Luis Feliz Leon writes for Labor Notes about Shawn Fain’s victory, quoting UAWD members Shana Shaw, Tim Thomas, and Scott Houldieson:
Reform challenger Shawn Fain has won the presidency of the United Auto Workers, the federal monitor announced today. Fain will be sworn in just in time to chair the UAW’s bargaining convention, which begins Monday. […]
Shana Shaw began working at General Motors (GM) in the summer of 2008 after the company’s bankruptcy, joining Local 2250 that same year. She earned $14.12 as a temp building the GMC van. She said it was a change of pace from working three jobs simultaneously as a hairdresser, a behavioral health specialist for disabled children, and a bartender.
Shaw is running for trustee in her local’s election, slated for April. “Our local is in shambles. We have to get it into tip-top shape to be able to fight,” she said.
She has drawn inspiration from the reform effort Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which backed the incoming Members United slate. She says she wants to put the rank and file in the driver’s seat.
“It’s the rank and file that’s the one that’s in the factories,” Shaw said. “It’s the rank and file with damaged shoes and the sore feet and the broken-down joints.” She was already involved in her local but became involved in the UAWD around the time of the campaign for the 2019 referendum one-member, one-vote, and later joined the UAWD organizing committee.