‘Donald Trump is a scab,’ says UAW president Shawn Fain

BY LAUREN IRWIN - 01/24/24 

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain slammed former President Trump in a Wednesday speech announcing the union’s endorsement of President Biden, calling the Republican front-runner “a scab.”

“Donald Trump is a scab,” Fain said, prompting applause from union members. “Donald Trump is a billionaire and that is who he represents. If Donald Trump ever worked in an auto plant, he wouldn’t be a UAW member, he would be a company man trying to squeeze the American worker.”

“Donald Trump stands against everything we stand for as a union, as a society,” Fain continued. “When you go back to our core issues, wages, retirement, health care and our time, that’s what this election is about.”

Fain announced the union’s support for Biden at a conference in Washington, D.C., as he introduced the president to deliver remarks. He cited Biden’s solidarity with the UAW during its recent strike against major automakers.

“This election is about who will stand up with us and who will stand in our way,” Fain said of a likely 2020 presidential rematch between Biden and Trump.

“Those are the questions that will win or lose this election and will decide our fate,” he said. “Those are the questions that will determine the future of our country and the fate of the working class.”

In his announcement, Fain pointed to several examples dating back to the 2007-08 recession in which Biden stood with autoworkers. He also slammed Trump’s criticisms of the union.

The UAW previously withheld its endorsement from Biden despite historically supporting Democratic candidates and previously endorsing him in 2020. Fain had voiced concerns about the Biden administration in the past over its policies regarding electric vehicles.

Biden joined UAW workers on the picket line after they walked out on the three major U.S. automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — last fall. He has dubbed himself the “most pro-union president” in history.

In September, Trump skipped out on the second GOP primary debate and instead joined the striking autoworkers in Detroit in hopes of appealing to union workers, who are critical to Biden’s voting base.

United Auto Workers endorse Biden; union president calls Trump a 'scab'

"Who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning?"

By Alexandra Hutzler

ABC
January 24, 2024

Biden joins UAW president on picket line

"Companies are doing incredibly well and you should be doing incredibly well too," President Joe Biden...

President Joe Biden received a key 2024 endorsement on Wednesday from the United Auto Workers, with the union's president using the occasion to savage Biden's likely general election opponent, Donald Trump.

Shawn Fain announced UAW's support for Biden's reelection bid at their biannual conference in Washington, D.C.

"I know there's some people that want to ignore this election," Fain said. "They don't want to have anything to do with politics. Other people want to argue endlessly about the latest headline or scandal or stupid quote. Elections aren't about just taking your best friend for the job or the candidate who makes you feel good. Elections are about power."

The backing of the Michigan-based UAW, with more than 400,000 members, could give Biden an edge in a key battleground state that has helped determine the last two political elections. He won Michigan by about 150,000 votes in 2020; Trump won it by about 10,000 votes four years earlier.

Biden also won the group’s endorsement in 2020, and it backed Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.

But Trump was successful in battlegrounds like Michigan and Ohio in that election cycle in part because of his ability to attract more union support than past GOP candidates: The UAW said at the time it believed one in four of its members likely voted for Trump based on surveys.

"The question is, who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning?" Fain said on Wednesday. "Who gives us the best shot of organizing? Who gives us the best shot of negotiating strong contracts? Who gives us the best shot of uniting the working class and winning our fair share once again?"

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, speaks at the United Auto Workers conference 
Bloomberg via Getty Images

Biden, who has increasingly been gearing in public to face Trump in the general election, also delivered remarks. He thanked the union for its support and praised members for inspiring the labor movement with its strike last year against the Big Three auto makers.

"Let me just say, I'm honored to have your back and you have mine, that's the deal," Biden said. "It comes down to seeing the world the same way, it's not complicated."

Fain cast the 2024 race as a choice between Biden and Trump and didn't mince words in his criticism of the former president. He specifically took issue with Trump's handling of the union's 2019 strike, arguing that Trump didn't do a "damn thing" while UAW members confronted General Motors at plants across the U.S.

"Donald Trump is a scab," Fain said. "Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that's who he represents. If Donald Trump ever worked in auto plant, he wouldn't be a UAW member -- he'd be a company man trying to squeeze the American worker."

Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Fain's remarks, though Trump has previously dismissed Biden's record on unions

MORE: Biden and Trump focus on wooing union workers, underlining their swing state power: Experts




Last year, Biden joined UAW members striking in Michigan against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis on the picket line in a historic show of support for workers amid their contract negotiations with the auto giants for better wages and conditions.

"If our endorsements must be earned, Joe Biden has earned it," Fain said on Wednesday.

Biden, who has touted himself as the most "pro-union" president, told members that union workers are central to his economic vision to build the economy from the middle out and bottom up.

"Together, we're proving what I've always believed," Biden said. "Wall Street didn't build America, the middle class built America and unions built the middle class."

He continued, "As long as I’m president, the working people are gonna get their fair share. ... You deserve it."

President Joe Biden speaks during a United Auto Workers' political convention in Washington D.C., Jan. 24, 2024.
Alex Brandon/AP

Trump, too, visited Michigan last September just a day after Biden to try to woo auto workers and union members. He delivered a speech at a non-unionized plant.

In that speech, Trump repeated his pitch for economic nationalism, calling himself the only candidate who wants to protect American labor -- which was a key pledge in his previous campaigns.

He also attacked Biden for the federal government's environmental regulation push on tailpipe pollution, which would encourage more electric vehicle manufacturing -- while also raising the concerns of auto workers like those in the UAW. Biden has said he wants to invest in the auto industry to spur more electric vehicle use to address climate change.

Trump took a darker view.

"You're all on picket lines and everything, but it doesn't make a damn bit of difference what you get because in two years -- you're all going to be out of business," he said in September. "You're not getting anything. What they're doing to the auto industry in Michigan and throughout the country is absolutely horrible and ridiculous."

