UAW Shifts Focus to Academia, Turning Campus Labor into Political Power

At a recent celebration, UAW President Shawn Fain pointed to the primary win of Columbia University program assistant Claire Valdez as evidence that the union is becoming a political force rooted in academia. After decades of decline, the UAW’s active roster stands at 383,000, with about 100,000 members working in universities, colleges and related institutions. Leaders emerging from graduate-student activism, such as Brandon Mancilla—who rose from Harvard’s graduate-student union to head UAW Region 9A—are steering the organization toward issues like Gaza ceasefires and divestment from weapons makers.

The union’s recent convention approved a vote to divest from Israel bonds, and local strikes at the University of California have demanded campus policies on protest, research funding, and immigration enforcement. These actions are forcing universities to allocate larger legal funds and adjust graduate-student stipends, prompting some departments to cut doctoral admissions. Meanwhile, traditional auto and manufacturing members see less influence as the union’s priorities pivot toward campus-based political battles.