Analysis: UAW Paid Nearly $6.4 Million To Organizers In 2023
Before committing $40 million in February to unionize non-union autoworkers, the United Auto Workers paid 49 union organizers an average of $130,000 each in 2023.
By Peter List, Editor | April 19, 2024
Editor’s note: This article was embargoed until polling at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee concluded at 8:00 pm (EDT).
The United Auto Workers (UAW) paid 49 union organizers employed by the union’s headquarters an average $130,000 in 2023, according to a LaborUnionNews.com analysis of public records.
Union organizers are persons employed to persuade workers to join unions and are usually exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act as they are considered “outside salespersons.”
In 2023, the UAW paid 49 union organizers a total of $6,374,724, according to the union’s 767-page financial reports on file with the U.S. Department of Labor.
The range of total disbursements to the union’s organizers ranged from a low of $59,388 to a high of $188,889, with the vast majority making more than $110,000 last year.
The data is significant as many of the organizers were employed before Shawn Fain assumed control of the UAW in Spring 2023, and before the union committed in February to spending $40 million to unionize non-union autoworkers.
As a result of February’s announcement, it is likely that the UAW has hired more union organizers, perhaps union “salts” as well, to help it in its effort to lure more workers into joining the union. However, the total number of organizers and the amounts paid in 2024 will not appear on government reports until 2025.
To view payments made to individual UAW organizers, readers can search the UAW’s financial reports here (query ‘Organizer’), or view the list below by becoming a paid subscriber to LaborUnionNews.com.