Kamala Harris talks to a union leader while she walks a picket line with striking UAW members in 2019 at a General Motors facility just north of Reno, Nevada. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner)
Thousands of union workers and retirees across Michigan—including 245,000 Teamsters—are throwing their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
MICHIGAN—Dwayne Walker, the president of United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 900 in Wayne, has only three words to describe ex-President Donald Trump’s policy plans for a second term:
“Screwing over workers.”
“Michiganders need to look past Trump’s lies and understand the truth. Trump was one of the most anti-worker, anti-union presidents we’ve ever had,” Walker said during a recent press conference. “His agenda is wrong for workers, wrong for our economy, and wrong for Michigan.”
@gandernewsroom Dwayne Walker, president of United Auto Workers Local 900 in Wayne, thinks ex-President Donald Trump is “one of the most anti-worker, anti-union president’s we’ve ever had.” And during a recent press conference, Walker summed up Trump’s second-term agenda with three words: Screwing. Over. Workers.
The UAW, which represents more than 1.1 million other active and retired auto workers, is among several dozen major labor unions that have thrown their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, ahead of this year’s election.
For Walker and his fellow autoworkers, this year’s election is about protecting their livelihoods and the future of American automotive manufacturing. Putting Trump back into office, given his lengthy record of embracing so many anti-worker policies, would simply be too risky, he said.
“Trump said he was going to protect our jobs. Michigan lost thousands of auto jobs under his watch as President. Donald Trump also told us he wouldn’t allow factories to shut down and what happened? Factories closed their doors—including in Michigan,” Walker said.
‘A Comprehensive Vision for America’
In recent months, Harris has picked up where President Joe Biden left off on the campaign trail in racking up widespread support from just about every major labor union across the country.
That includes hundreds of labor unions who collectively represent tens of millions of active and retired teachers, nurses, plumbers, postal, electrical and steel workers, painters, and carpenters, among others, both in the state of Michigan and across the United States.
This week, Michigan Teamsters Joint Council No. 43, which represents another 245,000 active and retired Michigan workers, also announced its endorsement for Harris—namely because of the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to enacting pro-worker policies to uplift the middle class, raise wages, and protect pensions, as well as healthcare and Social Security benefits.
“I have seen firsthand the positive impact of these policies in Michigan, where strong labor advocacy has made a real difference in the lives of workers,” Council President Kevin Moore said in a statement. “The Harris-Walz ticket offers a comprehensive vision for America—one that not only prioritizes economic fairness but also stands steadfastly by our nation’s workers.”
And in a series of interviews over the last several weeks, union workers from a wide range of industries said they’re holding the line for Harris this year—and sounding an alarm over what another Trump presidency could mean for working families, as well as the state’s economy.
‘Good for the Middle Class’
During a recent press conference, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor compared Harris’ record on economic policy to Trump’s tenure—and said the stark contrast speaks largely for itself.
“Vice President Harris has done much more for Michigan’s economy than Donald Trump ever did,” Schor said. “We’ve all watched as tens of billions of new investments across the country, including billions here in Michigan. … These investments have made a real difference.”
@gandernewsroom Lansing Mayor Andy Schor is standing behind Vice President Kamala Harris and her 100-day plan to lower housing, food, and childcare costs for Michiganders. Read more: https://gandernewsroom.com/2024/08/16/harris-plans-lower-costs/
Over the last four years, the Biden-Harris administration has worked to expand and raise standards in both manufacturing and construction—as well as steered into law legislation (like the Inflation Reduction Act) to invest billions of dollars into both infrastructure and clean energy.
The Inflation Reduction Act alone has fueled $92 billion in clean energy investments across the United States and created at least 84,000 manufacturing jobs—including $27 billion in funding to help support the creation of 22,000 jobs in Michigan. In all, the Biden-Harris administration has overseen the creation of more than 16 million jobs in the US since taking office.
That includes 420,000 new jobs in Michigan, with about 24,000 new jobs in manufacturing.
“The best part is that we are just getting started,” US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told an auditorium full of union plumbers and pipefitters during a conference in Ann Arbor last month.
@gandernewsroom Granholm in 2009: Where are we going to find jobs for all these people? Granholm in 2024: Where are we going to find people for all these jobs? Read more about how federal clean energy investments are keeping union workers at the heart of Michigan’s clean energy boom: Click the 🔗 in our bio for more on this story.
Under federal law, of course, non-union companies cannot be precluded from applying for federal grants and loans for clean energy, so not all of the companies that have received them are unionized. But the Biden-Harris administration has still tilted the federal selection process in favor of union labor—namely by requiring those projects to include exceptionally strong labor standards, which include labor agreements to ensure all workers are paid at competitive rates.
