In a recent livestream talk to UAW members and the public, UAW president Shawn Fain described the effects of the Trump administration on the working class:
“Here’s what we’ve seen so far from the Trump administration: we’ve seen the destruction of bargaining rights for a million federal workers. That’s not good for the working class. We’ve seen attacks on the National Labor Relations Board, including illegally firing a board member, leading to deadlock on workers’ cases. That’s not good for the working class. We’ve seen attacks planned on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs that millions of workers depend on. That’s not good for the working class.
“We’ve seen the absolute trampling of constitutional rights. We have seen the First Amendment go up in smoke at college campuses — with detentions, deportations, expulsions, and firings of people who dared to speak out against and protest against a war, just to call for a cease-fire. We have seen the right to due process disappear as working people are deported for no crime and no reason. That’s not good for the working class.
“Mahmoud Khalil, who has now been detained for over a month for protesting the war, is a former UAW member. Grant Miner, the president of UAW Local 2710 at Columbia University, was expelled for protesting the war the day before the bargaining was going to start. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Service Employees International Union member at Tufts University, has been detained for writing an op-ed. Kilmar Abrego García, a sheet metal apprentice in Maryland was deported for no reason, no crime, to a prison in El Salvador. We’ve seen the arbitrary and unlawful termination of hundreds of our members’ visas, which may lead to their unjust deportation. And the list goes on.”
For a recording of Fain’s talk: video livestream
For a transcript Fain’s full talk: https://jacobin.com/2025/04/