DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United Auto Workers union endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for U.S. president on Wednesday, boosting Harris in the swing state of Michigan as her recently launched campaign ramps up.
UAW President Shawn Fain, who spoke by phone last week with Harris, praised the vice president’s record “of delivering for the working class” and said she “will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed.”
The 370,000-member UAW said its executive board voted to endorse her after endorsing President Joe Biden’s reelection bid in January. Biden withdrew from the race on July 21.
Many UAW members live and work in Michigan, where the union is based. Both Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump have made campaign appearances there.
Prior to Biden ending his reelection bid, Reuters reported that the UAW’s executive board met to discuss concerns about his ability to beat Trump.
Fain has criticized Trump for months, telling a conference in Baltimore, Maryland, earlier this month that “it’s clear that Donald Trump in the White House would be a complete disaster for the working class.”
Trump returned barbs at Fain at this month’s Republican National Convention, calling for the union chief to be “fired immediately.” Trump said the auto union failed to prevent Chinese automakers from building large auto factories in Mexico to ship products to the U.S.
While the UAW has traditionally endorsed Democratic candidates, it forged an even deeper relationship with Biden when he became the first sitting president to walk a picket line in Detroit last September during a six-week strike against Ford Motor, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis.
The UAW won record deals after the walkout, including a 25% wage increase over the life of the contract and the return of cost-of-living adjustments.
Other prominent unions have switched their endorsements from Biden to Harris, but some have been slower to do so. The Teamsters, which represents 1.3 million workers in several industries, including packing and shipping, has not made an endorsement.
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention but offered no endorsement of Trump. A Teamsters spokesperson said this week the union has invited Harris to meet with the union but received no response.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Nora Eckert in DetroitAdditional reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington/Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
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