ABC News' Lalee Ibssa and Soo Rin Kim contributed to this report.

The UAW Is Now a Chief Antagonist of Donald Trump

An all-out war has now developed between the Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, and one of the country’s most visible and increasingly militant unions, the UAW.

By Alex N. Press

August 18, 2024

Source: Jacobin




When Elon Musk hosted a conversation with Donald Trump on Monday night using X/Twitter’s “spaces” tool, which allows users to broadcast a discussion, the Republican presidential candidate strayed into legally tenuous territory while praising his fellow billionaire.

Calling the tech figure a “great cutter” of jobs — Musk laid off more than half of X/Twitter’s staff after purchasing the social-media platform in 2022 — Trump then expanded on the subject.

“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike; I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So every one of you is gone.’” Musk laughed before quickly redirecting the conversation.

Those comments are now the basis of an unfair labor practice (ULP) allegation by the United Auto Workers (UAW), which filed the complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) shortly after the conversation. Strikes are legally protected concerted activity, and workers cannot be replaced for engaging in such action. That’s the basis for the union’s filing, which alleges that the comments constitute “illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves,” per a UAW press release that refers to the duo as “disgraced billionaires.” The union argues that the exchange suggests to workers at his companies that he would fire them should they engage in protected concerted activity, including striking — constituting illegal coercion.

The UAW’s filing is the latest volley in what has become an all-out war between the Republicans’ presidential candidate and one of the country’s most visible and increasingly militant unions. Shawn Fain, the union’s recently elected international leader, has repeatedly referred to Trump as a “scab,” citing the real-estate mogul’s history of crossing picket lines and stiffing workers employed on his development projects.

“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said Fain. “Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”

Which Side Are You On?

When Fain announced in January that the union would endorse Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy before the incumbent dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in his stead, he called Trump a “scab.” It wasn’t the first time he has referred to the former president that way, nor would it be the last. In a UAW video posted on social media following Trump’s conversation with Musk this week, the union repeated the descriptor, stating, “He’s for the billionaires. Not for you. Donald Trump is a scab.”

The criticism is getting under Trump’s skin: in recent months, the former president has mentioned Fain in nearly every one of his public speeches. During his speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) last month, the former president called for Fain to be “fired.” No matter that Fain is an elected leader and thus cannot be fired; that’s beyond the understanding of a man whose catchphrase is that of a boss obsessed with exerting dominance over workers: “You’re fired.”

Fain is a real thorn in the side for Trump. Not only do he and the UAW members he represents support a transition to electric vehicles (EV), a major problem for a GOP that seeks to halt the EV transition; they’ve also endorsed Harris and her VP candidate, former union member and current Minnesota governor Tim Walz, in the election. The union’s members represent a key voter bloc in swing states like Michigan: according to the UAW, its members accounted for a significant portion of Biden’s vote in the state in 2020.

The UAW’s opposition to the Republican ticket isn’t just a problem in raw voter numbers; it’s also a publicity nightmare for a party that is trying to rebrand itself as pro-worker, even as its policy priorities remain as anti-worker and anti-union as ever. Fain’s willingness to challenge that lie is not easily overcome — even if Fain’s counterpart, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) president Sean O’Brien, has at times been willing to give the party the time of day.

There’s a clear difference in Fain and O’Brien’s approach to political education and action: both union leaders have a sizable number of Trump voters among their membership, but the former has proven far more willing to explain the threat Trump poses to union membership. That difference is rooted in Fain’s membership in a reform caucus focused on greater rank-and-file democracy and control, both in the union and in the hours of one’s life. The UAW leader has described the union’s core issues as a living wage for all, retirement security, taking workers’ time back, and adequate health care for all as a right. Conservatives are inexorably opposed to those aims, which means that if Fain and his fellow reformers want to advance their project — to fight for the entire working class, as he often puts it — they must take on the political figures standing in their way, Trump foremost among them.

However, Trump’s comments on Monday went far enough that O’Brien too denounced them, telling Politico, “Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism.” The Teamsters’ black caucus has now endorsed Harris’s candidacy, though the union itself has not yet endorsed any candidate. The AFL-CIO too joined in the criticism, writing of Trump’s comments on Monday night, “Scab recognize scab.”

The UAW also wants to unionize EV plants, including the ones Musk owns. While GOP leaders claim to want to build new factories inside the United States, they are almost uniformly silent as to the quality of the jobs they are proposing, as if such jobs are inherently good — rather than made good, with decent pay and benefits, through unionization.

Musk, for his part, has aggressively opposed unionization efforts among his workforce at Tesla, which has engaged in several attempts to join the UAW in and is now in the early stages of another such campaign. The NLRB filed a complaint against Musk earlier this year, accusing the employer of illegally restricting Tesla workers’ access to technology in a Buffalo, New York, plant (allegations he has denied); while Trump did not specify what he was referring to in his praise for Musk’s retaliation against workers who organize, it’s possible he had the events at the Buffalo plant in mind. (The board also found Musk illegally fired a Tesla worker for organizing in 2021). Anti-union animus appears to be a clear motivating factor in Musk’s decision to build out his future operations in right-to-work states like Texas and Nevada.

That disdain for unionization makes Trump and Musk, despite their differences regarding EVs, comfortable bedfellows. Musk is also leading an attack on the constitutionality of the NLRB itself through a case concerning SpaceX’s firing of nine employees in 2022, which the billionaire hopes to appeal to a sympathetic Supreme Court that will then rule the NLRB’s enforcement structure to be in violation of the Constitution, defanging the regulatory body that is a thorn in the side of employers. Musk has endorsed Trump’s candidacy and is purportedly, as mentioned by Fain, supporting it to the tune of $45 million per month via America PAC, a new super PAC whose other backers include Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale. Trump has long been a fan of the Tesla founder, describing him in 2020 as “one of our great geniuses.”

