Joe Biden has made overtures to Bernie Sanders and progressive groups that had backed the Vermont senator.
United Auto Workers backed Biden in the race, saying, “Honored to have your back, and you have mine.”
WASHINGTON (AP) – The United car Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden on Wednesday, giving his reelection campaign a significant assist as he attempts to win over blue-collar workers in battleground states that are key to the car industry, including Michigan and Wisconsin.
“To the applauding masses, I’m honored to have your back and you have mine,” Biden said. “That’s the main point.”
As the union wrapped off a three-day conference in Washington to determine its political goals, Biden gave a speech. The gathering comes after Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, in which Republican front-runner Donald Trump solidified his grip on traditional Republican supporters by winning and Joe Biden secured a write-in victory.
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For years, Biden has positioned himself as the most labor-friendly president in American history. During the most recent strike, he even joined union members on a picket line at a GM parts warehouse in the Detroit region.
With white voters who lack a college degree, the president hopes to weaken the edge that Trump has had. Due to the UAW’s mix of Democratic, Republican, and independent supporters, labor analysts claimed that the organization often supports politicians later.
“The days of working people being dealt out of a deal are over in this country as long as I’m president,” Biden said to the gathering. “I want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you. I am really proud.
Union president Shawn Fain had shown hesitancy earlier in the week, but on Wednesday he said that Biden had earned the endorsement, drawing a distinction between Trump’s anti-union rhetoric and his apparent support for Biden.
In reference to Biden’s historic presence on the picket line, Fain added, “He heard the call and he stood up and he showed up.”
But Trump, who was president at the time, said nothing when the UAW went on strike against GM in 2019. “He remained silent. He took no action. Not at all because he has no regard for the American worker, Fain said.
Trump’s critic Fain referred to him as a “scab,” a pejorative word for laborers who work around union picket lines while on strike.
“In November, we have the choice to pick a candidate who will unite us and champion our goals, or we may choose a candidate who will oppose and divide us at every turn. That’s the main focus of our decision,” said Fain.
Union members’ views on Biden have ranged from fervent to undecided about casting a ballot on election day.
Caroline Loveless, a retired UAW member who lives in Waterloo, Iowa, recalled seeing Biden on a picket line during the previous fall’s strike and said she would vote for him with great enthusiasm. She said that union members should be reminded by his presence that Biden supports them.
Come election day, Loveless said, “I hope they don’t get amnesia.”
Another member, William Louis of Groton, Connecticut, said that while he is “fed up with politicians,” he would grudgingly support Biden; yet, he felt that, considering the status of the economy, the president had not completely earned the support of the members.
Because Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate, “was a terrible president,” Louis remarked, Biden would get his support.
A member from Kansas City named Leo Carrillo claimed that Biden’s presence on the picket line demonstrated that “he was there for us” and that this is what convinced him to support Biden in November.
The fact that a president was in office and demonstrating such a high degree of support for autoworkers was significant to Carrillo. “But there’s more work to be done,” he remarked, gesturing to the PRO Act, a piece of proposed legislation that would facilitate federal unionization. The bill made it to the U.S. Senate, however in the event of a filibuster, there is insufficient support for it to continue.
But, Biden may encounter opposition because of his backing of Israel in its conflict with Hamas in Gaza. For that reason, some of the union’s younger members weren’t as enthused about the president, and there were sporadic demonstrations throughout his address.
The UAW’s student workers union, led by graduate student Johannah King-Slutzky, was among the audience members who screamed “ceasefire now” during Fain’s Monday afternoon address. In December, the union demanded that there be a truce in Gaza.
King-Slutzky said, “As of right now, he has not done anything to earn my vote because he has not acted with urgency to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
Following a massive controversy involving bribery and embezzlement that resulted in the imprisonment of two union presidents, Fain became the first president of the UAW to be directly chosen by its members. Even though the UAW would not have supported Trump, he is making sure to adhere to union regulations regarding the endorsement and demonstrate that members made the choice, according to Brian Rothenberg, a former union spokesperson.
According to Rothenberg, the UAW, which has around 380,000 members, often endorses presidential candidates last. In 2020, for instance, the union didn’t support Biden until April 21.
While railing against Trump in a November interview with The Associated Press, Fain made it clear that he personally supports Biden.
Fain brought up Biden’s visit to the GM parts facility, ostensibly the first occasion in which a sitting president was seen with union picketers.
Fain thought it strange that Trump was holding a rally at a nonunion auto parts manufacturer close to Detroit at the same time. Along with Fain, Biden’s administration backed the union’s efforts to convince Stellantis to restore a closed facility in Belvidere, Illinois, and they celebrated the plant’s reopening together in the city, which is located 113 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of Chicago, according to Fain.
According to internal UAW polls, in the spring and early summer, 30% of members lean Republican, 30% lean Democratic, and the remaining 40% are undecided. Members and UAW retirees often vote 60% Democratic on election day, according to Rothenberg, who is now employed as a public relations consultant in Columbus, Ohio.
According to Rothenberg, the endorsement may also influence white male nonunion blue-collar workers, who have been voting more Republican than before.
Zeke Miller and Colleen Long of the Associated Press also contributed to this story. From Detroit, Krisher provided updates.
