United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain has found himself in the midst of a balancing act as he blasts the Trump administration for its stance on federal collective bargaining while at the same time praising the president's tariffs on foreign automobiles, The Washington Post reported.
On Friday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending collective bargaining with federal unions that operate in the area of national security.
Fain blasted the order and said that he agreed with Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, who called the move "the biggest assault on collective bargaining" he has ever seen.
At the same time, Fain has been one of the few Trump critics to praise the tariffs the White House has placed on foreign-made automobiles.
"Tariffs are an attempt to stop the bleeding from the hemorrhaging of jobs in America for the last 33 years," Fain said in an interview on ABC News' "This Week." "We're in a crisis mode in this country."
The UAW website labeled the tariffs "the beginning of the end of NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement] and the 'free trade' disaster."
"We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working class communities for decades. Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today's actions," Fain wrote.
Fain rose to prominence during the November 2023 strike against the Big Three automakers that resulted in securing raises of at least 25% over 4 1/2 years. Following that success, Fain said the union's goals were to bring their bargaining tactics "to millions of nonunion workers ready to stand up and fight for a better way of life."
Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told the Post that Fain needs to tread lightly on where and when to praise the administration.
"The big risk for Fain is in getting a short- or medium-term boost in saving some jobs in the U.S., he is offering Trump political support. That fissures the anti-Trump coalition and gives support to an anti-labor, authoritarian regime."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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