“They thumb their nose at labor law, and there has got to come a reckoning in this country where the billionaires and the corporate class and employers are held accountable when they break the law,” Fain said when asked on CNN about the union’s decision to file charges against Trump and Musk.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign called the union’s charges a “shameless political stunt intended to erode” the former president’s support from US workers. Musk took to Twitter to speculate that Fain will end up in prison.

It’s always been clear that Trump, who has promised CEOs that he will lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent if elected — he described a recent meeting with seventy of the country’s most powerful corporate bosses as a “lovefest” — couldn’t care less about working-class people, either at home or abroad. But it’s nice that he offered such an unambiguous reminder to anyone taking in by his party’s desperate attempts to disguise that fact. Whether the charges stick or not — it’s likely the union would have to prove Trump was speaking on Musk’s behalf — it’s about time we had unions fighting back against the most ruthless propagators of America’s class war on the side of capital.

Kamala Harris, Trump’s Voters, and Shawn Fain

By Michael Albert

July 22, 2024

Source: Originally published by Z. Feel free to share widely.




Biden bids adieu. Anoints Vice President Harris. What next? In particular, who runs to become the next Vice President? How can anyone who has endured the last few weeks (months, years, decades?) even guess at that, much less offer a serious plausible proposal for that? Well, I think I can.

What was the final cause of Biden’s decision? We can only guess but I would bet the big donors and a few Party power brokers—read Pelosi and Obama—finally said enough is enough. But regardless, who now rums?

Barring some kind of perversity or miracle, I think it will be Kamala Harris. She has Biden’s support. She can be an overwhelming or even unanimous choice to avoid a contentious convention. She can fight and debate. A prosecutor for a felon. And for kickers Harris can access funds that were raised for Biden and that others can’t access. But there arises another question. Who runs along with Harris? Who does Harris and the convention settle on to become Vice President?

For that calculation, the key point is to beat Trump and Vance. So I hope they settle on someone who can inject some real excitement, some real hope. Someone who is not a political insider but is also not a ridiculous transplant from an entirely unrelated domain. So not a politician. Not an actor. Not a singer. Not an athlete. Not even a TV talk show star. Okay, maybe Jon Stewart, I guess. But who would I actually want?

My favorite is Shawn Fain, President of the UAW. To me, if the aim is to beat Trump, this pick is obvious. Peel off much of Trump’s working class support. Election over. Arouse an incredible army of volunteers. Double over. Show Vance who the real deal working class hero is. Triply over. Midwest strength and how about if as a bonus, at the optimistic edge, Fain brings along with himself million worker Harris/Fain marches in New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, phoenix, Houston, Birmingham, Augusta, and Miami. Take that Trump. Time for you to weep. And Trump voters. Here is a reason for you to change teams. More on Fain at the end, below.

But why is beating Trump paramount? Well, if anyone reading this doesn’t already know, we could consider the Republican National Convention. Hulk Hogan? Hannibal Lector? Donald Trump? That isn’t parody. It is actuality. It is real farce. But for me the RNC farce raised still another question. How could anyone watch Trump’s convention, that flaunt farce him in our faces, center stage, no masquerade, star bright, and still decide support Donald Trump?

Does it give you a headache to consider my question about Trump’s voters? Do you suffer sleeplessness if you mull “why” so many of your fellow Americans support Trump? It breaks my brain too. Crushes my heart too. So why ask why? Indeed why worry about why? Why not just ignore why Trump’s supporters support Trump? Why not just look away? Netflix calls. Olympics are imminent. Escape beckons. What, me worry? Not me. Less painful to look away.

But I do worry. Why do roughly half of U.S. voters still support Trump. I understand and I too feel the inclination to look away. Nonetheless, I worry about how so many voters can visibly see what’s repeatedly flaunted before them, not to mention peruse Project 2025, and still support Trump.

I worry about that not solely because to Stop Trump it will help to know why so many voters support Trump. I also worry about it because beyond the election, to arrive at a fundamentally transformed society we cannot have half the voting population remain Trumpist. But to avoid having that, we have to successfully communicate with Trump’s voters. And successful communication will not happen while we have no notion why Trump’s voters feel as they do. Much less can we successfully communicate with Trump’s voters while we aggressively avoid Trump’s voters.

Sanders says that even just accounting for only one issue, global warming, no one in the U.S. should cast a vote for Trump. Drill baby drill is, even taken alone, disqualifying. “You are going to boil and drown me. I’d rather you lose.” But even beyond that, no one should believe Trump cares even a whit for other than the rich, and actually, plausibly, for other than himself. Okay, Sanders is absolutely right about all that. So we of course need to convincingly demonstrate Sanders’ two claims, and other similar ones, as well.

But at the same time, if we are going to be heard by Trump supporters, don’t we need to recognize that to offer such observations alone has been and will remain essentially irrelevant. Trump supporters will mostly not believe, mostly not register, mostly not even hear such communications. Or they will hear them only as lies to reject. They will discount or never register evidence regarding the dangers of Trump’s agenda if we who offer such evidence—whether we do it on late night TV to millions or at a bus stop or bar to one—don’t acknowledge why Trump’s supporters support Trump and don’t sincerely and respectfully address their warranted concerns.

So why do people support Trump? Don’t we who despise not just Trump but also what Trump is preparing to do as President via his Project 2025 need to know why Trump’s supporters support him despite the dangers to others and even to themselves if we are to effectively convey to them valid facts, figures, and implications? Well, wait a minute. Why? For what reason do we need to know their reasons?

