Former President Donald Trump and other 2024 Republican presidential candidates are taking different approaches to labor unions during a major strike, with the field mostly unified in attributing blame to President Joe Biden‘s economic and energy policies.
Last week, the United Auto Workers began a targeted strike with 13,000 members of the Big Three automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.
UAW STRIKE: SHAWN FAIN GIVES NEW DEADLINE BEFORE MORE UNION WORKERS WALK OUT ON JOBS
Trump is using the strike as an opportunity to court autoworkers in the Midwest, placing blame on the Biden administration for the current ordeal. On Sept. 27, the former president will reportedly skip the second Republican debate in favor of speaking to current and former UAW members in Detroit, Michigan.
Ahead of the strike, Trump claimed in a statement, “No president has ever fought harder for autoworkers than President Trump. Time after time, I rescued the U.S. auto industry from certain destruction: Withdrawing from TPP, overhauling the Korea deal to restore the protective tariff on pickup trucks, canceling Obama’s job-killing CAFE rules, and replacing NAFTA with the USMCA while insisting on unprecedented protections for American labor, and American autoworkers in particular.”
He added that Biden “sold you out to appease the environmental extremists in his party. Do not surrender! Stand strong against Biden’s vicious attack on American labor and American autoworkers.” Promising “more jobs, higher wages, and soaring pensions,” he encouraged union members to vote for him and request their leaders to endorse him.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), notably from a right-to-work state, was more critical of the unions and their close ties to Democrats. According to the senator, “Certainly [Biden] has been leased by the unions.” He reminded voters during a campaign event of Biden’s hallmark American Rescue Plan in 2021. Scott noted, “It had $86 billion, I believe, for union pensions.”
As Scott pointed out the measure did offer $86 billion in grants that struggling multi-employer pension plans could apply for in order to ensure that union workers received their benefits.
“They promise too much, deliver too little, and the taxpayers pick up the tab,” he said of deals made between unions and employers.
The South Carolina Republican promised “to stop reshoring pension plans that are failing in the private sector because the deal makers make unrealistic promises.”
When a voter asked Scott if he would insert himself in labor talks as president in any capacity, he began by recalling that “Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were gonna strike. He said you strike, you’re fired.”
The candidate was referring to former President Ronald Reagan’s choice to fire more than 11,000 federal workers in 1981 who did not return to work when ordered to. Prior to this, roughly 13,000 air traffic controllers had chosen to walk out after discussions with the Federal Aviation Administration fell apart.
“Simple concept to me to the extent that we could use that once again,” Scott said, discussing a potential federal strike. “Absolutely.”
Despite Trump’s efforts to pursue UAW votes, the union’s president, Shawn Fain, is not particularly excited about the reported visit. “Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” he said in a statement.
“We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class,” he added.
Upon hearing of Trump’s visit to the auto workers’ union, United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters General President Mark McManus released a statement. According to him, “When it comes to the bread and butter issues our members care about, fair wages, safe job sites, and the ability to retire with the dignity we earned, Donald Trump is just another fraud.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who often brands himself as a Reagan Republican, showed empathy for the striking UAW workers, without necessarily sounding off on unions. “I have no doubt in my mind that all those hard-working autoworkers are living in the same reality every other American is in, and that’s wages are not keeping up with inflation,” he said, connecting the struggle to Biden’s economic record.
Taking a similar approach, former biotech CEO Vivek Ramaswamy attributed the issues to Biden as well. He said UAW should actually be protesting the president, saying he understands their frustration.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) also pointed to Biden, specifically his energy policies, such as “electric vehicle mandates.” He said the companies would do better if they were allowed to produce what the market demanded and not what the Biden administration dictated.
While other candidates consistently invoke Reagan’s legacy, as he is still revered in the party, Trump’s attention paid to union workers mimics Reagan’s own efforts to secure their votes. When Trump won the 2016 presidential election, he saw some of the highest support from union households since Reagan’s elections in the 1980s.
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The voter bloc is even more critical in 2023’s political environment, in which white working-class voters have shifted to become a part of the Republican base, while their college-educated counterparts have become more Democratic. The realignment gives Republicans something of an advantage in wooing union worker votes, likely explaining Trump’s focus on the group.
But despite the Republican shift, Biden has been laser-focused on catering to unions and manufacturers throughout his term and the campaign season. And in pivotal states where manufacturing makes up a significant portion of the economy, like Wisconsin and Michigan, Biden and Trump are consistently neck and neck, setting up a close 2024 rematch if the two men are their parties’ nominees.
