On Sunday, March 9, the United Auto Workers union leader made a rare statement in support of President Donald Trump’s cross-border tariffs during an appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
UAW President Shawn Fain argued that the tariffs’ benefits would protect American labor, noting that the measures would help promote jobs in the country following the signing of NAFTA nearly 30 years ago.
“We’re in a triage situation,” Fain said on the program. “Tariffs are an attempt to stop the bleeding from the hemorrhaging of jobs in America for the last 33 years.”
UAW President Shawn Fain,
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UAW calls out Volkswagen amid contract negotiations
In April 2024, most of the Volkswagen (VLKAF) workers at its Chattanooga, Tennessee factory voted to join the UAW. However, since September 2024, the union and the automaker have been negotiating back and forth to come up with a contract that guarantees protections and benefits like retirement and PTO.
However, while these negotiations continue, Volkswagen revealed on March 13 that it would cut a shift at the Chattanooga plant in response to “cautious demands for EVs in the US,” reducing it to a two-shift operation beginning on March 31.
VW’s Chattanooga plant produces the ID.4 electric vehicle alongside the gas-powered Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs. According to sales figures, Volkswagen sold 17,021 EVs in 2024, a 55% drop from the 37,789 it sold in 2023.
“This decision reflects the need for flexibility and a profitably-run business to support continued investment and growth in the U.S. market,” VW said in a statement. “[…] By consolidating production into a highly efficient two-shift model, we ensure that our operations remain competitive and agile.”
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Though VW said it would offer employees “a voluntary attrition program,” which includes severance packages, retirement options, and other benefits to affected workers, UAW President Shawn Fain isn’t happy about this move.
In a UAW-issued statement, he noted that the “second most profitable automaker in the world” failed to meet “the basic standard at the bargaining table” that Ford (F) , General Motors (GM) , and Stellantis (STLA) have done for its members.
“This is a company that makes 75% of their North American products in Mexico, paying highly exploited workers around $7 an hour to sell cars for tens of thousands of dollars in the US,” Fain said.
“They do this to avoid paying a living wage and drive a race to the bottom in the auto industry. It’s bad for workers everywhere. And instead of coming to a fair agreement for their American autoworkers in Tennessee, Volkswagen is choosing to attack American auto jobs.”
The rhetoric shown by Fain here reflects a sentiment similar to the one he gave on television earlier that week. During his appearance on This Week, he saw tariffs as a clear message to the first-world automakers taking advantage of the goodwill and graces of “exploited” Mexican workers.
“Our neighbors to the south — Mexican workers — aren’t the enemy,” Fain declared on the program. “They’re being exploited, and it’s because of corporate greed, and that’s what’s got to stop,” he said. “The United States is the market everyone wants to sell in and we should have reciprocal trade laws where people have the same standard of living.”
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The UAW president also noted that it “notified the Trump administration” as it filed federal labor charges against Volkswagen for what it sees as “unacceptable, anti-union, anti-worker, and anti-American conduct.”
“It is no accident that they want to ram through a layoff in America in the days before expected auto tariffs take effect, as they profit from high exploitation labor in Mexico,” Fain said in the UAW’s statement.
However, in a statement on March 13, Volkswagen said that the union’s claims in its filings “are categorically false,” adding that the automaker negotiated a shift reduction in Chattanooga “for months” and that economic conditions, including “shifting EV demand and an uncertain market” led them to make the decision.
“Our focus remains on our employees,” Volkswagen said. “[…] We will remain at the table, negotiating in good faith with the UAW to reach a competitive agreement that secures our future. In fact, we’ve already resolved 90% of the UAW’s over 800 demands.”
Volkswagen AG is traded on OTC markets in the United States as VLKAF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker VOW.
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