The reason we need to know Trump’s voters reasons is that in a vacuum, which is to say absent shared compelling explanations of their reasons, anti-Trump voters will fill the explanation vacuum on the fly. And we know that the answer many will grab on the fly is that it’s because everyone who supports Trump is crazy. Or is out of this world racist, sexist, and authoritarian. Or is mind bogglingly greedy. Or whatever other vile characterization one finds comfortable as a summary—like, oh, perhaps everyone who supports Trump is deplorable.

We know it is undeniably easy for anti-Trump voters to think such thoughts. After all, if no one should rationally support Trump, doesn’t it follow that anyone who does support Trump has some perverse and irrational attribute causing their aberrant choice? And if irrational perversity is at work, then isn’t it reasonable for us to conclude that there is no point even trying to impact that?

No. My point is that our spontaneous answers tend to preclude effective communication with Trump’s supporters. Our spontaneous answers tend to lump all who support Trump into a single mass with common immutable motivations. We then see only an abyss. And we look away. But what if, albeit with some exceptions, our spontaneous answers are not dead end wrong?

“Some exceptions”? Who are the “some exceptions”? Who are the Trump supporters whose reasons for supporting him will remain until November and perhaps for a long time thereafter immutably, untouchable vile?

First, the seriously rich do indeed support Trump for clear and what are for them rationally warranted albeit horribly vile reasons. For example, Trump will lower their taxes. Trump will aid their efforts to obstruct unionization and to crush labor resistance. Trump will remove restrictions on their profit-seeking pursuits. No more pollution controls, no more workplace or product safety requirements, no more minimum wage, no more climate policy, and so on. Trump promises to fulfill every rich person’s wish list. Trump says drill baby drill. So the rich say, “go Donald.” Trump in absolute control? The rich say, “great. Donald is my guy” and pay his bills. Okay, we can’t budge their greedy minds. But on election day, in the tally, they are still at best a few percent of the population.

Second, truly grossly misogynist and/or racist voters support Trump also for clear and I guess in their clouded eyes rationally warranted reasons. Trump will not coddle women, Latins, immigrants, and Blacks. Trump will instead degrade, denigrate, deny, and deport or at least diminish all those and in that way he will elevate his supporters. Get control Donald, and then get them. You must be for me if you are against them. So “go Donald. You are my guy.” But how many voters are like this? I don’t know and neither do you, but I think it is not all that many.

Structural sexism and racism are still incredibly serious cancers of our society. But are they widely this personally strong, this personally overt, this personally aggressive, so that they individual people’s all other concerns? Even fear of fascism once one stares that in the eyes? Again I would estimate this just adds a few more percent to Trumps rock solid Election Day tally and then Trumpism’s on-going flock.

So, who else is in the unreachable base? Religious fundamentalists who seek a Christian nation and think Trump is saved so Trump can do or is doing God’s work so that for them Trump’s personal history is literally beside the point. He is God’s chosen one. “Go Donald. You are God’s guy so you are my guy too.” Are those reasons valid and immovably entrenched in the heads of religious fundamentalists? Even if they are, how many more voters does that add beyond the above two categories? Sum it all up. Is it even thirty percent of his voters? I think not.

The above says to me that it isn’t only undecideds at play in the coming election. I think it is also soft supporters on both sides. And who is soft support for Trump? It is people who have supported Trump because their friends are doing so and they don’t want any friction with their friends. It is people who have supported and even clung to Trump because they hated Biden, or they thought Biden was too weak or too old. Trump is more robust. Trump is tougher. It is people who supported Trump because he is entertaining and they feel that being entertaining is the only positive attribute either Trump or any candidate can have, so they will vote for the candidate with more entertainment sense and that is Trump. It is people who javelin thought Trump understands them. Trump is not an elitist asshole to avoid. Trump is a guy to have fun with. It is people who have thought Trump bullies the bad guys, but not us. Trump lies to the bad guys, but not to us. It is people who have thought Trump will shake up the government and, indeed, will shake up everything, and who have figured that the ensuing Trumpian chaos might lead to some good. After all, everything is certainly broken. Everything does deserve to be shaken up. None of that seems immutably unreachable to me.

And what resides behind all of that soft Trump support including from so many desperate white and now also some Black and Latin workers, and including from lots of lonely scared and impoverished people, and including even from millions of women?

We can see people who have very real grievances from economic hardship to oxycodone addiction and fentanyl death. People who have had their dignity trampled, their voice silenced. Plus a team, MAGA, that beckons them. A team which they receive some sense of efficacy from. A team which they receive a degree of, yes, camaraderie from. Which they receive a degree of, yes, solidarity from. A team whose members that look like them. A team that doesn’t dismiss, deny, and denigrate them, which the only other big team repeatedly does all day long and late night too. They see a MAGA team that they feel emboldened by. A MAGA team that they don’t want to leave. They feel some power in it, some efficacy.

Do we want to talk and act in ways that can weaken Trump’s support rather than to look away and ignore looming defeat until it snuffs out more lives and smothers more hope? If so, don’t we have to hear Trump’s supporters’ reasons. And don’t we have to listen to and really hear their either partially or probably more often than not entirely valid grievances? And don’t we have to acknowledge their feelings and then and only then ask, okay, but how does what Trump will deliver improve anything for you? There will be mostly and perhaps even entirely silence. If there are answers, you are communicating. Great. Converse more. Ask them how does each specific agenda item of Trump’s Project 2025 help you? Ask them specifically why various agenda items don’t hurt you. Demonstrate the truth. Conversation then progressing, ask why they think the Democrats’ plans to do so and so and to do such and such, accurately described, wouldn’t be helpful. And finally, when it won’t feel like slapping them upside their head, ask which is better, authoritarian fascism that squeezes and constricts populations unto death, or admittedly oppressive business as usual that we can, however, push to be better, even much better, to then seek still more gains?

