United Auto Workers accused of retaliating against staff union effort

The United Auto Workers (UAW), one of biggest trade unions in the US, has been accused of firing an organizer in retaliation for their role in an internal union, and delaying bargaining over a contract.

Staff workers formed the UAW Staff United union last March. It covers UAW employees at 34 locals across New York City, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Puerto Rico.

A series of high-profile campaigns, including a strike at big three automakers Ford, Stellantis and General Motors in 2023, and a historic election victory at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, earlier this year, have driven the UAW into the spotlight.

Shawn Fain, president of UAW, was elected in 2023 as a reform candidate in the wake of a corruption scandal involving some high-level union officials.

Related: Shawn Fain, president of the UAW: ‘Workers realized they’ve been getting screwed for decades’

But inside the UAW, staff who formed an internal union in the wake of Fain’s election claim they have been “shot down” when requesting the same protections it campaigns for on behalf of members.

In a statement, UAW Staff United accused the UAW of being “inflexible” on “core” issues. “Their bargaining tactics have delayed negotiations for over a year,” it said. UAW Staff United has filed unfair labor practice charges against the UAW for retaliation, bad-faith bargaining and withholding of information.

UAW Staff United added: “The unjust termination of Alex Chan highlights a deeper problem: UAW leadership is employing the same bad-faith tactics used by the big three automakers and bosses around the region, offering their own staff working conditions they would never accept for their members.”

Alex Chan, a temporary organizer with UAW Region 9A, was recently told by email that their contract would not be renewed. They believe they are the first organizer to not be renewed before the end of their three-year term. UAW Staff United is calling for Chan’s reinstatement and will be picketing outside the UAW Region 9A political leadership conference in New York City on Friday.

“We actually know that non-renewal is a tool that has been used to retaliate against us before, and it is consistent with what we know practices around temps are,” said Chan. “Of course, it hurts me as an individual, I have to have health insurance. This is my livelihood. This is my full-time job.

Related: UAW president investigated over alleged retaliation against union leaders

“But what is going to be even more apparent in the near future is the effect it has on the campaigns that I’m working on, which are at different stages, but one of which has an election in three weeks, and I’m the only staffer that is working on it.”

Chan said bargaining between the UAW and UAW Staff United has been going on since August last year, after the union won recognition, and that they began their role in June last year supporting UAW members at New York University.

Temporary organizers are hired under a three-year contract cap and renewed every three months, a structure Chan said is a holdover from the auto industry, but puts organizers in a position where they lack job security.

According to Chan and the union, bargaining with UAW for more than a year has been slow, with bargaining sessions far apart, and only minor tentative agreements reached on some issues, with outstanding issues including economics, job security, and grievance processes. Some 170 rank and file UAW members signed a letter supporting the staff unions’ efforts to secure a first contract, and expressing disappointment in how staff have been treated in negotiations.

“For example, with pay, I believe we are stuck somewhere at 3% raises over each year for four years, which is quite laughable if you compare it to any of the contracts that we fight for,” added Chan. “That’s kind of the bottom line, where we wanted to be clear that, whatever values UAW espouses for the members that it fights for … We should also be treated the same.”

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Workers at several unions have faced retaliation and opposition from organizing and contract efforts by their labor union leadership. After employees at the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in the US, went on a three-day strike in July, the union locked out the workers before reaching an agreement in August. In May, staffers at SEIU Local 1199 accused the union of firing a staffer in retaliation ahead of a union election.

“We just want the same protections and security that we fight for our members for. And we have said this multiple times in bringing up contract language that our members have, but have been shot down time and time again at the table,” Chan said. “It is disappointing and shocking to see some of the same tactics being used against ourselves by a union that’s supposed to be fighting for and protecting labor and workers everywhere.”

United Auto Workers declined to comment, citing a policy of not commenting on personnel matters. A source at UAW claimed the UAW is bargaining in good faith and that the union routines negotiates agreements with multiple unions that represent staffers.