questions asked. He’s been that guy in the State Senate, and now we need him to be that guy for us in Washington.” — UAW Region 1D Director Steve Dawes

Red is for solidarity! It’s Day 3 of the UAW Constitutional Convention, and there's a sea of red shirts in the house. Watch the speeches and follow along on the UAW YouTube channel at @uawunion" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@uawunion

It's Day Three of the UAW Constitutional Convention, and we're looking back at some of the most iconic and memorable moments from conventions past. Delegates to the 1966 UAW Convention in Long Beach, California, made history when they elected Olga Madar as a member-at-large on the union's International Executive Board, making her the first woman to ever serve on the IEB. Madar would later be elected the first woman Vice President of the UAW and served two terms in that capacity. 📸 @ReutherLibrary

Yesterday, the UAW honored Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, TN, with the union’s Social Justice Award. For over a decade, VW workers never gave up on winning their union or a historic first contract. Now, they have both.

“When we fight for all workers, nothing is impossible.” UAW Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock addresses delegates and guests at the 39th UAW Constitutional Convention

Congratulations to our @UAW siblings at American Axle on ratifying their historic new contract, where workers will receive $30 an hour by 2030, increased time off and more! ✊ cbsnews.com/detroit/news/u…

It’s Day 2 of the UAW Constitutional Convention! Watch the speeches and follow along on the UAW YouTube channel at @uawunion" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">youtube.com/@uawunion