You may need to counter all kinds of prejudices, biases, confusions, and sometimes even perverse values. It won’t be fun. To worry about this stuff may engender in you headaches and sleeplessness. But isn’t it necessary to do just that if we are to Stop Trump now and beyond November stop Trumpism and move toward a fundamentally better world?

Are the above observations and the derivative prescription seriously wrong? If so, please write to tell me why, so I don’t keep pounding out misguided words. Or is the above mostly right? If so, please don’t give up. Organize.

I said above that I would provide a bit more about Shawn Fain, my VP pick, to close this article. In Trump’s acceptance speech at the RNC he said the UAW should immediately fire Shawn Fain. The reason he offered was some blather about Chinese auto plants. Fain replied and I think his reply tells us a lot.

“Last night, Donald Trump once again attacked our union on a national stage. That should tell you everything you need to know about the man and the candidate. As we’ve said for many months, he stands for everything we stand against. Trump claims to be attacking us in the name of protecting American auto workers.

“So tell us why, when Lordstown closed in 2019, when Trump was President, and our members were on strike for 40 days, he said nothing and did nothing. Tell us why Trump pushed to move auto jobs out of Michigan to drive down wages.

“Tell us why Trump ‘renegotiated NAFTA’ for the disastrous USMCA, under which manufacturing jobs continue to leave the country and the trade deficit with Mexico has gone up, not down. Tell us why Trump blamed the 2008 auto crisis on the autoworkers. We’ll tell you why. Because Donald Trump always has and always will side with the billionaire class against the working class.

“Trump doesn’t want to protect American auto workers. He wants to pad the pockets of the ludicrously wealthy auto executives. He wants to cut the corporate tax rates of his golfing buddies and keep the stock buybacks and Wall Street manipulation going. He wants autoworkers to shut up and take scraps, not stand up and fight for more.

“Trump talks about the electric vehicle transition as the reason our industry is under threat. Our members don’t go to work every day because they’re passionate about combustion engines. It’s about our families and our communities getting our fair share of the record auto profits, electric or not. The threat we face is corporate greed run wild, and that’s what Donald Trump enables and celebrates.

“America’s autoworkers aren’t the problem. Our union isn’t the problem. The working class isn’t the problem. Corporate greed and the billionaires’ hero, mascot, and lapdog, Donald Trump, are the problem. Don’t get played by this scab billionaire. Stand up and fight for more.”

My reaction: Fain for Vice President and Harris-Fain will resoundingly defeat Trump-Vance.


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Michael Albert

Michael Albert`s radicalization occurred during the 1960s. His political involvements, starting then and continuing to the present, have ranged from local, regional, and national organizing projects and campaigns to co-founding South End Press, Z Magazine, the Z Media Institute, and ZNet, and to working on all these projects, writing for various publications and publishers, giving public talks, etc. His personal interests, outside the political realm, focus on general science reading (with an emphasis on physics, math, and matters of evolution and cognitive science), computers, mystery and thriller/adventure novels, sea kayaking, and the more sedentary but no less challenging game of GO. Albert is the author of 21 books which include: No Bosses: A New Economy for a Better World; Fanfare for the Future; Remembering Tomorrow; Realizing Hope; and Parecon: Life After Capitalism. Michael is currently host of the podcast Revolution Z and is a Friend of ZNetwork.

"TRUMP IS A SCAB"

UAW files federal labor complaint against Trump campaign over Elon Musk interview

Union launches assault against Trump campaign over his remarks on striking workers

John Bowden
Washington, DC
13/08/24

The United Auto Workers union launched a volley of attacks against the Trump campaign on Tuesday after the former president joined Elon Musk for a live interview on X Monday evening.

A statement from the union indicated that it had filed a complaint against Trump and Musk with the the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the two of intimidating workers with their comments in the interview about strikes.

The UAW’s X account also released a video Tuesday morning highlighting that segment of the interview, in which Trump described Musk supposedly firing a group of striking workers — though it was unclear whether he was referring to a real situation.

“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk, chuckling. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”

The Independent has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on the UAW’s labor complaint.

“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement accompanying the union’s press release on Tuesday.

Donald Trump is pictured participating in a live Twitter Spaces interview with CEO Elon Musk (Margo Martin/X/Reuters)

“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns,” his statement continued.

The AFL-CIO, another major union, seemed to agree: “Scab recognizes scab,” its X account posted Monday evening.

Fain has long been an outspoken critic of Trump’s, and the UAW’s latest action only further highlights the divide between two of America’s largest unions, the UAW and the Teamsters, whose president Sean O’Brien became the first organized labor leader to speak at a Republican convention when he did so in July.

O’Brien’s speech at the RNC lent credulity to the economic populist image that Trump has sought to recapture, particularly with his selection of Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate. Vance was the only Republican member of Congress to show up on the UAW’s picket line in 2023 during strike efforts that year. But these latest comments about strike actions, and the UAW’s efforts to publicize them, will undermine that image.

Vance has also been the target of criticism from Democrats over missing a vote to extend the child tax credit in the Senate as he has been on the road campaigning for Donald Trump in the past several weeks. On Monday evening, the Harris campaign trashed the Trump-Musk interview in a press release mocking the Spaces CEO and his guest for technical issues that significantly delayed the interview.

UAW President Shawn Fain tears into Donald Trump during DNC speech: 

‘Trump Is A Scab’

UAW President Shawn Fain contrasts the working-class policies of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris during his Democratic National Convention speech.

UAW’s Shawn Fain Blasts ‘Scab’ Trump In DNC Speech

The convention’s first day showcased the labor support lining up behind Kamala Harris’ campaign, with the crowd chanting, “Trump’s a scab!”


By Dave Jamieson
Aug 19, 2024

Labor leaders sent a message loud and clear on the opening day Monday of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: Unions stand behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her quest to keep former President Donald Trump out of the White House.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain summed up the sentiment when he removed his blazer while speaking onstage, revealing a red T-shirt that read: “Trump is a scab. Vote Harris.”

