UAW endorses Harris, citing her history of support for unions

The United Auto Workers announced on July 31 that they have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, citing her history of support for the labor movement.

“We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement.

In a post on social media platform X, Harris thanked the union for their support.

“I am honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. From walking picket lines to taking on big banks, I have spent my entire career fighting for unions and working families — and, as President, I will continue to deliver for organized labor,” Harris wrote.

In its endorsement, UAW specifically cited Harris’ actions in 2019 when members of the union went on strike against General Motors. The six-week-long strike began after the company’s contract with the union expired and the two parties could not come to an agreement on increased compensation and job security.

Harris walked with strikers in Reno, Nevada, in October 2019. In a speech to the workers, Harris called on GM to negotiate with the union and retain benefits that the union had agreed to temporarily give up so the company could survive the Great Recession.

President Joe Biden, who was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination alongside Harris and other candidates at the time, also backed the union.

Former President Donald Trump was in office during these events but did not express a preference for either the union or the auto company.

“Here we go again with General Motors and the United Auto Workers. Get together and make a deal!” Trump wrote in a Sept. 2019 post on Twitter.

GM eventually gave in to union demands and the strike ended on October 25, 2019.

Early in his presidency in July 2017, Trump told supporters in Ohio that factory jobs would make a return to the state and across the country on his watch.

“They’re all coming back. They’re all coming back. Coming back. Don’t move. Don’t sell your house. Don’t sell your house,” Trump said.

But after Trump’s speech, GM closed their facility in Lordstown, Ohio, and over his four years in office the U.S. economy lost a total of 2.7 million jobs.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, manufacturing jobs went from 12.4 million employees to a low of 11.4 million at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, then ticked up to 12.2 million when Trump left office in 2021.

The most recent report in June shows manufacturing jobs at nearly 13 million, an increase of over 800,000 under Biden’s presidency.

Biden has passed several laws, all backed by Harris, designed to spark investment in U.S. manufacturing and create jobs. Two of those laws, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act, required tiebreaking votes from Harris in the Senate to secure passage over unified Republican opposition.