Chris Brooks, a former Chattanooga activist and an architect of the United Auto Workers’ 2024 win at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant, has left his senior union post after a federal monitor’s report said he conspired to retaliate against another union leader in an internal power struggle.
After leaving Chattanooga in 2016, Brooks rose to become a leading figure in the labor movement and was appointed chief of staff to UAW President Shawn Fain in 2023.
Brooks helped propel Fain to fame and created the militant strategy that led to raises for hundreds of thousands of autoworkers across the county. After the Detroit Three — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — agreed to a new contract with UAW in 2023, following a strike, workers ratified an agreement that secured a 25% increase in base wages over the life of the contract, faster pay progression and restored cost-of-living adjustments. At the time, nonunion automakers, including VW, responded by giving raises, as well.