CHICAGO — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain told reporters Tuesday that working-class workers see themselves in the up-to-date Democratic presidential candidate.
“There’s a very clear difference between these two individuals and where they stand in relation to the working class,” Fain said of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Fain, who spoke at the first Democratic convention on Monday and has frequently criticized former President Donald Trump, calling him a “fraud.”
“He did nothing for auto workers when he was president,” Fain said, noting that Trump appointed Peter Robb to be general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, whom Fain called a “union buster.”
The press conference followed remarks by Fain on the first night of the convention, in which the union leader was wearing a jacket that he dramatically threw off to reveal a red shirt emblazoned with the words “Trump is a strikebreaker,” a term referring to people who cross picket lines and do not support striking workers.
Fain told the crowd at the United Center that Harris would support unions and the working class.
Labor unions, which have traditionally been a robust Democratic constituency, have a robust presence at the convention.
“Kamala Harris stands with workers as they strike,” he said Monday.
Member Survey
According to the organization, there are more than 400,000 vigorous UAW members and more than 600 local unions. The union also has nearly 600,000 retired members.
The UAW has already endorsed Harris, as has another major union, the American Federation of Teachers, which represents about 1.8 million members.
Fain said polling among UAW members has remained relatively stable at 56 percent for Democrats and about 32 percent for Republicans, but he thinks Harris-Walz will see stronger support in November.
“I believe our members will strongly support Kamala Harris because she brings new energy to all of this,” he said.
Fain added that Walz also has robust labor ties.
“Adding Tim Walz as her running mate was spot on,” he said. “He’s a teacher. He’s one of us.”
Walz’s first solo campaign rally in Michigantold the heavily unionized crowd that he would prioritize worker-friendly policies. He was a union member as a public school teacher in southern Minnesota before winning election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006.
Fain said that if Harris and Walz win the White House and Democrats take control of both houses of Congress, he hopes they will try to pass worker-friendly policies such as: Annex 20known as the PRO Act.
But Fain noted that even if Democrats control both the White House and Congress, the PRO Act, which supports workers’ right to unionize, would still need 60 votes in the Senate to pass.
“As far as the filibuster, I don’t know where that’s going to go from here,” Fain said of the PRO Act’s passage. “I would say we’re hopeful.”
Union support will assist Harris in states where outcome is uncertain which can boast a high number of trade union members such as Pennsylvania and Nevada.
New Emerson College Polling/RealClearPennsylvania Study The poll showed Trump with 49% support in Pennsylvania, with Harris down 1 percentage point.
“Pennsylvania likely voters in unions break in Harris’ favor by 15 points, 57% to 42%, while those who are not in a union and do not have union members in their household break in Trump’s favor, 50% to 48%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a statement. “Those who have union members in their household break in Trump’s favor, 50% to 42%.”
Before President Joe Biden suspended his reelection bid, he often boasted of being “the most pro-union president.” Biden is also the first president to walk the picket line with members when he did so last year.
Fain added that Harris also has robust union ties, noting that she participated in a 2019 picket organized by the UAW.
“I mean, it wasn’t a publicity stunt, it wasn’t for fun,” he said. “Because that’s who she is.”