As a direct result, interest in the skilled trades—and union membership—has been growing, according to Pat Develin, secretary-treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, which has also thrown its support behind the Harris-Walz ticket ahead of Election Day.
“I think it’s pretty clear cut what party or what candidate is for the people,” Develin said. “And I think we’re in a pivotal state of what we want this country to be and what it could become.”
@gandernewsroom Michigan’s union workers gave Donald Trump a chance to enact meaningful policies to help working families—but “nothing” got done, said Pat Develin, secretary treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council.
As Vice President of what has been touted as the country’s “most pro-union administration,” Harris also worked with unions to pass the Butch Lewis Act, which protected the pensions of more than 1 million retired union workers to date, including 61,000 retirees in Michigan.
“Kamala Harris says she’s going to be that person helping keep on supporting the middle class. And the thing about the middle class is we’re not trying to keep anybody down,” said Felicia Wiseman, an organizer for IBEW Local 58 in Detroit. “I think their policies are good for us. I think they’re good for growth, good for our industry, and good for our middle class as a whole.’
‘Rolling Back All the Progress’
During Trump’s time in the White House, Michigan lost about 280,000 jobs, data shows. And this week, when Trump was asked about the greatest threat to manufacturing in Michigan and what he would do to support workers as president, he talked about nuclear weapons.
For Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber, Trump simply doesn’t have a record to stand on.
“Trump failed our economy and he failed Michigan workers again and again,” Bieber said during a recent press conference. “A second Trump term will mean even more jobs lost and rolling back all the progress we’ve made over the last four years. We’ve come too far, and as the saying goes, we’re not going back. So, that’s why union members across Michigan are speaking out and putting in the work to make sure that Michigan votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
While on the campaign trail, Trump has sought to refashion his record and image as being a pro-worker candidate—one that wants to protect American labor. But Trump’s actual record on workers undercuts his stump speeches and his claims of being a populist, pro-worker candidate.
Leading up to the 2016 election, Trump routinely tweeted about “draining the swamp” of governmental influence from lobbyists. But in 2019, he appointed a labor secretary with a lengthy record of representing corporate interests and fighting against labor unions.
“This is the first time in years I actually care about voting,” Tony Johnson, a union electrician in Flint, told The ‘Gander. “I see myself voting for the person who helps my family. … I’ve seen and heard a lot about the Trump administration and I just do not sense a person that cares about the actual American person, the middle class, lower person who’s trying to better himself.”
Trump’s appointees to the National Labor Relations Board—which exists solely to encourage collective bargaining between unions and companies and ensure workers’ right to organize is not violated—also rolled back several union-friendly rules that had been in place for years.
And during his time in the White House, Trump personally embraced numerous anti-worker policies, including a proposal to slash millions of dollars from the Labor Department’s annual budget, which would’ve stifled its ability to enforce workforce protections across the country.
Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a bill to repeal the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan—though it’s gone nowhere with a Democratic-controlled Senate and White House—and Trump has also promised to begin peeling back those clean energy investments on “Day 1.” Additionally, Project 2025 details plans to repeal both the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under a second Trump presidency—which threatens to eliminate tens of thousands of union jobs nationwide.
“He’s going to cut these programs that are funding the job that you’re working on,” Wiseman said. “Why would you support somebody who’s trying to affect your livelihood like that? … He’s trying to take all that away from you, and his plan that he has doesn’t include you.”
Harris, on the other hand, has vowed to build on the Biden-Harris administration’s goals of building out American supply chains and creating more opportunities for middle class workers—including by expanding union apprenticeship programs nationwide.
And according to union leaders, federal investments and Harris’ focus on building up—rather than tearing down—the middle class won’t be lost on Michigan’s workforce on Election Day.
“The contrast between the two candidates could not be clear,” Bieber added. “Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will build a brighter, more hopeful future where everyone will have a chance to not just get by, but to get ahead. … When we elect her this November, she’ll keep delivering for working families everywhere. Unlike Donald Trump, Kamala Harris doesn’t just make promises, she delivers on them. She’s a fighter for working people in the middle class.”
And even for Michiganders who aren’t part of a labor union, workers say that continued support for middle class families under the Harris-Walz administration—rather than more tax breaks for the wealthy under Trump—will still have a ripple effect in local communities statewide.
“Other businesses benefit from us when we’re working. If I’m working in a neighborhood, I’m working in an area, I take my money and I shop at your store, I buy at your restaurant at lunchtime, I don’t take my money and take it back to a different state,” Wiseman said. “So those things can have a ripple effect. … So yes, it is helping. It’s helping the economy.”
READ MORE: Federal investments put union workers at heart of clean energy boom
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