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UAW President Shawn Fain Received Threats Before Strike

After voting in favor of striking back in late August 2023, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union formally went on strike at the GM Wentzville plant in Missouri as of September 15th, 2023. With tensions high and negotiations between the labor union and the Big Three ongoing, one man from Davison Township, Michigan took it upon himself to allegedly send threats via text message to UAW President Shawn Fain.

According to a report from The Detroit News, the 31-year-old Zachary David White was charged with the false report or threat of terrorism and false report or threat of a bomb or harmful device. The local Genesee County Sheriff’s Office claimed that the messages were sent around 3:00 Wednesday morning.

Photo of UAW President Shawn Fain.

“I am not going to second guess Mr. White’s intentions nor am I going to view his messages as idle threats,” Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton stated. “Such tactics, no matter the reason, are uncalled for, inappropriate, dangerous and against the law.”

It’s worth noting that these text messages, the contents of which have yet to be released, were sent less than 48 hours before the Wentzville strike went into effect, and that Genesse County Officials did not release any further information regarding the specific nature of the threats themselves. In addition, the UAW made no comment on these allegations.

For background on the strikes themselves, the United Auto Workers union went on selective strikes at some assembly plants operated by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis late last week. The union is calling for a suite of demands, most notable among them being a 30-ish percent hike in pay for its unionized workers.

Although the union believes that this strike will make history for workers, GM spokesperson David Barnas said in a statement that GM is “disappointed by the UAW leadership’s actions” and that the automaker “will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

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Comments

  1. Not all union members are on board with this.

    Reply
    1. Less than 11% of eligible UAW members bothered to vote and Fain won the election by less than 500 votes out of roughly 106,000 ballots cast*.

      That would suggest you may be correct C8.R but unfortunately the leadership and members that view their employers as “the enemy” won.

      In the long run, jobs and investment will be directed elsewhere.

      *Source: Detroit Free Press.

      Reply
  2. The majority are.

    Reply
  3. There will always be difference of opinions. That’s one of the things that makes this country great.

    Reply
  4. Did Shawns threats come from 2 Nigerians with maga hats claiming “this is trump country?”

    Bubba wallace called. He wants his garage door string back

    Whats with Marxists and their obsession with being on the verge of getting knocked off all the time????

    Reply
    1. You should know.

      Reply
  5. There seems to be quite a disparity between management and the bargaining unit. When the CEO makes 240 times what the top tier of the bargaining unit receives, that seems to me to be “greedy” to say the least and unwilling to share the profits with those that produce the profits. I am somewhat bias, being a retires USW worker who endured strikes, layoffs, and wage and benefit reductions to “keep the industry going”, this was back in the ’80s and we never recouped what we lost. The upper management thrived while we had to bite the bullet. Maybe the union is asking for quite a bit, but you have to start out high so that you have room to bargain.

    Reply
    1. Greed, your pen name suits you. Instead of being part of the cure, you are part of the problem, if that is truly is what you believe.

      Reply
  6. That’s a change. It is usually the union members making threats and busting heads.

    Reply
  7. Fain is a joke. Look at the history of how corrupt the UAW is. The unions are why everything is going out of country. As a former union member (now retired) I shake my head at this fool and hope he doesn’t run the rest of the plants overseas. The only bigger fool is biden. That’s the last thing we need is goobermint getting involved in private industry. Negotiate in good faith with realistic numbers/wants/concerns. After all how much is Fain giving to those laid off and striking from his salary???!!!

    Reply
    1. This very action the union pursued runs the jobs overseas. The union members are massively overpaid and pampered compared to any normal factory job, and can’t bring themselves to admit it.
      The only answer for these companies is to continue to offshore if they want to survive.

      Reply
  8. Marcus is a moron and anti union bootlickers can kiss my arse

    Reply
    1. Your commie red arse?
      It would match your commie red shirt.

      Reply

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