Biden meets with United Auto Workers president while group withholds 2024 endorsement
President Biden on Wednesday met with United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain to discuss contract negotiations with automakers, while the union is currently withholding its endorsement of Biden’s reelection bid.
The UAW leadership had asked for an opportunity to brief White House senior staff on their analysis and positions related to the negotiations with the top U.S. automakers, known as the Big Three.
When Biden learned about that meeting in the West Wing, he asked to also talk directly with Fain and the two of them had a short meeting, a White House official said.
The union’s worker contracts expire in September, and Fain has warned automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, formerly Chrysler, that the union is prepared to strike over negotiations about cost-of-living pay raises, pensions and other issues.
Meanwhile, the union said in May it won’t endorse Biden yet due to concerns over the White House’s focus on electric vehicles. The president has directed major funding towards a transition to EVs, building up manufacturing of parts and charging stations.
Fain said at the time that UAW wants to see a “just transition” to EVs “where the workers who make the auto industry run aren’t left behind.” He noted that taxpayer money is being used to build up the electric vehicle industry.
The union has historically backed Democrats and endorsed Biden in 2020. Fain has made clear the union is not going to support former President Trump.
Other major unions have backed Biden’s reelection bid already, including the AFL-CIO, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the American Federation of Teachers, among others.
Plumbers union endorses Biden reelection bid
The top plumbers union endorsed President Biden’s reelection bid on Wednesday, adding to the list of big labor organizations that have supported the president again this cycle.
The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA), which represents about 366,000 plumbers, pipefitters and welders, announced its endorsement earlier than it announced in the 2020 cycle.
“The Biden Harris Administration has provided economic opportunity for all United Association members — meaning our members have a fair shot at working family-sustaining jobs while building the future of American infrastructure,” UA general president Mark McManus said in a statement.
The group pointed to Biden’s policies, such as replacing lead service lines, building semiconductor manufacturing facilities and permitting reform, as reasons they wanted to endorse.
UA released a nationwide ad campaign announcing the endorsement, which was backed by a nearly $1 million buy and will run nationwide for four weeks, then only in battleground states for another four weeks.
“This endorsement highlights the groundswell of support we have seen from across the organized labor movement,” Julie Chávez Rodriguez, Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager, said in a statement. “That’s because Joe Biden is the most pro-labor president in history — making historic investments in our country’s manufacturing and fighting for our workers.”
Biden’s reelection campaign was endorsed by AFL-CIO in June, along with more than a dozen other unions — like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Nurses United and the American Federation of Government Employees.
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) also endorsed Biden earlier in June, citing the infrastructure law as an accomplishment of the administration.
“The unprecedented show of support from labor this early in the campaign unlocks the movement’s powerful organizing abilities and resources to help show how President Biden is delivering more jobs, more manufacturing, and lower costs for American families,” Rodriguez said.
But the president hasn’t had all good luck with unions this cycle. The United Auto Workers union in May said it would hold back from an endorsement, citing concerns over the White House’s focus on electric vehicles.
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