UAW leader says Trump would send labor movement back if re-elected
DETROIT: Putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket increases Democrats' chance of winning Michigan and retaining the White House in November, the head of the United Auto Workers union says.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, Shawn Fain said former President Donald Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would turn the labor movement around if re-elected.
“Trump has never supported working class people. He's never supported unions,” Fain said. “But he was trying the hell out of catering to our votes now.”
Fain has become one of the Republican presidential nominee's main foes, frequently speaking out against him at rallies and in speeches. Trump has called him an idiot and is courting the votes of auto workers by saying Fain is putting their jobs at risk by embracing a shift 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 state that could decide the presidential election 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 taking Michigan, where the last two presidential elections have been close, said Marick Masters, a business professor emeritus at Wayne State University who follows labor issues.
Trump won the state by just 11,000 votes in 2016 over Democrat Hillary Clinton, then lost the state four years later by nearly 154,000 votes to President Joe Biden.
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 does not include thousands of family members and union retirees, he said. Any swing in those votes would be consequential 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 are building factories in Mexico to ship vehicles to the United States without tariffs. Industry analysts say they are not aware of any such facilities under construction, at least not yet.
“You probably have to get rid of this fool, this stupid idiot who represents the United Auto Workers,” Trump said at a July 20 rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trump claimed he will get 95 percent of the UAW vote because Fain drives electric vehicles. “They will be made in China,” he said.
He also promised to bring the auto industry back from extinction if elected.
But the industry is far from extinction. Since Biden took office in January 2021, employment making cars and parts has grown by 13.8 percent to just over 1 million people, according to the Labor Department. Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have made billions in annual profits.
Fain dismissed the insults as typical Trump behavior. “All the man does is his name calling, labeling people. He never has solutions, said Fain. “That's the problem in leadership. You have to find solutions.”
The move from internal combustion vehicles to those powered by electricity is inevitable, Fain said, and union members must be ready for it. During the transition, auto companies are still making gasoline vehicles and keeping factory workers busy, he said.
Trump, he said, did nothing for auto workers 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 get GM to build a battery plant for electric vehicles in the Lordstown area, replacing some of the lost jobs, Fain said.
On Friday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Harris has secured enough delegate votes to become her party's nominee.
Fain said he's confident Harris will remain an advocate for working people, citing her journey to walk striking GM workers in 2019. “She was there with the president through a lot of things we've been through,” he said . “She's been there for the birth.”
Of candidates to be Harris' vice presidential pick, the union favors 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 increase union organizing, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro favors school vouchers, which would take tax money from private schools and hurt public schools, Fain said.
But even if Harris doesn't pick one of the union favorites, the 370,000-member UAW would still put its political might behind her, Fain said.
“I think she's a brilliant woman. A very strong person,” Fain said. “She understands the issues. I think Trump is just talking. That's all he ever was. He's a showman.”
In a statement, Trump's campaign called Fain “a puppet of the Democratic Party” who does not serve unionized workers who support Trump.
“Shawn Fain's empty words don't matter – President Trump will take action to fight for the American auto worker,” the statement said.
