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united auto workers
UAW President Denounces Trump-GOP Budget Law as 'Total Betrayal' of American Working Class
"This bill isn't governance," said United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain. "This is a class war waged from Capitol Hill."
Jul 09, 2025
After Republicans pushed their unpopular reconciliation package through Congress last week, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson hailed the legislation as a step toward "a future where working Americans can feel relief."
But Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), argued in an op-ed Tuesday for The Detroit News that such "hollow promises" are an attempt to obscure "a brutal agenda: stripping working-class people of security, dignity, and power while lining the pockets of billionaires" with trillions of dollars in tax breaks.
"The budget reconciliation bill that the Republicans just passed isn't just bad policy—it's a full-blown attack on America's working class," wrote Fain. "For the UAW and the millions of workers we represent, four core issues define what it means to live and work with dignity: a livable wage, affordable healthcare, retirement security, and time to enjoy life beyond the job. On every one of those fronts, this bill delivers nothing but setbacks."
Fain pointed specifically to the GOP law's more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. Those cuts, combined with Republicans' refusal to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to lapse at the end of the year, are expected to strip health coverage from around 17 million Americans over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The UAW president also points to the Republican law's lesser-known attack on Medicare recipients. The legislation, which President Donald Trump signed into law late last week, would restrict enrollment in Medicare Savings Programs—potentially causing more than a million low-income seniors to lose access—and force more than $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare.
"These aren't numbers on a spreadsheet," Fain wrote. "These are real people losing access to lifesaving care."
"By passing this legislation, the government is telling working-class families they're on their own while billionaires get even more tax breaks."
While the Trump White House and congressional Republicans have tried to cast the budget law's tax provisions as worker-friendly—in some cases by outright lying about what's in the legislation—Fain noted that the law's limited deductions for tips and overtime will only benefit a small sliver of Americans, and only until 2028.
"On the other hand, many of the tax benefits in this bill for the wealthy are indefinite and have no expiration date," Fain wrote. "This is the same bait-and-switch the Trump administration used to sell its 2017 billionaire tax giveaway to the American people: small, temporary tax breaks for working people, with massive, long-term benefits for the wealthy and corporate America."
"This bill isn't governance. This is a class war waged from Capitol Hill," Fain continued. "It shifts the balance of power even further toward the billionaire class and hollows out the rights and dignity of labor. By passing this legislation, the government is telling working-class families they're on their own while billionaires get even more tax breaks."
"It's a total betrayal," he added.
Fain is among many prominent labor leaders who spoke out forcefully against the Republican budget measure and warned about its potentially catastrophic impact on millions of workers.
National Nurses United, the nation's largest nurses union, called the day of the bill's final passage one of "the darkest days in the history of U.S. healthcare."
"People will suffer and die because of the cuts in this legislation to fund tax cuts for billionaires—certainly in the short term and potentially for decades to come if nothing is done," the union said. "Lawmakers have effectively signed the death warrants for millions."
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said that "every member of Congress who voted for this devastating bill picked the pockets of working people to hand billionaires a $5 trillion gift."
"But if the politicians who rammed through this shameful bill think they can sneak away without anyone knowing the damage they've done and the chaos they've created," said Shuler, "they don't know anything about the labor movement."
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'Mamdani-Mentum': AOC Endorses Democratic Socialist for NYC Mayor
"Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack," Ocasio-Cortez said.
Jun 05, 2025
Progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday threw her weight behind democratic socialist state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in the final weeks of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, which will take place on June 24.
Mamdani has gained ground in the race with his bold proposals such as taxing the rich to fund free buses, a rent freeze, and city-run grocery stores; his engaging social media presence; and his success at fundraising and mobilizing volunteers. Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told The New York Times in an interview that she thought Mamdani was the best choice to unite progressive voters to defeat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, she said, "belongs to the hedge funds."
"Assemblymember Mamdani has demonstrated a real ability on the ground to put together a coalition of working-class New Yorkers that is strongest to lead the pack," Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. "In the final stretch of the race, we need to get very real about that."
"It's almost like fighting for the working class unapologetically is a likable trait, and proposing bold new ideas is better than maintaining the status quo."
Mandani, who is currently polling second behind Cuomo, welcomed the news.
