Early endorsements

It’s been an interesting year for the labor movement across the globe. No less so in America. While the number of American workers covered by union contracts has gone up slightly, their percentage of the workforce has gone down slightly.

The nation’s autoworkers, represented by the United Auto Workers union, won major concessions in negotiations with the Big 3 automakers— which raised pay, pensions and other benefits.

By about any standard, unions have flexed their muscle across the board, even at Starbucks. As a result, unions have begun looking to make inroads in right-to-work states like Arkansas.

Last week, the UAW and its 380,000 members gave their endorsement to President Joe Biden in this year’s November elections, three months earlier than he received it in 2020. President Biden didn’t receive the UAW endorsement until April 21 that year.

Democrats nearly always get endorsed by labor. The UAW endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in both of his successful bids for the White House.

Despite the endorsement, according to the papers, union member support has varied between enthusiastic to uncertainty about even voting on election day.

It’s possible that President Biden could run into dissent over his support for Israel in its war on Hamas as some younger members of the unions say they are less enthusiastic about the president for that very reason. Will that make a difference in the upcoming? Not clear.

However, one thing is clear. Given the critical nature of swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin, the UAW will undoubtedly remind its members about the endorsement right up to election day.