Fain on impending ‘Big Three’ strike: ‘The UAW doesn’t back down from a fight’

Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers union (UAW), said the impending “Big Three” strike will prove the union doesn’t “back down from a fight” with large corporations. 

During a Facebook livestream Wednesday, Fain informed union members to support their union leadership for direction and clarity in the duration of the striking process, mentioning several UAW-affiliated unions in other business sectors launching their own strikes. 

“They’re still standing strong in their fight. They’re going to win fair pay quality time with their families and decent sick leave that they deserve,” Fain said during the livestream. 

“As all these members will tell you, the UAW doesn’t back down from a fight. We’re willing to do what’s necessary to win justice by any means necessary.” 

Fain also talked during the livestream about the “fear tactics” corporations and media outlets have used recently, noting how they argue that a potential union strike would greatly affect the U.S. economy. 

“They pretend that the sky will fall if we get our fair share of the quarter-of-a-trillion dollars the Big Three has made over the past decade, but it’s not just the economy. When they talk about that, and they say we’ll wreck the economy, it’s not the economy that we’ll wreck. It’s their economy,” Fain added. 

The UAW is set to strike late Thursday if it doesn’t reach a tentative agreement with the “Big Three” automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. UAW members voted last month to approve the strike against the automakers.

Union members are seeking higher wages, pensions and more job security in their latest negotiations, as the Biden administration remained confident Monday that a strike could be adverted before the Thursday deadline.