The president of the United Auto Workers union, Shawn Fain, this month was sworn in for a new four-year term.

What does the UAW chief do for an encore?

In 2023, Fain led simultaneous strikes against Detroit automakers General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and the U.S. operations of Stellantis, owner of the former Chrysler Corp.

Under Fain, the union targeted high-profit plants such as the Ford operation in Kentucky that makes heavy-duty pickups.

Those walkouts led to pay gains of 25% over four-and-a-half years .

Yet, Fain wanted more. The UAW chief sought to expand union influence in the U.S. auto industry.

The union won a contract at Volkswagen AG’s factory in Tennessee. Still, the UAW hasn’t advanced at other U.S. plants owned by international automakers. Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama voted in 2024 against unionizing despite UAW efforts.

For generations, the Detroit-based union hasn’t put a dent into representing U.S. plants owned by Asian automakers. Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and other Asian automakers run plants without union representation.

The 2023 contracts will last until the end of April 2028. If a strike (or strikes) takes place after that, a walkout would occur on May 1, 2028—or May Day.

That date has symbolic importance for labor movements globally. May Day, according to Britannica, acknowledges “historic struggles and gains made by” workers and the labor movement.

Outside the U.S., May Day has major importance. Inside the U.S., not as much. Americans celebrate Labor Day in September. For decades, the U.S. labor movement has been back on its heels. In 2023, the UAW strike and other labor actions have reinvigorated labor.

In 2023, Fain signaled he had bigger ambitions.

“When we return to the bargaining table” in 2028, “it won’t just be with the Big Three but with Big Five or Big Six,” Fain said in 2023.

That remains to be seen. GM, Ford and Stallantis face pressure to reduce costs. Established automakers face increasing competition from Chinese companies that are subsidized by the Chinese government and have have found ways to hasten product development.

What’s more, Bloomberg and The New York Times reported earlier this year that the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation whether Fain had abused his office. Fain has denied the allegations.

Fain acknowledged last week there’s more work to be done for the union.

“Over the next four years, our job is to do more than just to ensure the survival of our organization,” Fain said in a UAW statement. “We need to grow. We need to build. We need to win. And to do that, we need each other.”