UAW president on Trump: 'That's not someone who stands for a good standard of living' – Detroit News
As heated Detroit auto contract talks collide with the 2024 presidential election, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Wednesday pushed back on Donald Trump’s appeal to autoworkers — without naming the former president who is vying for another term.
Asked on CNBC’s “Last Call” by host Brian Sullivan about the UAW so far withholding its endorsement for president, Fain reiterated that despite the union’s longstanding backing of Democrats, the stance under his leadership is that “endorsements are earned, not freely given. And actions are going to dictate who we endorse.”
Fain then referred to recent comments Trump directed at autoworkers, without naming the former president: “He was on the air the other day encouraging people to stop paying union dues. That’s not someone who stands for a good standard of living.”
The UAW’s contracts with Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14. Fain has said the union is prepared to strike any of the automakers if new agreements haven’t been reached by the deadline. Negotiations are ongoing with all three. GM is slated to present a counter proposal to the union Thursday; Stellantis plans to give the union a response to its demands later this week; and talks with Ford on economic proposals continue.
Trump, in a video posted on social media on Monday, made a pitch to autoworkers.
“What’s happening to our autoworkers is an absolute disgrace and an outrage beyond belief. Autoworkers are getting totally ripped off by Crooked Joe Biden and also their horrendous leadership,” he said.
Trump went on to criticize the auto industry’s burgeoning shift to electric vehicles, which is being backed by massive federal incentives and subsidies as a key piece of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda on jobs, manufacturing and climate change. In addition to bashing Biden, Trump also criticized the union’s leadership but claimed he has support from UAW members. He urged members not to pay union dues “because they’re selling you to hell” and vowed to “deliver higher wages for autoworkers” and to protect jobs.”So vote for Republicans but vote for Trump,” he said. “Because if we don’t win this election, our country, not only in terms of autoworkers, our country will go to hell.
Fain on Wednesday referenced comments Trump made during his 2016 election campaign.
“I’ll never forget, leading up to the (2016) election, that candidate talking about doing a rotation where they need to come to places like Michigan and the Midwest, and send our jobs somewhere else where they pay less money and make us be begging for our jobs down the road,” he said. “That’s not something that works for working-class people, and sure as hell not for UAW workers,”
Trump in 2015, while vying for the presidency, disclosed in an interview with The Detroit News that he had suggested moving some car production out of Michigan.
At the time, Trump said that then-Ford CEO Mark Fields had written to him about a planned investment in Mexico. Trump suggested that one way to stop automakers’ expansion to Mexico would be to move some production out of Michigan to lower-wage states, The News reported. Ford in 2017 canceled plans to establish a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico.
Meanwhile, asked whether an auto strike could “embarrass” Biden, who is seeking re-election, Fain responded that he did not believe so: “I think a strike can reaffirm to him where the working-class people in this country stand. And it’s time for politicians in this country to pick a side. Either you stand for a billionaire class where everybody else gets left behind, or you stand for the working class. The working-class people vote.”
Earlier this week, Fain told The News he was “shocked” at Biden’s assertion that an auto strike is unlikely. Biden told reporters that he was “not worried about a strike until it happens. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
“He must know something we don’t know,” Fain said Monday. “Our intent is not to strike. Our intent is to get a fair agreement. That’s been our intent from Day One. But as we get down to the wire here, there’s three companies to bargain with and there’s 10 days left to do it. So I know what it looks like to me.”
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
Kalea Hall contributed.