Shawn FAIN, Shawn FAIN - why does he ring a bell?!1 Oh, yes, it's coming to me:

[UTUSN]

ON EDIT: And I'll admit that when I saw the interview and posted, I wondered about the "Shawn" and my memory of "Sean" but the close sounding names resulted in my confusion, but not on the basis of conflating all union leaders as is said below. The Commenter who referred to *ONE* union head at KRASNOV's rallies didn't refer to this Shawn.

********QUOTE, from Comments: ********

@ajshaka3212
Didnt the uaw just support trump on the tariffs? Lol. Such a joke.


@bonniebob2802
Didn’t the head of 1 union actually speak at Trump rallies last year?


@DCherbonnier
You supported him after he congratulated Musk for firing strikers. Live with it.

********UNQUOTE*****

[multigraincracker]

1. I do like the sweatshirt he wore on tv.

It said Eat The Rich.

[snowybirdie]

2. I was incredulous

When he said loss of union jobs would happen.....but! So when does a union leader feel ok with his members losing work? Throw out the bum.

[MichMan]

3. Fain was a big Harris supporter

He did not appear at any Trump rallies nor did any UAW leadership.

This might provide some context regarding his views on outsourcing

Membership has been falling from the 1970 peak of 1.5 million, landing at 370,000 in 2023.

https://www.autobodynews.com/news/uaw-membership-hits-14-year-low-amid-organizing-push

[JohnSJ]

5. Actually it was the teamster head who appeared at the repug convention

[MichMan]

6. The OP needs to edit their post

Union leaders aren't all interchangeable

[JohnSJ]

7. No they are not.

[yorkster]

8. Right. Sean O'Brien, head of the Teamsters Union.

[UTUSN]

9. Have noted my confusing the "Shawn" and the "Sean" in the O.P., doesn't change the sentiment.

I'll admit that when I saw the interview and posted, I wondered about the "Shawn" and my memory of "Sean" but the close sounding names resulted in my confusion in referencing the Sean who withheld endorsement of the Dem ticket, but not on the basis of conflating all union leaders as is said below. And, this Shawn in the CBS full interview did say that his (or any?) union doesn't "belong to ONE party," which rankled me when he said it while I understand its truth.

[tulipsandroses]

10. I am OK with him saying unions don't belong to any party. Union members are diverse and that should be taken into

consideration. BUT -- the party that supports unions is the Democratic Party. Fain has been very supportive of democrats - I'm no economist but I disagree with him on Tariffs. I don't think it will be a benefit to auto workers. Unless it is out of necessity, most people that intended to buy a car this year, probably won't.

[Kid Berwyn]

4. The Trots at WSWS are rightfully ticked.

With support for tariffs, UAW bureaucracy endorses Trump’s fascist plans for war on the working class

by Tom Hall
World Socialist Web Site, March 29, 2025

The United Auto Workers’ endorsement of Trump’s announced 25 percent tariffs on all automobiles manufactured outside the United States amounts to a declaration of support for a fascist-dominated government. It underscores the union bureaucracy’s unrelenting hostility to the working class in every country—and the urgent need for a rank-and-file rebellion against it through the building of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, as part of the broader struggle against dictatorship.

UAW President Shawn Fain issued a fawning statement “applauding” the Trump administration, which he claimed has “made history” by imposing tariffs that will supposedly create “thousands more jobs.” Fain’s claim that tariffs will benefit the working class is not only economically illiterate—it is a reactionary fantasy.

In a globally integrated industry, there is no such thing as an “American” or “Mexican” car. For decades, automobiles have been assembled through a vast, globe-spanning process of production. Tariffs will not protect workers; they will provoke retaliation, disrupt supply chains and trigger economic collapse and mass layoffs in the US and abroad. If not stopped by the working class, this path leads directly to trade war, as in the 1930s, and ultimately to world war.

The endorsement also reeks of hypocrisy. The UAW bureaucracy could not care less about the fate of autoworkers in the US or anywhere else. While it now claims that Trump is ending the “global race to the bottom,” it has spent the last 45 years collaborating with the corporations to destroy millions of auto jobs in the name of “competitiveness.”

Trump’s aim is not to protect “American” jobs but to prepare for imperialist war to dominate global markets and supply chains. His tariff policy goes hand in hand with open threats to annex Greenland, Panama and even Canada—plans drawn straight from the playbook of Hitler, whose annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland paved the way for World War II.

While the UAW stops short of saying it outright, the inescapable conclusion of Thursday’s statement is that the union bureaucracy would support the annexation of Canada and other countries.

Continues…

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/03/29/uhgq-m29.html

Which is where I’m at this morning, now. Thank you for the heads-up, UTUSN!