"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a once-in-a-generation leader who has led the fight for working people in Congress," Mamdani wrote on social media Thursday morning. "In 2018, she shocked the world and transformed our politics. On June 24, with @AOC's support and this movement behind us, we will do the same."
Mamdani, a 33-year-old who represents Queens, now polls at 23% to Cuomo's 35% in the first round of the New York City Democratic primary's ranked-choice voting system. A simulation of a 10th round of voting showed Mamdani finally losing to Cuomo by only eight points, at 46% to Cuomo's 54%.
While Cuomo has greater name recognition, he has several scandals to his name. In 2021, he resigned as state governor following a report documenting his harassment of several women, claims he has denied. But constituents had called for his resignation even before over a cover-up of the amount of deaths caused by Covid-19 in state nursing homes.
AOC advised progressive voters to make strategic choices in order to defeat Cuomo, recommending that they rank Mamdani first, followed by New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, City Comptroller Brad Lander, former comptroller Scott Stringer, and New York Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-20). The progressive Working Families Party and the United Auto Workers (UAW) region 9A have also both urged voters to rank Mamdani in the No. 1 slot.
"Even if the entire left coalesced around any one candidate, an ideological coalition is still insufficient for us to win," Ocasio-Cortez told the Times. "We have to have a true working-class coalition."
The Democratic congresswoman's endorsement came the day after the first televised mayoral debate, and three days after Mamdani won the backing of UAW president Shawn Fain.
Several other progressive organizations and leaders celebrated AOC's endorsement.
"Mamdani-mentum. We love to see it," the youth-led Sunrise Movement, which has also endorsed Mamdani, wrote on social media.
Progressive Michigan State Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-26) wrote: "Zohran Mamdani can win this thing! It's almost like fighting for the working class unapologetically is a likable trait, and proposing bold new ideas is better than maintaining the status quo."
New York Communities for Change posted simply, "Let's goooo!!!"
Julian Gerson, the political director for Mamdani's campaign, promised, "On June 24, we're making history."
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On May Day, UAW Members Launch Strike at Weapons Giant Lockheed Martin
"Lockheed is a textbook example of corporate greed and I'm proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our members as they fight for their fair share," said one regional director with the United Auto Workers.
May 01, 2025
As an estimated tens of thousands mobilized for actions planned to honor May Day, also known as International Workers' Day, the United Auto Workers announced Thursday that over 900 UAW members who work for Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense company, have gone on strike.
Those striking include members of UAW Local 788 in Orlando and Local 766 in Denver, according to the union, which alleges that the company has committed "multiple unfair labor practices and refused to present a fair economic proposal that meets the membership's needs."
The two locals are covered by the same bargaining agreement, according to The Denver Post, and workers in both locations walked off the job after voting down an offer from Lockheed Martin on Saturday. The company has "refused to present a fair economic proposal that meets the membership's needs," per the union.
The outlet Orlando Weekly reported that the union says Lockheed Martin has offered "meaningful" pay raises for union members during contract discussions, but other issues have remained unresolved. They include holiday schedules, cost of living allowance, healthcare and prescription drug coverage, among others, according to UAW.
"It would be nice for the future generations and everybody else coming in not to have to wait 18 years to provide for their family like I have," Michael Mahoney, who has worked at Lockheed Martin for 21 years and and is a military veteran, told Orlando Weekly.
"They say they support the military, they want to use the veteran status, but when it comes to really showing us—a veteran, you know—the appreciation that we deserve, it don't feel like we get appreciated at all around here," said Mahoney.
The defense giant brought in $5.3 billion in net earnings in 2024, and has secured $1.7 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2025.
Union workers rallied outside of the Lockheed Martin Waterton Campus in Denver on Thursday, according to the local outlet 9NEWS."Lockheed's workers have to wait years and even decades before seeing a comfortable standard of living, while its executives are swimming in taxpayer dollars," said UAW Region 4 director Brandon Campbell in a statement on Thursday. "Lockheed is a textbook example of corporate greed and I'm proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our members as they fight for their fair share."
According to 9NEWS, Lockheed Martin issued the following statement regarding the strike: "We value our employees and their expertise and look forward to reaching a fair labor agreement for both sides. Our employees perform important work for our customers and the nation through their work supporting programs critical to our national security."
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