“When the UAW stands up, we know who stands with us and who stands against us,” Fain told the crowd. “Donald Trump laughs about firing workers who go on strike. Kamala Harris stands shoulder to shoulder with workers when they’re on strike. And that’s the difference.”

Delegates responded to Fain’s remarks with chants of “Trump’s a scab!”

Fain was one of a half-dozen union leaders who addressed the crowd Monday night, showcasing the Democratic Party’s close ties to organized labor.

Some of the largest unions quickly announced they were backing Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, and the AFL-CIO labor federation of 60 unions said Harris received a unanimous endorsement from its executive council.

Shawn Fain, president of the United Automobile Workers, speaks Monday during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images

Organized labor is historically a pillar of the Democratic Party and could prove pivotal in driving turnout for Harris and down-ballot Democrats in battleground states such as Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Kenneth Cooper, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, urged union members to get behind the Harris campaign, noting that Harris had cast a tie-breaking vote to pass a massive pension rescue for union workers and retirees.

“She has come through for all of us,” Cooper said. “Now it’s our turn to come through for her.”

There was, however, one striking omission from the DNC’s union-heavy speaker list on Monday: Sean M. O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

O’Brien angered many Democrats and union activists when he sought and accepted Trump’s invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. Trump was overtly hostile to unions and union organizing during his first term in the White House, and precious few Republicans support policies that would bolster the labor movement.

O’Brien used the opportunity at the RNC to court Republican support for unions. But his appearance, which included praising Trump as “one tough S.O.B.,” may have come at a political price: A Teamsters spokesperson told HuffPost that the DNC never responded to O’Brien’s request for a speaker slot in Chicago.

UAW Leader Says Trump’s Show Of Auto Worker Support Is ‘A Con’

Dave Jamieson
Thu, October 10, 2024 


The Detroit News reported earlier this week that several people wearing “Auto Workers for Trump” T-shirts at a Donald Trump campaign event in Michigan were not actually auto workers.

The report didn’t seem to surprise Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union.

“It’s pathetic. Everything he does is a con,” Fain said Thursday, referencing Trump.

The UAW, which is based in the crucial swing state of Michigan, has endorsed Harris, and its leader Fain has become one of Trump’s most fiery critics. Fain was speaking on a call hosted by the Kamala Harris campaign ahead of Trump’s scheduled address to the Detroit Economic Club.

“There is a stark contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris,” he said. “Kamala Harris has stood with labor. She’s walked the walk. Donald Trump serves himself. He’s always served himself.

It’s pathetic. Everything he does is a con. Shawn Fain on Donald Trump

Most major unions have lined up behind Harris and plan to help the Democratic nominee’s get-out-the-vote efforts ahead of Election Day. However, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced last month that it would not make an endorsement, citing membership polls showing more support for Trump among its rank and file.

Like the Teamsters, the UAW makes its endorsement (or non-endorsement) through a vote by its executive board, rather than a vote by its membership.

Asked about the Teamsters’ decision to stay out of the race, Fain said he believed he had “a responsibility as a leader” to take a stand against Trump, noting the former president’s patently anti-union record while in office. He didn’t deny a significant share of the union’s members would support Trump.

Quoting legendary UAW leader Walter Reuther, Fain said there was a correlation between the “ballot box” and the “bread box,” and argued that gains unions and workers have made could be lost if Trump wins the presidency.

“What we bargain at the bargaining table can be taken away,” he said, noting that anti-union officials appointed by Trump made it more difficult for workers to organize.

Shawn Fain, shown here at the UAW's convention in January, has become a prominent Trump critic. via Associated Press

Fain accused Trump of trying to “divide” the union during its historic strike against the Big Three automakers last year. He also took a shot at the Republican nominee for praising his supporter Elon Musk as the type of boss who would fire striking workers, which is generally illegal.

The latter was a reference to a chat Trump had with the X owner on the social media platform in August. The UAW filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over the remarks, alleging Trump and Musk were trying to intimidate workers.

“He sits there and applauds Elon Musk for trying to fire striking workers, and they laugh about that,” Fain said. “And that’s why I said Donald Trump is a scab.”

The “Auto Workers for Trump” group is real, founded by a retired auto worker named Brian Pannebecker. But that doesn’t mean all rallygoers wearing the shirts have actually worked in an auto factory.

The Detroit News reported there were “more than a dozen” people wearing the T-shirts at an event headlined by Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in Detroit on Tuesday. But six of them told the outlet they aren’t auto workers themselves. Two said Pannebecker had given them the shirts.

During the UAW work stoppage last year, many media outlets reported that Trump would be addressing striking workers in Michigan. In reality, he was giving a speech at a small, non-union auto parts manufacturer.

They wore 'Auto Workers for Trump' shirts at a JD Vance rally. But they're not actually auto workers

Owen Bellwood / Jalopnik
Thu, October 10, 2024 

NON UNION MADE TRUMP T SHIRTS

Auto Workers For Trump was founded in response to the UAW’s endorsement of the Harris campaign - Photo: JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP (Getty Images)

Political rallies bring out all kinds of catchy slogans from people who are there to support their heroes. Now, a group of people sporting “Auto Workers For Trump” tops at a JD Vance rally this week in Detroit have been found to have very little in common with the message they’re supporting.

In Detroit this week, vice presidential hopeful JD Vance hosted a rally to drum up support for Donald Trump in his reelection campaign. During the sparsley attended rally, a group of supporters was spotted sporting t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Auto Workers For Trump,” which might lead you to think that the people wearing the tops hold some kind of humble jobs in the auto industry.

