Longtime UAW union officer to retire, sources say

By Kalea Hall and Nora Eckert

DETROIT (Reuters) -Chuck Browning, who has been a prominent leader in the United Auto Workers union and negotiated its deals with Ford Motor, is retiring, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Browning announced his retirement on Tuesday at a meeting of local union leaders in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is leading negotiations between the union and Volkswagen at a plant there, which last year became the first foreign-owned auto factory in the U.S. South to organize.

He is one of the most prominent officials behind UAW President Shawn Fain, and helped secure a record deal with Ford Motor during the labor group’s six-week strike in late 2023. Automakers General Motors and Stellantis followed suit, agreeing to 25% base wage increases and cost-of-living adjustments.

Browning is expected to retire after finalizing the Volkswagen contract, leaving his post ahead of the next union presidential election, which is slated for 2026.

“Chuck Browning is not only one of the greatest bargainers in the labor movement, but one of our most powerful, generous and capable leaders. Our union is immeasurably stronger thanks to his decades of service to our members,” Fain said in a statement. Browning didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Browning has been on the union's international staff since 2000. He was elected by the  UAW’s International Executive Board  as vice president in 2021, and was sworn in for a second term in 2023 through the union's first direct election, in which Fain was selected as president.

(Reporting by Kalea Hall and Nora Eckert in Detroit; Editing by Nia Williams and Lisa Shumaker)