Career socialist activists ‘are pulling the strings’ on UAW strike that’s cost the economy $7.7bn and claimed 6,000 jobs: ‘Eat the rich’ union leader – on $350k salary – is being advised by hardcore left-wingers who ‘want class warfare’

The United Auto Workers union president who has orchestrated massive ongoing strikes at a cost of billions to the American economy is being advised by career socialist activists whose priority is to keep the auto industry ‘wounded for months’.

Shawn Fain, the president of the UAW, has ordered a walkout of more than 30,000 workers across America’s ‘Big 3’ automakers – Ford, General Motors and Stellantis – in an unprecedented round of industrial action that entered its 39th day on Monday.

Some of Fain’s closest advisors – cynically termed ‘New York intellectuals’ by critics – have little or no experience on factory floors or as UAW members. Sources with knowledge of the autoworker contract negotiations claim the advisors do not have workers’ best interests at heart.

The strikes, which could rumble on for weeks and grow to include thousands more staff, have already cost the the US economy $7.7 billion, according to analysts. Many union members, who are earning just $500-a-week strike pay, are also increasingly concerned that Fain’s war of attrition could do more harm than good. 

Fain, 54, who was narrowly elected UAW president in March and was paid around $350,000 by the union last year, has carved a reputation as a revolutionary leader through his ambitious demands and appearances at rallies while wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with ‘eat the rich’.

But controversy around his leadership began weeks before he was elected when he suddenly fired a team of his closest advisers – including several veterans of the union and auto industry – and surrounded himself with socialist activists.

Some have made careers out of socialist activism, with previous roles as writers, commentators and members of Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Some critics have termed them ‘carnies’ for apparently jumping between organizations to push their hard-left agenda, then moving on.

Leaked private messages and strategy documents written by members of Fain’s inner circle reveal their goal is to launch unprecedented strike action, ‘keep [car companies] wounded for months’, and ‘purge’ union staff who don’t agree with their radical approach.

Fain has deployed a new approach to the industrial action by gradually increasing the number of union members on strike, rather than calling for a full walkout immediately.

The mastermind behind Fain’s approach is believed to be his de-facto chief of staff, Chris Brooks, 39, who has been nicknamed ‘Fain’s brain’ for his influence over the UAW leader.

Brooks, who often sits beside Fain at negotiations with the Big 3, is a left-wing journalist, activist and one-time member of the Bread & Roses caucus of Marxist organizers within the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA recently drew fierce criticism for the alleged sympathy of some members towards Hamas.

A labor studies graduate, Brooks was previously a field director for the NewsGuild of New York and wrote for Labor Notes and other left-wing publications.

Fain is also flanked at negotiations Benjamin Dictor, a lawyer who serves as the union’s outside counsel. Dictor describes himself on Twitter as an ‘aspiring consigliere to the working class’.

A senior automotive industry source who has been present at UAW negotiations with Brooks and Dictor told DailyMail.com the pair appeared to be shaping the talks, prompting others around the table to wonder, ‘who are we negotiating with here?’

‘The chaos and the disruption seems to be a means to an end to having greater class warfare and a bigger, broader socialist, anti-capitalist movement in America,’ the source said.

Another well-placed source questioned whether ‘Fain is just a mouthpiece’ for aides who have a ‘greater socialist agenda for the country’.

‘Long term UAW people in Detroit are wondering what the motivations of these people are who do not have historical ties to the UAW,’ the source added.

A leaked ‘transition plan’ written by Brooks after Fain’s election outlines his vision for a ‘complete rebranding of the union’ defined by ‘the best contract campaign the Big Three has seen since 1946’.

‘Everything we do, at every stage, must be reinforcing the message: there is a new sheriff in town,’ Brooks said in the memo. ‘Heads are going to be spinning with how fast things are going to change.’

‘We have to tell the story of the new UAW: reformers are reviving the original vision of the UAW as a force for racial justice and rank-and-file power, we still have the power to shut down our industry and that power was sullied by past leaders,’ it adds.

