CNN
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Vice President Kamala Harris is struggling to match the level of support from previous Democratic candidates and union voters after the Teamsters and the International Association of Firefighters decided to withhold their endorsements in the presidential race. However, they are under greater scrutiny.
In public statements, leaders of both unions cited internal disagreements as the main reason for remaining on the sidelines.
“This decision is one we take very seriously, and one that we believe is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity,” Edward Kelly, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said in a statement this week explaining the choice. ”.
The Trump campaign welcomed the announcements, saying they were a sign that organized labor was fleeing Harris and the Democratic Party. The campaign on Thursday called the firefighters union’s refusal to endorse a 2024 candidate “another blow” to Harris, citing the union’s early endorsement of Biden months before the Democratic primary. pointed out.
But the reality is murkier and reflects turbulence among union leaders and increasingly bitter internal politics. Harris maintains a lead in polls over Trump among union voters and households, but polls show the lead is smaller than it was for Joe Biden four years ago and narrower than it was for Hillary in 2016. This is almost on par with Mr. Clinton’s level.
CNN exit polls after the past two presidential elections showed Biden with a 16-point lead among voters in union households. Although Clinton lost by a few thousand votes in states with large working populations, she won among her demographic by nine points.
A Fox News poll conducted in mid-September showed Ms. Harris leading Mr. Trump by 6 points. A Quinnipiac poll late that month showed Harris with an 11-point lead, similar to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that showed her leading Trump by 12 points among voters in union households.
The vice president is increasingly supporting Labor as the election approaches. Her Friday visit to Michigan came shortly after U.S. longshoremen moved to call off a strike that could disrupt the entire U.S. economy, and the Labor Party, which represents 45,000 workers, This comes as the union moves closer to securing new contracts with ports and shipping. Companies on the East Coast and Gulf Coast.
“This action signals progress toward a strong contract and demonstrates the power of collective bargaining,” Harris said in a statement late Thursday. “Like I said, this is about equity, and our economy works best when workers share in record profits.”
On Friday, Ms. Harris broke Mr. Trump’s labor record in Redford Township, a suburb of Detroit.
“We will not be fooled,” Harris said, adding that the former president and his policies “have been a disaster for working people and he is trying to gaslight people across this country.” Harris also described him as “an existential threat to the American labor movement.”
On Wednesday, Vance was asked by reporters if former President Donald Trump would continue funding the $500 million federal grant that the Biden administration approved for GM’s Lansing-Grand River plant. claimed to be directed to China.
Harris also highlighted Friday that $60 million in federal funding will be provided to help build an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Flint, which the administration estimates will create 150 jobs. .
Despite some headline-grabbing backlash, Harris has largely kept together a coalition of labor groups that traditionally support Democratic candidates. Sean Fein, president of the United Auto Workers Union, has emerged as one of her most prominent supporters and vocal defenders, frequently criticizing President Trump’s labor policies and making it clear that the second Trump administration They warn that it will ruin the movement.
In a fiery speech at the party’s convention this summer, Ms. Fein, who was visiting Michigan with Mr. Harris, described the former president and Mr. Vance as “two pet dogs of the billionaire class who serve only themselves.” I called. He added that Trump was a “scab,” a traitor to unions during the crisis.
The UAW won significant pay and benefits increases after the 2023 strike with support from prominent Democrats, some of whom joined Biden’s picket line workers. Biden, who calls himself the “most pro-union president,” made history last September when he visited a picket line in Michigan during a work stoppage.
The AFL-CIO, a powerful coalition of American and international labor unions, endorsed Harris early on. President Liz Schuller welcomed the strong jobs numbers in a statement Friday and reiterated the vice president’s case.
“In this election, America will face a dilemma between Kamala Harris, a key partner for labor unions in building the worker-centered economy reflected in today’s jobs numbers, and Donald Trump, who will strip us of all the gains we have made. I think the choice will be between Trump and Trump,” Schuller said. Touted the organization’s massive “voter mobilization” campaign against Harris and Walz.
Other Labor leaders were slow to move, fearing that siding with either candidate in such an intense campaign would jeopardize their positions.
Walz and Vance, both Democratic and Republican vice presidential candidates, spoke at the IAFF convention in Boston in late August. Mr. Walz’s appeal received a positive reception, but it was unclear whether union leaders would do everything in their power to win the Democratic ticket or withdraw from the race.
Vance was booed during parts of his speech, especially after he said he and former President Donald Trump were “proud to be the most pro-worker Republican candidates in history.”
It happened about six weeks after Teamsters Chairman Sean O’Brien took the unusual step of speaking at the Republican National Convention in July, before Biden withdrew. The move infuriated many labor leaders and perplexed supporters who had repeatedly warned unions of the setbacks ahead if President Trump’s policies were enacted again.
In his remarks, O’Brien noted that Teamsters leaders have supported Republicans from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush. The older President Bush was the last Republican candidate to win Republican support. Every Democrat since Bill Clinton, who defeated Bush in 1992, has received official support from the Teamsters.
He also repeatedly attacked business leaders. Many of them were in the RNC audience and are among Mr. Trump’s biggest supporters.
“We’re not renters. We’re not tenants. But the corporate elite treats us like squatters, and that’s a crime,” O’Brien said. Although he did not speak at the Democratic convention, and the Teamsters ultimately decided not to endorse the candidate a month later, O’Brien said the decision was based on the union’s “democratic” process and “Democrats, Republicans and independents. We believe this is due to the reality that we are proud to call our union ours. We have a duty to represent and respect them all. ”
Larry Cohen, a former longtime president of the Communications Workers of America, downplayed the Teamsters’ decision, arguing in mid-September that it was already too late for the national organization to set up a meaningful campaign support structure. .
“What are we actually going to do? How are we going to train and organize people (on Canvas) in six weeks?” Cohen told CNN. “They waited too long.”
The Teamsters PAC signaled a political shift earlier this year when it spent $5,000 supporting Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. However, these moves sparked significant backlash from Teamsters locals in battleground states.
The group’s Black Caucus and West Coast Caucus also staged their own walkouts, supporting Ms. Harris’ campaign, which argued that Ms. Harris enjoys critical support from the union, no matter what national leadership says.
