I have questions about this event.

First of all,

Democratically Elected

As the first-ever democratically elected leader of the UAW, Fain, a long-time union member himself, has taken a more confrontational approach to negotiations than his predecessors — including filming himself throwing Big Three automaker proposals in the trash.

What was the process before? Was it worse?

Has UAW been a sleeping giant this whole time on account of its leadership selection process?

Stand Up Strikes

But the strike won’t involve all of the nearly 150,000 union members who work at the three automakers walking off their jobs en masse.

Instead, workers at three Midwest auto plants — a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri, a Stellantis assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio, and part of a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich. – were the first to walk off the job under UAW president Shawn Fain’s “stand up strike” strategy.

Are stand up strikes common? Do they win concessions?