UAW Election Sweep Shows Members Endorse Fain's Militant Approach and Reject Monitor Interference
Source: Chris Brooks. "Shawn Fain’s Slate Has Swept the UAW Elections." October 9, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author says UAW members voted overwhelmingly for President Shawn Fain and his slate, which shows they like his tough, fighting style, backed by big contract wins and organizing victories. He also argues the vote is a rebuke of the federal monitor, whom he accuses of trying to undermine Fain. His takeaway is that members want the union to keep fighting.
Conclusion
UAW members' overwhelming support for Shawn Fain and the United UAW slate in the internal elections is a clear mandate for the union's aggressive, fighting approach to bargaining and organizing, and a rebuke of the opposition and of the federal monitor's efforts to undermine Fain.
Premises
- Unofficial results show Fain and the United UAW slate winning by overwhelming margins despite heavy opposition and a more crowded field of candidates.
- Under Fain, the UAW won record Big Three contracts in 2023 (25 percent raises, elimination of wage tiers, restored COLAs, retiree bonuses, strike rights over product commitments, EV battery plants under master agreements).
- The union extended its high-participation bargaining model to other employers (Daimler Truck, American Axle, Allison Transmission, Cornell, Rolls-Royce) and organized Volkswagen in Tennessee, the first foreign-owned Southern auto plant to be unionized, which has since won a first contract.
- Federal monitor Neil Barofsky, who clashed with Fain over the union's Gaza ceasefire stance, issued scathing reports that Fain and Brooks believe were inaccurate and politically motivated; a recording published in July 2026 contradicted Barofsky's account of their conversation.
- Fain's opponents wanted to return the union to its earlier posture of rolling over for the bosses and lacked a broader vision, whereas Fain ran on using the union's resources for a real fight for working-class people and is already planning to win back pensions and retiree health care in 2028.
Assumptions
- The margin of victory among the members who voted reflects the preferences of the membership as a whole, despite turnout of only about 10 percent.
- Members voted for Fain because of his militant approach and bargaining record rather than for other reasons such as name recognition, slate organization, or opposition fragmentation.
- The 2023 contract gains and organizing wins are attributable to Fain's leadership and strategy.
- The opposition candidates represent a return to a passive, concessionary approach.
- The monitor's actions were politically motivated and aimed at hurting Fain, and the election result is a meaningful verdict on that conflict.
- Unofficial results will hold in the final count.