It appears that at least around half of the people wearing the tops don’t work in the auto industry at all, reports the Detroit News:

Vance, the running mate of former President Donald Trump and a U.S. senator from Ohio, spoke and took questions for about an hour in Detroit’s Eastern Market Shed 3. Several hundred people attended the event, including more than a dozen who were wearing “auto workers for Trump” shirts. However, six of the people in the shirts told The Detroit News on Tuesday they were not actually auto workers.

The shirts were distributed by the Auto Workers For Trump 2024 group, reports Newsweek. The organization was reportedly set up following the United Auto Workers (UAW) union’s endorsement of Kamala Harris.

The group was formed by retired auto worker Brian Pannebecker, who distributed the shirts to spectators and asked members of the auto industry to attend the rally alongside him wearing one of the shirts, as Newsweek reports:

Pannebecker told Newsweek Tuesday evening that he had asked from 30 to 40 autoworkers, both active and retired, if they would like to attend the event to show support for the Republicans’ “pro-American worker policies.”

“A couple of the active auto workers said they had to work and couldn’t get off, and asked if their spouse could have a seat in their place,” he said in a written statement.

“Of course, I said yes, because these families deserve the opportunity to show their support for the candidates who understand what needs to be done to save Detroit’s automotive industry and our economy.”

While “30 to 40” auto workers were approached to wear the tops, a much smaller number of them actually showed up in them. However, their presence was enough to lead Vance to call himself an “ally” of the auto industry while on stage, adding that, should Trump win in November, the administration will throw its support behind the American auto industry.

Analysts aren’t so sure of those promises, however, with some warning that Trump’s policies could pave the way for China to become a global leader in EVs and leave America in the dust.

A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik.

UNION MADE UNION T-SHIRT 

UAW's Fain slams Trump, says lack of commitment to EVs would cost US jobs

Andrea Shalal
Thu, October 10, 2024 




WASHINGTON — UAW President Shawn Fain on Thursday said hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs are at stake if former President Donald Trump wins the Nov. 5 election and moves to repeal investments in electric vehicles.

Democrats have seized on Trump's running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, declining to commit to maintaining a $500 million investment to help GM convert an existing Cadillac plant into an electric vehicle facility.

Fain, who has endorsed the Democratic nominee in the race, Vice President Kamala Harris, said removing the funds would put at risk some 650 jobs in Lansing and have a greater impact across the United States.

"It's a lot bigger than just the Lansing Grand River investment. It's factories all over the United States, and it's supply chain factories all over the United States that are being put in place now. So you're talking hundreds of thousands of jobs that Donald Trump is just writing off," Fain told reporters ahead of Trump's visit to Detroit later on Thursday.

Vance had drawn fire from the UAW last week for giving noncommittal answers on questions about the money allocated to GM for the electric vehicle plant.

Vance: $500 million is 'table scraps'

Asked about it again on Tuesday, Vance said neither he nor Trump had ever said they would take "any money that's going to Michigan autoworkers out of the state of Michigan" and said the Biden administration's push for EV investments threatened some 117,000 autoworker jobs.

"What we've said is that Kamala Harris is offering table scraps — $500 million — when you have an EV mandate that's going to cost 117,000 autoworker jobs," Vance said.

Harris told a rally in Michigan last week she had no plans to institute an all-EV mandate, but wanted consumers to have a choice and companies to be able to compete with China.

Some autoworkers worry that switching to EVs could reduce the number of jobs in the industry, a claim Harris and her advisers reject, saying EV parts will also be made in the U.S.

Fain doubts autoworker support for Trump

Fain underscored the UAW's endorsement of Harris, saying the Biden administration had imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs to ensure U.S. automakers had space to expand in that sector.

He rejected the idea that a large number of autoworkers supported Trump, saying internal polls showed that 65% of union members had consistently voted for Democratic candidates.

"It's a very clear picture for us on who stands with working-class people," he said, adding that Harris had joined a picket line in 2019 when GM workers were on strike and Trump was in office but remained silent on the labor action.

Trump told Reuters in August that if elected he would consider ending a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases included in the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, saying tax credits and incentives were "not generally a very good thing."

If elected, Trump could take steps to reverse Treasury Department rules that have made it easier for automakers to take advantage of the $7,500 credit or could ask Congress to repeal it entirely.

While president, Trump sought to repeal the EV tax credit which was later expanded by President Joe Biden in 2022.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW's Fain slams Trump in argument over EV investments


UAW chief slams Trump over threat to repeal EV investments

Andrea Shalal
Updated Thu, October 10, 2024 

FILE PHOTO: EVGO Fast electric vehicle chargers in California


By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain on Thursday said hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs were at stake if Republican former President Donald Trump won the Nov. 5 election and made good on his threat to repeal investments in electric vehicles.

Democrats have seized on Trump's running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio, declining to commit to maintaining a $500 million investment to help GM convert an existing Cadillac plant into an electric vehicle facility.

Fain, who has endorsed the Democratic nominee in the race, Vice President Kamala Harris, said removing the funds would put at risk some 650 jobs in Lansing, Michigan, and have a greater impact across the United States.

"It's a lot bigger than just the Lansing Grand River investment. It's factories all over the United States, and it's supply chain factories all over the United States that are being put in place now. So you're talking hundreds of thousands of jobs that Donald Trump is just writing off," Fain told reporters ahead of Trump's visit to Detroit later on Thursday.

Vance had drawn fire from the UAW last week for giving noncommittal answers on questions about the money allocated to GM for the electric vehicle plant.

Asked about it again on Tuesday, Vance said neither he nor Trump had ever said they would take "any money that's going to Michigan auto workers out of the state of Michigan" and said the Biden administration's push for EV investments threatened some 117,000 autoworker jobs.

"What we've said is that Kamala Harris is offering table scraps - $500 million - when you have an EV mandate that's going to cost 117,000 auto worker jobs," Vance said, adding that EVs were selling slower than gas-powered cars.

