Will LehmanFor UAW President

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Statements

Read Will Lehman's statements on the UAW, the auto industry, and the fight for rank-and-file control of our union.

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Kennedy Orwa, a man in a blue patterned shirt, with his arm around his teenage son who is wearing a black New Balance jacket

Oppose the deportation of UAW member Kennedy Orwa!

I condemn the deportation of University of Washington graduate student and UAW member Kennedy Orwa and his son, and call on UAW members to mobilize against this assault on immigrant workers and democratic rights.

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Will Lehman in a work jacket standing in front of large industrial windows

Vote Will Lehman and Joe David for delegates at UAW 677 at Mack Trucks on April 9! Power to the rank and file!

Joe David and I are standing as delegates for UAW Local 677 as part of an insurgent slate throughout the UAW. We are running not to get cushy jobs inside the apparatus, but to abolish it and transfer power to the rank and file.

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Ronald Adams Sr. with his wife and children in a family portrait, all wearing white

One year since the death of Stellantis worker Ronald Adams Sr.: The cover-up must end now!

Ronald Adams Sr. was killed one year ago because safety systems had been systematically dismantled. MIOSHA has still not released its investigation. Workers must build rank-and-file safety committees and assert control over safety and production themselves.

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Workers leaving the Nexteer Plant 4 main entrance in Saginaw

Nexteer workers: Prepare for a real fight after defeating the UAW’s sellout contract!

Your 96 percent “no” vote is a powerful and historic act. But a “no” vote is only the beginning. Form a Nexteer Rank-and-File Committee and prepare for strike action organized by workers themselves.

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Workers leaving the Factory Zero East Gate employee entrance at General Motors in Detroit

Fight the layoffs at GM’s Factory Zero and throughout the auto industry

GM has again idled Factory Zero in Detroit, laying off 1,300 workers. Workers should build rank-and-file committees to enforce a zero-layoff policy. The UAW bureaucracy’s silence is not passivity—it is complicity.

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Workers leaving the Nexteer Plant 4 main entrance in Saginaw

Nexteer workers: Vote “NO” on sellout agreement! Organize the rank and file to oversee balloting and prepare a strike!

I urge Nexteer workers in Saginaw to reject the four-year tentative agreement containing sweeping concessions. Workers must organize rank-and-file oversight of the ballot and prepare for strike action.

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NYU academic workers picketing outside a university building

Support the New York University academic workers strike!

950 NYU full-time contract faculty have walked out on strike. I fully support your strike — your fight is part of the developing offensive of the working class against austerity, dictatorship and war.

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BİRTEK-SEN leader Mehmet Türkmen addresses striking workers of Başpınar Organised Industrial Zone

Free Mehmet Türkmen! The arrest of an independent union leader is an attack on the entire working class

I condemn the arrest of Mehmet Türkmen, general secretary of BİRTEK-SEN, and demand his immediate release. Workers must reach out across borders and build networks of solidarity capable of defending any worker facing repression.

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Gregory Knopf / Facebook

For a rank-and-file investigation into the death of Ford worker Gregory Knopf!

Gregory Knopf was killed at Ford’s Sharonville Transmission Plant when a press machine activated during maintenance. My campaign calls for rank-and-file safety committees with real authority to halt unsafe operations and conduct independent investigations.

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Columbia graduate students on a picket line holding “UAW On Strike” signs during the 2020–2021 strike

UAW bureaucracy betrays Columbia graduate student workers: Rank and file must fight back

Columbia graduate and undergraduate workers voted 91.5 percent to authorize a strike, but the UAW apparatus moved immediately to block it. I call on workers to form independent rank-and-file committees and take control of their own struggle.

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A sign for JBS Foods (source: JBS)

Support the strike of JBS meatpacking workers in Colorado!

I call on autoworkers across the country to support the JBS workers in Greeley, Colorado. Workers must build rank-and-file committees to expand this struggle and enforce democratic oversight over negotiations.

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NIH Fellows in 2023

Oppose Trump’s union-busting attack on National Institutes of Health researchers!

I call on all UAW members and workers to rally to the defense of NIH workers and build rank-and-file committees to prepare collective action, including a general strike to defend the jobs and rights of all workers.

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Will Lehman

The bureaucracy can't be reformed. It must be abolished. Ready to build rank-and-file power?

Will Lehman for UAW President