Editor’s Note: On July 27, 2024, Shawn Fain, President of the International Union, UAW, representing a million active and retired workers, speaks before the convention of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a union representing over 1.7 million members. He speaks about the upcoming elections, lessons from the UAW Stand Up strike, emphasizing the need for working class solidarity in the fight against corporate greed and for a better world. Below are excerpts from his speech. Hear the full speech at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jceSWF9xljU
“My sister was a school teacher for 20 plus years. She was also her local union president for several years back in Indiana. And I’ve watched this Republican leadership in Indiana, and in this nation, using tools such as Alec to attack and decimate public education, and villainize our teachers. So you know this is going to be a fight. There’s nothing more the billionaires would love to take away from working class kids than a free public education. So, I want to share some lessons that U.S. auto workers have learned in our fight last year.
“You know auto workers [in the past] took major concessions to save the industry. We allowed them to divide us into tiers, violating the sacred union principle of equality and equal pay for equal work. And, last fall, America’s auto workers said that in the wealthiest nation in the world, working class people shouldn’t have to scrape to get by paycheck to paycheck, and ‘it’s time to stand up.’ So I want to share with you some of the lessons that I took away from our Stand Up strike last fall so you can take some of those lessons forward in our fight for a better world.
“In our Stand Up strike, we took on three of the largest corporations in the country and we won. One thing is, we united the entire working class. We didn’t just make this about auto workers alone. This fight was about everybody because everybody was feeling same pain. We spoke truth about wages in this country, about healthcare and how people are being left behind, about retirement insecurity and about taking our time back. And we fought for a dignified life on and off the job. The second thing is we gave the billionaire and the corporate class Hell. They have to own that there’s more wealth disparity in this nation, in this world, than ever before. So we hit them with the UAW that they haven’t seen in decades. And the third thing, we let the working class people lead. We put our membership back in charge of this union. We gave them the courage to stand up for themselves. And to me, that’s the winning formula. Unite the membership, unite the working class, fight like Hell, and let everyday working class people lead our movement…
“We stand at a historic crossroads in this country. A Donald Trump White House would be a disaster for the working class. You know, he represents everything that the billionaire and corporate class want. He stands for everything that we as a union and in the labor movement stand against. And he will ruthlessly fight for a vision of America in which the wealthy rule everyone and everything and the working class is continued to be forced to settle for the scraps . . .
“The billionaire’s game is to divide and conquer. They divide us by public and private sector when we all know as unions that we’re never going to fall for that trick. We are one union and we will stand united. They divide us by race, they divide us by gender, they divide us by who somebody loves. They divide us by where we were born and what language we speak.
“And I can tell you something. The richest manufactured the so-called ‘Crisis at the Border,’ and every time I hear about this border crisis, it pisses me off. You know, we don’t have a border crisis. What we have is a humanitarian crisis. And they create this crisis for a reason. Because they’ve left working class people behind for decades, and they want the working class to have something or somebody to point the blame at for their misery. And if it doesn’t work, they point the finger at Black people; if it doesn’t work, they point the finger at gay people; then they want to point the finger at somebody across the border from another country.
“This upcoming election to me is about humanity. And we need to take a good look at the heart and soul of America and where we stand. There’s a party in this country that loves to hold up a Bible, and they love to wrap themselves in the American flag. And then have their lap dog [Donald Trump] stand in front of America, calling destitute and desperate people looking for a better life, rapists and murderers and invaders. Well, I’ve got to tell you all something. First thing I do every day when I get up is a daily reading and I pray. Every religion teaches one thing as a foundation, and that’s love of your fellow human being. That’s got to be the focus as we go into this election and how we vote. It’s love of your fellow human being and standing up for people, not leaving them behind.
“When I see destitute and desperate people trying to cross the border for a better life, I see my grandparents; they went through a great depression. And the only difference between my grandparents and people trying to cross that border are that my grandparents were in destitution and extreme poverty in Southern America, in Tennessee and Kentucky. And all they had to do was cross state lines. And they migrated north and got jobs in UAW factories at GM and Chrysler. And they lived the American dream. That’s what this fight’s about. And that’s what these people [crossing the border] are trying to do— find a better life. And this is what the billionaire class does: they divide us to keep us weak. And too many members of the working class are falling for that. That’s the truth.
“But I know another truth. And the truth is, we can win. As working class people, we are up against the most powerful forces in the world, and our mission is to take that power back. The deck is stacked against auto workers and educators and working class people everywhere. But we have one thing that the billionaires in the corporate class will never have. We have solidarity. So we have the power to come together in a common cause to defeat the forces of corporate greed. In the name of economic and social justice, we have solidarity.
“And there’s one movement that lives and breathes solidarity. And that’s the labor movement. At our best, we’re the ones who unite across race, gender, and nationality. At our best, we’re the ones who organize in a common cause against a devastation caused by corporate greed. And at our best, we’re the ones who stand up against violence from the workplace to the community.
“And as you go into that fight for a better life, for a better job, and for a better country, remember that you are the best America has to offer, and that you are the hope of the working class. What we do in this moment will define the future of this country and this world for generations to come. So wherever that fight takes us, wherever this future takes us, the UAW is ready to stand up with you in this fight. So let’s get to it!”
