UAW Core Values

Build and Maintain High Standards in Contracts:

The benefits bargained for over several decades have provided better lives for UAW members and their families. These benefits go beyond pay raises; they include a better quality of life overall.

All are Equal:

Our union was formed based on the principle that all are equal regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, skill or education level. A struggle over whether unskilled labor had a right to be organized led to our union's formation.

We Fight for Everyone Not Just Ourselves:

We are all connected, our communities, our world and common causes that affect all people of the world. We were there is 1963 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington. We supported Cesar Chavez and Delores Huerta and the United Farm Workers. We advocated for the release of Nelson Mandela from imprisonment in South Africa. Knowledge is Power!

The Bread Box is Connected to the Ballot Box:

"There's a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls," said Walter Reuther. Too often, the gains made at the bargaining table are put in peril by Congress or state legislators as we clearly see today. That is why our union has a robust political action program to protect members' interests, such as labor rights, workplace safety, and Social Security. Learn for yourself about the importance of political activism!