Former President Trump has pivoted to the general election against Joe Biden. Biden received the endorsement of the UAW last week.
It’s not unusual for the UAW to endorse the Democrat running for president. The union big shots never endorse the Republican candidate. It is ironic, though, that the top union officials have to admit that many of its members are Trump voters. Trump is trying to get some union support to cut into Biden’s territory. He outperformed his Democrat opponents in 2016 and 2020. Rank and file union members vote for Trump.
Trump is scheduled to meet with members of the Teamsters Union in Washington, D.C. today to court their endorsement. He will participate in a roundtable discussion with the union’s executive board, its president, and members. He is looking for blue-collar support, the same as he received in his 2016 campaign for president. The Trump campaign anticipates that particularly in Midwestern swing states, States like Wisconsin and Michigan are up for grabs at this point.
Trump is responding to Shawn Fain’s announcement of the UAW endorsement for Trump.
“Shawn Fain doesn’t understand this or have a clue,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network. “Get rid of this dope & vote for DJT. I will bring the Automobile Industry back to our Country.”
Trump’s team is not expecting a Teamsters endorsement but sees the meeting as a win in and of itself. For the first time, the union has been holding a series of roundtable discussions with candidates ahead of its endorsement. Among the topics planned for discussion Wednesday were the shrinking middle class, workers’ wages, antitrust and bankruptcy issues, as well as union rights.
The Teamster union’s president is meeting with all candidates. He isn’t trashing Trump at every opportunity as Fain is doing.
“Our members want to hear from all candidates of all parties about what they plan to do for working people as president,” Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “Our union wants every candidate to know that there are 1.3 million Teamsters nationwide whose votes will not be taken for granted. Workers’ voices must be heard
On Thursday, Biden is going to Michigan and will meet UAW members. He’s chasing swing state voters. He potentially is in trouble in Michigan, though Michigan has been trending Democrat in recent elections. A new Morning Consult poll shows Trump up over Biden in key swing states. The poll on swing states partners with Bloomberg News.
Trump leads Biden in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Biden likes to call himself the biggest friend labor union members have ever had. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien privately met with Trump earlier this month at Mar-a-Lago. They spoke about “issues including right-to-work laws that allow those in unionized workplaces to opt out of paying dues and fees.” O’Brien said later in an interview on Fox that the meeting went “fine” and stressed the importance of open dialogue. “We put our cards on the table. It was a very matter-of-fact meeting,” he said. “He claimed he was, you know, 100%… supportive of unions, but history obviously, you take a look back and there’s certain issues that we have with him,” he said.
Union endorsements have almost exclusively gone to Democrats. This year, the Teamsters union is asking to hear from all of the candidates and how they will help union members.
During Trump’s presidency, the National Labor Relations Board reversed several key rulings that had made it easier for small unions to organize, strengthened the bargaining rights of franchise workers and provided protection against anti-union measures for employees.
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority — including three justices that Trump nominated — overturned a decades-old pro-union decision in 2018 involving fees paid by government workers. The justices in 2021 rejected a California regulation giving unions access to farm property so they could organize workers.
While the Teamsters endorsed Biden in 2020 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, O’Brien stressed the union has “a very diverse membership. And our members vote.”
Unlike Biden, Trump has professional experience with unions. The UAW endorsement for Biden came because Biden walked a few steps on a picket line last year.
“One of them, President Biden, has always been on the American worker and stood with the American worker and he proved that during this presidency,” Fain told “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “For the first time in U.S. history, we had a sitting president join striking workers on the picket line.”
How embarrassing. It’s insulting to union members to think they are stupid enough to fall for such a blatant political stunt. How do the union members like the high cost of living in Biden’s America? Do the blue-collar workers like paying off student loans for white-collar workers? Just a couple of thoughts that voters should consider when voting in November. Eventually union members will wake up and realize that their dues go to only Democrat candidates.
Trump won’t get union endorsements from the executives but he’ll get votes from the union members. He can count on that.