UAW leader says Trump would send the labor movement into reverse if he’s elected again

DETROIT– By putting Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, Democrats are increasing their chances of winning Michigan and retaining the White House in November, the president of the United Auto Workers union said.

Shawn Fain told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that former President Donald Trump is dependent on billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and will set the labor movement back if he is re-elected.

“Trump has never supported working-class people. He has never supported unions,” Fain said. “But he has tried very hard to beg for our votes.”

Fain has become a major foe of the Republican presidential candidate, who regularly rails against him at rallies and in speeches. Trump has called him an idiot and courted the votes of auto workers by saying Fain is risking their jobs by switching to electric vehicles.

Although the UAW has members across the country, many auto industry jobs are concentrated in the Great Lakers region and Michigan. an important swing state that could decide the November presidential election. This week, the UAW signed Harris.

Trump and Harris realize that by increasing their share of union votes, they have a much better chance of winning Michigan, where the last two presidential elections have been close, said Marick Masters, a professor emeritus of business administration at Wayne State University who focuses on labor issues.

Trump won the state in 2016 by just 11,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton, but lost the state four years later to President Joe Biden by nearly 154,000 votes.

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 union family members and retirees, he said. Any change in those votes would affect the race.

During his acceptance speech at the Republican convention last month, Trump said called on union members to fire Fain, with false claims that Chinese auto companies are building factories in Mexico to ship vehicles to the U.S. without tariffs. Industry analysts say they are not aware of any such factories under construction, at least not yet.

“You probably need to get rid of this idiot, this stupid idiot 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 Fain promotes electric vehicles. “They’re made in China,” he said.

He also promised to save the auto industry from collapse if elected.

But the industry is far from dead. Since Biden took office in January 2021, employment in auto and parts manufacturing has grown 13.8% to just over 1 million people, according to the Labor Department. Automakers General Motors, Ford and Detroit-based Stellantis have made billions in annual profits.

Fain dismissed the insults as typical Trump behavior. “The guy just names names, labels people. He never has solutions,” Fain said. “That’s the problem with leadership. You have to find solutions.”

The transition from internal combustion vehicles to electric vehicles is inevitable, Fain said, and union members need to be prepared. During the transition, auto companies will still make gasoline vehicles and keep factory workers employed, 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 GM build electric vehicle battery plant in the Lordstown area, to replace some of the lost jobs, Fain said.

On Friday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said Harris sufficient votes of delegates secured to become her party’s nominee.

Fain said he has confidence that Harris will continue to be an advocate for working people, citing her journey to walk the picket lines with striking GM workers in 2019. “She was there with the president through a lot of the things we went through,” he said. “She was there for the workers.”

Of the candidates to be Harris’ vice presidential nominee, the union prefers Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, followed by Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Fain said.

The union does not support Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly because he opposes a bill that would encourage union organizing, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro supports school vouchers, which would direct tax dollars to private schools and hurt public schools, Fain said.

But even if Harris doesn’t choose one of the union’s favorites, the 370,000-member UAW would still put its political power 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 all talk. That’s all he’s ever been. He’s a showman.”

In a statement, Trump’s campaign called Fain “a puppet of the Democratic Party” who does not serve union members who support Trump.

“Shawn Fain’s empty words don’t matter — President Trump will take action to stand up for the American auto worker,” the statement said.

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Associated Press reporter Mike Householder contributed to this report.