UAW leader says if Trump is re-elected, it will send the labor movement into reverse
Detroit: Putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket increases Democrats' chances of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November, the head of the United Auto Workers union said.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Sean Fein said former President Donald Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and will send the labor movement into reverse if he is re-elected.
“Trump has never supported working class people. He's never supported unions,” Fein said. “But he was definitely looking hell for our votes.”
Fein has become the Republican presidential candidate's top nemesis, frequently railing against him at rallies and in speeches. While Trump has called him an idiot, Fein is respecting the vote of autoworkers who are putting their jobs at risk by embracing 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 felt that increasing their share of the union vote would give them a much better chance of taking Michigan, where the last two presidential elections have been close, said Marrick Masters, a business professor emeritus at Wayne State University who follows labor issues.
Trump won the state by just 11,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, and then lost the state to President Joe Biden by nearly 154,000 votes four years later.
Appealing to autoworkers 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 on those votes will result in a race.
During his acceptance speech at the Republican convention last month, Trump called on union workers to fire Fine, using false statements that Chinese auto companies were building factories in Mexico to ship to the U.S. without tariffs. Industry analysts say they are not aware of any such plant under construction, at least not yet.
“You've got to get rid of this moron, this moron that represents 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 Fine's push for electric vehicles. “They will be made in China,” he said.
He also expressed his commitment to bring back the auto industry from extinction if he is elected.
But the industry is far from extinct. Since Biden took office in January 2021, auto and parts job creation has grown just 13.8 percent to just over 1 million people, according to the Labor Department. Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis made billions in annual profits.
Fein dismissed the insult as typical Trump behavior. “Everybody calls people names, labels people. He never has a solution,” Fenn said. “That's the problem with leadership. You have to find a solution.”
The shift from internal combustion vehicles to electric ones is inevitable, Fein said, and union members need to be ready for it. During the transition, auto companies are still making gasoline vehicles and hiring factory workers, he said.
When General Motors closed its small car assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio in 2019, Trump did nothing for autoworkers. Biden, who announced last month that he was dropping out of the race and endorsing Harris, said he helped build the GM. An electric vehicle battery plant in the Lordstown area, replacing some of the lost jobs, Fain said.
On Friday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Harris had won enough delegates to become his party's nominee.
Fine said he is confident Harris will advocate for working people, citing his journey to walk the picket line with striking GM workers in 2019. “She's been with the president through a lot of what we've been through,” he said. “She is there for labor.”
Among the 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 is not supporting Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly because he opposes a bill that would boost union organizing, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro favors school vouchers, which would send tax dollars to private schools and hurt public schools, Fein said.
But even if Harris doesn't pick one of the union's favorites, the 370,000-member UAW will still put its political might behind him, Fein said.
“I think she's a brilliant woman. A very strong person,” Fenn said. “She understands the issues. I think Trump's all about it. That's all he has. He is a showman. “
In a statement, Trump's campaign called Fine a “puppet for the Democrat Party” who does not serve union workers who are supporting Trump.
“Shaun Fine's empty words don't matter – President Trump will take action to fight for American auto workers,” the statement said.
