UAW leader says Trump would send labor movement back if re-elected
DETROIT: Putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic field increases Democrats' chances of winning Michigan and retaining the White House in November, the head of the United Auto Workers union says.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Shawn Fain said former President Donald Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would send the labor movement back if re-elected.
“Trump has never supported working class people. He never supported unions,” Fain said. “But he's been trying the hell out of pandering to our votes now.
Fain has become a arch-enemy of the Republican presidential nominee, often railing against him at rallies and in speeches. Trump called him an idiot who courted the votes of automakers when he said Fain was jeopardizing their jobs by embracing the transition to electric vehicles.
Although the UAW has members across the country, many auto manufacturing jobs are concentrated in the Great Lakes region and Michigan, a key swing state that could decide the presidential race in November. This week, the UAW endorsed Harris.
Trump and Harris realize that increasing their share of the union vote gives them a much better chance of carrying Michigan, where the last two presidential elections have been close, said Marick Masters, a business professor emeritus at Wayne State University who focuses on labor issues.
Trump won the state by just 11,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 and lost the state by nearly 154,000 votes to President Joe Biden four years later.
Appealing to auto workers helps get votes from other union members, and union membership is high in the state, at about 556,000, Masters said. That doesn't include thousands of family members and union retirees, he said. Any swing in those votes would have ramifications in the race.
During his acceptance speech at the Republican convention last month, Trump called on union workers to fire Fain, using false claims that Chinese auto companies were building factories in Mexico so they could ship vehicles to the US without tariffs. Industry analysts say they are not aware of any such plants under construction, at least not yet.
“You're probably going to have to get rid of that fool, that stupid idiot representing the United Auto Workers,” Trump said at a July 20 rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trump claimed he would get 95 percent of the UAW vote because of Fain's push for electric vehicles. “They will be made in China,” he said.
He also pledged to bring the auto industry back from oblivion if elected.
But the industry is far from destroyed. Since Biden took office in January 2021, employment in auto and parts manufacturing has grown 13.8 percent to just over 1 million people, according to the Labor Department. Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis achieved billions in annual profits.
Fain dismissed the insults as typical Trump behavior. “Everything that man calls his name refers to people. It never has a solution,” Fain said. “That's a problem in leadership. You have to find a solution.”
The transition from internal-combustion vehicles to electric-powered ones is inevitable, Fain said, and union members must be ready for it. During the transition, car companies are still making gasoline vehicles and keeping employees in factories, he said.
Trump, he said, did nothing for automakers when General Motors closed its small car assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in 2019. Biden, who announced last month that he would drop out of the race and endorse Harris, helped push GM to build an electric vehicle battery factory in the Lordstown area to replace some of the lost jobs, Fain said.
On Friday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Harris had won enough delegate votes to become her party's nominee.
Fain said he's confident Harris will remain an advocate for working people, citing her trip to picket with striking GM workers in 2019. “She's been there with the president for a lot of things we've gone through,” he said. “She was there to give birth.
Of the candidates to become Harris' vice presidential pick, the union's preference is Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, followed by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Fain said.
The union does not support Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly because he has opposed a bill that would strengthen union organizing, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro favors school vouchers that would send tax dollars to private schools and hurt public schools, Fain said.
But even if Harris doesn't pick one of the union favorites, the UAW's 370,000 members would still throw their political might behind her, Fain said.
“I think she's a great woman. A very strong person,” Fain said. “He understands the issues. I think Trump is just talking. That's all he's ever been. He's a showman.”
In a statement, the Trump campaign called Fain a “Democratic Party stooge” who does not serve the unions that support Trump.
“Shawn Fain's empty words don't matter – President Trump will take action to fight for the American auto worker,” the statement read.
