President Shawn Fain, who led members of the United Autoworkers (UAW) to victory in the Stand Up Strike against the Big Three automakers in 2023, is out to an early lead in balloting in the International Union election. You can follow the election results here.

Shawn Fain is the first President to be elected in a one-member, one-vote election by the 400,000 members of the UAW. He is running for a second term on the United UAW Slate. 

Fain has cited TDU and the Teamsters contract campaign at UPS as models that shaped his insurgent campaign and the UAW’s victorious Stand Up Strike against General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis (formerly Chrysler).

UAW members organized to win the right to vote for their International Union officers after a dozen senior union officials, including two former international presidents, were convicted of embezzlement, racketeering, and taking millions in illegal corporate bribes from automakers. 

Fain’s chief opponent in the election, Rich Boyer, was removed from running the union’s Stellantis division after he agreed to concessions there during the Stand Up Strike, hid company plans to move production from a Michigan assembly plant to Mexico, and tried to get his grandson hired by the UAW through a patronage scheme.  

“We’ve taken on corporate America, we’ve taken on the political establishment, and we’ve taken on company unionism in our own organization – and some of those powerful forces want to strike back. They don’t want a UAW that is fighting back,” Fain said. “The real question is what do you want?”

The vote count is expected to take several days. Candidates must win a majority of the vote or they will face a runoff. 

You can follow the election results here.