Biden is endorsed by the United Auto Workers
President Joe Biden picked up an endorsement from the United Auto Workers union Wednesday, an important boost to the Democratic president's reelection bid as he pushes to sway bluecollar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.
“I'm honored to have your back and you have mine,” Biden said to the cheering crowd. “That's the deal.” Biden spoke as the union closed out a threeday gathering in Washington to chart its political priorities.
The event follows Tuesday's primary vote in New Hampshire, where Republican front-runner Donald Trump cemented his hold on core Republican voters with a victory and Biden scored a write-in win.
Biden has long billed himself as the most laborfriendly leader in American history, and went so far as to turn up on a picket line with union workers at a GM parts warehouse in the Detroit area during a strike last fall.
The president is hoping to cut into the advantage that Trump has enjoyed with white voters who don't have a college degree. Labor experts said that the UAW usually endorses candidates later as it has a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.
“The days of working people being dealt out of a deal are over in this country as long as I'm president,” Biden told the crowd.
“I want to say to all of you thank you, thank you. I could not be more prou,.” he said.
Union president Shawn Fain had demurred even earlier this week, but on Wednesday said Biden had earned the endorsement, contrasting what he said was the president's obvious support with Trump's trash talk and anti-union stance.
“He heard the call and he stood up and he showed up,” Fain said of Biden's historic picket line appearance.
But when UAW went on strike against GM in 2019, Trump, then president, was silent.
“He said nothing. He did nothing. Not a damn thing because he doesn't care about the American worker,” Fain said.
Fain called Trump a “scab,” a derogatory term for workers who cross union picket lines and work during a strike.
“This November we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause, or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way. That's what this choice is about,” Fain said.
Among union members, support for Biden has varied from enthusiastic to uncertainty about whether to even vote come Election Day.
Caroline Loveless, a Waterloo, Iowa, resident and retired UAW member, said she would enthusiastically vote for Biden, recalling his appearance on a picket line during last fall's strike.
She said his appearance should remind union members that Biden is on their side.
“I hope they don't get amnesia,” Loveless said, “come Election Day.”