Union Boss At Center Of Warring Socialist Factions In Battle For Control

August 12, 2026 3:23 PM ET The leftist president of the United Auto Workers seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place as a more extreme faction takes aim at him and his socialist supporters.President Shawn Fain took the reins of United Auto Workers (UAW) in 2023 after narrowly winning its first direct presidential election. He promised to end corruption in the union and make it a more bottom-up system, but some rank-and-file members have since shown opposition to his leadership.The president ran with support from a now-defunct union reform group founded in part by socialists, the Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD), which contributed to his successful election. However the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), has pushed back on Fain, emphasizing the divide between him and its prefe