The United Auto Workers union endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election on Wednesday, providing a significant boost in auto-making swing states like Michigan, where Donald Trump is also popular.
“This November, we can stand up and elect someone who wants to stand with us and support our cause. Or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way,” UAW President Shawn Fain said at a union conference in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. “That’s what this choice is about. The question is, who do we want in that office to give us the best shot of winning? Of organizing. Of negotiating strong contracts. Of uniting the working class and winning our fair share once again, as our union has done so many times in our nation’s history. We need to know who’s going to sit in the most powerful seat in the world and help us win as a united working class.”
Biden has been courting autoworkers and made an appearance on a picket line in Belleville in September amid negotiations between striking workers and the Big Three manufacturers, becoming the first sitting president to join an active picket strike.
Meanwhile, Trump made his own visit to Michigan in September with a rally at a non-union auto parts manufacturing plant in Macomb County. During his rambling speech, Trump, who has criticized unions in the past, denounced electric cars but still asked the UAW for its endorsement.
Previously, Fain was coy about the union endorsing either candidate. “Our endorsements are going to be earned. We’ve been very clear about that, no matter what politician,” Fain told CBS. “We expect actions, not words.”
A recent poll found that Biden is trailing Trump by 8 percentage points in Michigan.
Following the endorsement, Biden spoke to a cheering crowd at the union conference Wednesday.
“We have more work to do but our plan is delivering to the American people, building an economy from the bottom up, not the bottom down,” Biden said. “If I’m going to be in a fight, I want to be in a fight with you, UAW. We have a big fight in front of us. We’re fundamentally changing the economy of this country, taking it from the economy that takes care of those at the top. … All anyone wants is a fair shot, an even shot.”
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