Under a section titled ‘Role of President’, Brooks wrote: ‘He has to surround himself with the right people… One of the most common mistakes a president makes is not surrounding themselves with a team that they are able to effectively delegate much of the responsibility of running the union.’

The memo also said the new regime must ‘identify those who need to be purged’.

Brooks seems to be a largely unknown figure among members on the picket lines, despite his influential role in shaping the current strikes. His name does not appear anywhere on the union’s website.

Dictor took his influential position at the UAW shortly after Fain’s election. He had previously gained attention in 2021 for becoming the first attorney to question Donald Trump under oath since the former president was elected in 2016. Dictor represented four protesters who alleged that security guards at Trump Tower assaulted them during a protest in 2015.

In between tweets about the ongoing strikes, Dictor has been a vocal critic of Israel amid the ongoing war with Hamas, and has shared posts with the disputed claim that Israel was responsible for the missile strike on a hospital in Gaza.

Another recent recruit, UWA communications director Jonah Furman, joined after a stint as an organizer for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. He has also been linked to the Bread & Roses caucus.

Furman, who drafts media statements for Fain, has been referred to as ‘shadow president Jonah’ by activists.

He was a friend of Brooks before they joined the UAW leadership and also wrote for Labor Notes.

In leaked messages sent by Furman in a private Twitter group chat, he indicates the UAW’s goal is to keeping the auto companies ‘wounded for months’ through ‘operational chaos’.

In another message, Furman appears overwhelmed by the power of his new role as the UAW’s communications director.

Furman says it is ‘insane’ that ‘we’re striking all three of the Big 3’ just two years after he was a little-known writer for Labor Notes. ‘CNN is carrying our comms and picket line live. The White House calling concerned about what we might say,’ the message adds.

President Biden supported striking workers at a picket in Michigan in September, when he urged them to ‘stick with it’ to get ‘the significant raise you need’.

General Motors said the leaked messages ‘[call] into question who is actually in charge of UAW strategy and shows a callous disregard for the seriousness of what is at stake’. Ford also said it was ‘disappointing… given what is at stake’.

Former Ford CEO Mark Fields told CNBC on Thursday: ‘When Shawn Fain became the head of the UAW he basically cleared house with the strategists that were there before, the communications folks… I think a number of the [new] folks came from the Sanders campaign.

‘They are progressives, they are quasi-socialists. There is an old saying, socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money. You really have to focus on competition.’

Fain fired his former chief of staff, Joe Rioux, a 26-year veteran of the UAW, in February, during his campaign for the union presidency, following a dispute over the role of Brooks.

Days before he was ousted, Rioux and several others outlined their concerns about Brooks during a private meeting with Fain.

The day Rioux was removed, he wrote a letter to Fain which further outlined his concerns about Brooks, including his ‘failure to understand the complexity of our union’ and ‘relative inexperience’.

The letter adds: ‘In a short amount of time, his lack of transparency, his need for control over departmental discussions, his need to control access to you, and his apparent lack of ability to work in a real collaborative manner became apparent.’

Brooks had also written a job description ‘for himself’ which was ‘in direct conflict’ with Rioux’s role, the letter said.

By Friday afternoon, each of the Big 3 had reportedly proposed a 23 percent wage hike and other benefit improvements. The UAW demands include a 40 percent raise.

Factory workers in the auto industry earn an average of $28 per hour, but ‘top tier’ workers who have been at companies the longest take home about $33 an hour. The UAW wants to end the tiered system. 

Fain said Friday that while Detroit’s automakers have increased their wage and benefit offers, he believes the union can gain more if it holds out longer in contract talks.

In a Facebook Live appearance, Fain didn’t announce any more factories to add to those that have been on strike for up to five weeks. 

But he warned that the UAW could announce such an expansion of its strikes at any time, depending on how much progress it makes in its negotiations with the automakers.

‘We’ve got cards left to play, and they’ve got money left to spend,’ he said.