United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has won a second four-year term, sweeping internal elections alongside his United UAW slate.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain won reelection to a second four-year term on Friday, according to unofficial ballot counts. Fain and his United UAW slate swept internal executive board elections across the union’s regions, defeating five challengers including incumbent Vice President Rich Boyer.
Preliminary vote tallies posted on the website of the union’s court-appointed monitor show Fain holding a commanding lead. This result differs from his narrow outsider victory over former President Ray Curry in March 2023.
United UAW Slate Seizes Executive Board
The election outcome gives Fain’s faction firm control over the International Executive Board. Unofficial numbers from election observers in Rosemont, Illinois, show the United UAW slate won every position it contested, placing allies in regional director seats and vice presidential posts. Jim Lakeman won election in Region 9, the only board seat where the United UAW slate did not field a candidate.
Voter turnout hovered at approximately 10 percent of active and retired members. This matches the low participation rate seen during the union’s inaugural direct election in 2022.
Manufacturing locals provided the decisive margin. Members at major plants backed Fain to preserve the aggressive bargaining approach of his first term, while perennial contender Brian Keller garnered minimal support before launching tirades on social media as the results came in.
Fain secured a surprise win and took the oath of office in March 2023 as the UAW’s first democratically chosen leader, defeating sitting President Ray Curry via a runoff. Previously, delegates at the union’s annual convention chose union officers, maintaining the Administration Caucus’s grip on power for upwards of 70 years.
The 400,000 members of the UAW participated in 2023 to make Shawn Fain the initial President chosen through a direct one-member, one-vote process. This mobilization followed federal convictions of a dozen top union figures—among them two past international presidents—for racketeering, embezzlement, and taking millions in illegal corporate bribes from automakers.
Stand-Up Strikes Lead to 2028 Goals
The internal referendum served as a judgment on the Stand-Up Strike of 2023 against the Detroit Three automakers—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. That coordinated walkout secured record agreements delivering 25 percent wage increases, the elimination of wage tiers, restored cost-of-living adjustments, and new protections regarding product commitments and electric vehicle battery production.
“The membership has spoken. UAW members are united and want us to keep fighting and building on what we’ve done”
Shawn Fain, UAW President, via Detroit Free Press
Leadership is now turning toward upcoming negotiations. Fain pointed to scheduled talks at John Deere, Volvo, and General Dynamics Land Systems in 2027, which will lay the groundwork for the expiration of the Detroit Three master agreements on May Day 2028.
Union members surveyed during the balloting cited pensions, post-retirement health care for workers hired after previous concessionary periods, and stronger safeguards against mandatory overtime and automation as their primary goals for the next round of bargaining.
Federal Monitor Clashes With Leadership
The union remains under a monitorship stemming from a 2021 federal corruption settlement that exposed embezzlement and racketeering among prior leadership. Tensions between Fain and monitor Neil Barofsky of Jenner & Block escalated following the UAW’s December 2023 call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a geopolitical stance that Barofsky reportedly questioned.
Executives clashed with the monitor over alleged interference in internal union affairs during a contentious February 2024 board meeting. Fain currently faces allegations of misconduct and a reputation for a confrontational management style, which are now before a federal grand jury.
