Shawn Fain, the President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, who is currently spearheading a strike against the three major U.S. automakers, reportedly earned a substantial income last year, placing him among the top earners in his home state, according to financial documents reviewed by FOX Business.
Fain, who assumed the UAW presidency in March, has been a vocal advocate for autoworkers. The financial filings reveal that he has at least two significant income sources, earning $187,259 annually from a UAW non-profit training program and an additional $160,130 per year in his previous role as an administrative assistant at the union. Upon his appointment as union president, Fain's UAW salary likely surged well above $200,000 per year.
In a UAW video released this week, Fain stated, "The Big Three want you to believe that what we are asking for is dangerous and unrealistic. What is truly unrealistic is to keep making record profits year after year and then think that the workers who made those profits are just going to settle for scraps. What is truly dangerous is for corporations and the billionaire class to continue making out like bandits while the working class gets left further and further behind."
He added, "That is why these companies and the corporate media are so desperate to try and convince the American people that unions are the problem. We are not the problem. This so-called competition is the problem. Corporate greed is the problem. Our solidarity is the solution."
Fain's annual income of $347,389 places him in the top 5% of earners in Indiana. A Forbes analysis indicates that individuals earning over $192,928 per year fall within this bracket.
If Fain's presidential salary matches that of his predecessor, former UAW President Ray Curry, his union income would have risen to $267,126, and his total income, including earnings from the non-profit UAW Chrysler Skill Development & Training Program, would have increased to $454,385, placing him among the top 1% of earners.
Fain has emerged as the face of the ongoing strike against Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis, even appearing alongside President Biden at a rally where he likened automakers to Nazi Germany. He has been seen wearing an "eat the rich" T-shirt at protests and rallies.
Fain said at a rally last week, "They look at me and they see some redneck from Indiana. They look at you and see somebody they would never have over for dinner or let ride on their yacht or let fly on their private jet. They think they know us. But us autoworkers know better."
While striking UAW members receive just $500 a week in substitute pay from the union during the strike, as reported by ABC News, it remains unclear whether Fain has taken a pay cut.
The Mack Trucks Workers Rank-and-File Committee sent an open letter to Fain on Tuesday, demanding that the UAW increase striking workers' pay to $750 a week and that leaders, including Fain, should accept a pay cut to match the strikers' salary.
The workers wrote to Fain, "President Fain, if you are unwilling to meet these demands, which correspond to the demands of the membership, then you should step aside and turn over control of the union to the rank and file. It is, after all, we who have the 'final say.'"
The open letter continued, "To our fellow autoworkers in the Big Three, we call on you to take up this fight yourselves and not allow your strike to be sabotaged by the UAW leadership. We have launched our strike in defiance of the apparatus, and we call on you to do the same."
On Wednesday, the UAW expanded its strike to Ford's most profitable truck plant in Kentucky. Despite indications of progress in UAW's negotiations with Ford and the other two automakers, Fain continues to assert that the companies are failing to meet the union's ambitious demands on wages, a modified work week, and pension benefits.
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