Harris told a rally in Michigan last week she had no plans to institute an all-EV mandate, but wanted consumers to have a choice and companies to be able to compete with China.

Some autoworkers worry that switching to EVs could reduce the number of jobs in the auto industry, a claim Harris and her advisers reject, saying EV parts will also be made in the U.S.

Fain underscored the UAW's endorsement of Harris, saying the Biden administration had imposed a 100% tariff on Chinese EVs to ensure U.S. automakers had space to expand in that sector.

He rejected the idea that a large number of autoworkers supported Trump, saying internal polls showed that 65% of union members had consistently voted for Democratic candidates.

"It's a very clear picture for us on who stands with working class people," he said, adding that Harris had joined a picket line in 2019 when GM workers were on strike and Trump was in office but remained silent on the labor action.

Trump told Reuters in August that if elected he would consider ending a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases included in the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, saying tax credits and incentives were "not generally a very good thing."If elected, Trump could take steps to reverse Treasury Department rules that have made it easier for automakers to take advantage of the $7,500 credit or could ask the U.S. Congress to repeal it entirely.

While president, Trump sought to repeal the EV tax credit which was later expanded by President Joe Biden in 2022.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Susan Heavey and Deepa Babington)

Trump courts auto workers with car loan tax break, China crackdown

Nora Eckert and David Shepardson
Updated Thu, October 10, 2024

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump makes an appearance at the Detroit Economic Club


By Nora Eckert and David Shepardson

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday proposed making interest on car loans tax-deductible and preventing Chinese automakers from selling vehicles in the United States, in a push to appeal to autoworkers in the final weeks of election campaigning.

In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club that ran for about two hours, Trump criticized electric vehicles, the United Auto Workers union that represents auto workers, and even the city of Detroit where he was speaking.

Polls show Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are locked in a tight race ahead of the Nov. 5 election, with the outcome expected to be decided by slim margins in battleground states like Michigan, of which Detroit is the largest city.

He alluded to the city's economic struggles in his speech while taking a jab at Harris.

"The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth, it'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if [Harris] is your president," Trump said.

The plan on car loans - which would treat interest paid on vehicle loans like home mortgages on federal tax returns - is the latest in a long string of potential tax cuts the former U.S. president has floated during the final weeks of his campaign against Harris.

The speech focused on the U.S. auto industry, which is headquartered in Detroit. Trump said he would impose new tariffs to prevent Chinese automakers from building cars in Mexico and exporting them to the United States.

Trump, who on Sunday said he would slap tariffs as high as 200%, suggested he could impose even higher tariffs on vehicles.

"I will impose whatever tariffs are required - 100%, 200% 1,000%," Trump said. Mexico exported just over 2.5 million vehicles to the United States last year.

He also said he will formally notify Mexico and Canada of his intent to renegotiate a North American free trade deal to address concerns about Chinese vehicles. Harris, the U.S. vice president, has also said she plans to invoke the renegotiation provision if elected.

Critics say the free trade deal approved during Trump's term allowed the Detroit Three automakers to continue to produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles in Mexico and export them to U.S. buyers.

STIMULATING PRODUCTION

Congress in 1986 repealed the federal deduction for interest paid on auto and other consumer loans as part of a tax reform bill. In September, buyers paid an average interest rate of 7.1% on new cars and 11.2% on used cars, according to car research company Edmunds.

Trump said the tax cut "will stimulate massive domestic auto production, and make car ownership dramatically more affordable for millions and millions of working American families."

If elected, Trump will need congressional support to pass changes of tax laws.

President Joe Biden last month proposed prohibiting key Chinese software and hardware in vehicles with internet connectivity on American roads due to national security concerns, a move that would effectively bar Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market. Biden separately announced new 100% tariffs on all Chinese EVs effective Sept. 27 -- on top of a 25% import tariff on all Chinese vehicles that Trump imposed.

Trump also said he will close loopholes around Chinese cars being allowed into the U.S.

Biden last month also proposed barring Chinese automakers from testing autonomous vehicles on U.S. roads.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Chris Sanders, Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)

Donald Trump Goes to Detroit and Insults the Entire City

Mini Racker
Thu, October 10, 2024 

Rebecca Cook/Reuters

Donald Trump on Thursday addressed business leaders in Detroit, where he insulted their city and big companies.

“You want to know the truth?” Trump told members of the Detroit Economic Club as he painted a picture of what his opponent would do to America. “It’ll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands.”

Audience members clapped when Trump said he wouldn’t allow Kamala Harris to make the rest of the country mirror their hometown, suggesting that, at least among his fans, Trump’s comments weren’t too off base.

The former president has insulted Democratic-leaning urban areas before, especially by claiming they are hotspots of voter fraud. But three weeks before the election in a crucial swing state, the derision of the city was shocking.

Michigan Democrats hit back. Hard.

“I represent Detroit in Congress,” Rep. Shri Thanedar posted on X. “Detroit is a city with a booming economy, diverse culture, and some of the best people in America. Donald Trump: keep Detroit and our people out of your mouth. We will elect Kamala Harris.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also attacked Trump's election-eve insult against Michigan's Motor City.



Trump and Harris are locked in a razor-thin race in the state, with Harris just slightly ahead in the polls. The Great Lakes is part of the “blue wall,” which will be key to winning the presidency. The former president won the state by a tiny margin in 2016, but lost in 2020.

On Thursday, Trump sought to change that narrative by positioning himself as Detroit’s savior—if it would only vote for him. In particularly brutal language, he emphasized that he would be the one to ensure the U.S. makes better trade deals to rein in big, powerful companies “outside of our world.”

“We allowed them to come in and raid and rape our country,” Trump said, mockingly adding, “Oh, he used the word rape.’ That’s right, I used the word rape.”

For emphasis he repeated, “They RAPED our country.”

The Daily Beast.