The United Auto Workers labor union has endorsed President Joe Biden despite former President Donald Trump‘s courting of the organization’s support.
UAW President Shawn Fain announced his organization’s sought-after endorsement during his group’s annual conference in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, underscoring Biden’s record of standing with auto workers, dating back to the industry’s 2008-2010 crisis.
“Donald Trump is a scab. Trump is a billionaire and that’s who he represents,” Fain said. “This choice is clear. Joe Biden bet on the American worker. Donald Trump blamed the American worker.”
Biden, who describes himself as the country’s most pro-union president, became the first commander in chief to participate in a picket line when the UAW last fall organized the first coordinated strike against the so-called Big Three automakers, General Motors, the Ford Motor Company, and Stellantis. The UAW was the last remaining major union to endorse Biden as the incumbent tries to rebuild his 2020 election coalition amid concerns about his economic and environmental policies.
Regardless of Biden’s history with unions, Trump sought to capitalize on that organized labor anger with Biden, particularly over his push for more electric vehicles, by appealing to the UAW for its endorsement. The former president also attempted to counter-program Biden’s trip to Michigan last September for the strike and the second 2024 Republican primary debate in California with his own travel to the Wolverine State.
“Crooked Joe backed every single bloodsucking globalist for half a century — and now he’s coming back for more,” Trump’s campaign shared on social media Wednesday, quoting the former president. “But we will stop him.”
Earlier Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated that Biden has “a good relationship” with UAW, even though there is ongoing consternation related to the president’s approach to the Israel–Gaza war, citing his stances with respect to domestic manufacturing.
Biden last spoke to the UAW last November in Belvidere, Illinois, where he congratulated Fain on his organization’s new bargaining deal and praised him for having “a backbone like a ramrod.”
“You saved the auto industry, and they should step up for you,” Biden said. “You kept the picket line going for 46 days. You kept your negotiations working around the clock — negotiators. And in the end, the deal you reached set a new standard.”
“Over 30% increase in wages with cost-of-living adjustments; bigger pay increases over the last — next four and a half years than in the last 22 years combined; greater retirement security; more paid leave; and community by — commitments by the Big Three to create thousands more full-time, middle-class jobs, investing tens of billions of dollars building the auto future made in America,” he added.
Conservatives, including Job Creators Network president and CEO Alfredo Ortiz, continue to criticize Biden over his economic and environmental platforms that caused tensions with the union to begin with.
“His green energy agenda, including regulations requiring two-thirds of all new cars sold by 2032 to be electric, risks devastating American car manufacturers and costing these union members their jobs,” Ortiz wrote in a statement Wednesday. “American car companies such as Ford have already been forced to drastically scale back production due to the lack of consumer demand for electric vehicles.”
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“Meanwhile, nonunionized car companies such as Toyota are focused on manufacturing the vehicles consumers actually want,” he said. “Union members are increasingly recognizing that Biden’s carefully honed union rhetoric is at odds with his green energy agenda that threatens their paychecks.”