Next week, former President Donald Trump will travel to Detroit in an effort to quell criticism from the leadership of the United Auto Workers union, which has stated that a second term for him would be a “disaster” for workers. AP — LANSING, Michigan Next week, former President Trump aspires to reclaim the support of union-friendly states like Michigan in 2024. Michigan recently became the first state to do so in over 60 years. It is one of three Rust Belt states, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that went against Democrats in the 2016 presidential election yet where he narrowly prevailed. In the 2020 election, Biden won those states from him.will travel to Detroit in an effort to quell criticism from the leadership of the United Auto Workers union, which has stated that a second term for him would be a “disaster” for workers.
In an effort to frame himself as a friend of blue-collar workers by vowing to boost pay and safeguard employment if elected to a second term, he will skip the second Republican presidential debate on September 27 in favor of visiting striking autoworkers in Michigan.
Union leaders, though, assert that his track record as president speaks for itself. According to union officials, his first term was far from pro-worker, citing adverse decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court and the country’s top labor body as well as unmet promises of automotive employment. The leadership of the United Auto Workers union has consistently rejected him , even though the group has not endorsed anybody for president in 2024.
Trump nonetheless intends to address a group of past and present union members directly. A radio advertisement for the Trump campaign that debuted in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday hailed auto workers and said that the previous president “always had their back.” Dave Green, the UAW regional director for Ohio and Indiana, said, “Just look who put in the courts.” “Check out his labor relations board history. Except for lip service, he did little to promote organized labor.
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The National Labor Relations Board, which monitors union elections and upholds the nation’s labor laws, was governed by Republicans for the first time since 2007 under his administration. The board overturned a number of significant Obama-era decisions that facilitated the formation of tiny unions, protected franchise workers’ bargaining rights, and shielded workers from anti-union actions.
In 2017, the board under President Trump overturned a ruling that held employers liable for labor breaches committed by franchisees or subcontractors. The board made it more difficult to organize in 2019 by prioritizing “entrepreneurial opportunity” in evaluating a worker’s employment status, which benefited businesses that use contract workers like Lyft and Uber.
The labor relations board was “tried to gut” by Trump’s administration, according to Mark McManus, president of the plumbers and pipefitters union, in a statement released on Tuesday. This was done “to undo the safeguards that protect working families.” Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, said in an email statement to The Associated Press that the board was filled with “anti-worker appointees who trampled on collective bargaining rights.”
The union leaders also cite adverse decisions made by the US Supreme Court under a conservative majority that increased during Trump’s presidency. The supreme court of the country has struck unions a number of blows. Most recently, it ruled against unionized drivers who left their jobs with trucks full of wet cement and allowed a civil lawsuit against them to proceed.
The court’s conservative majority reversed a pro-union ruling regarding fees paid by government employees in 2018. The California law granting unions access to farmland so they may organize workers was overturned by the court in 2021.
“If you’re appointing conservatives to the court, you often appoint people who relate to the preference for business or property owners or shareholders, more so than the preference of stakeholders like workers,” said Peter Berg, a professor of labor relations at Michigan State University.
Trump’s election campaign
Trump’s election campaign vehemently defended his record of supporting workers. President Trump has “always been on the side of American workers,” according to a statement from his campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung.
In response to the objections from labor groups, Cheung provided a lengthy list of Trump’s economic achievements and initiatives, ranging from the soaring stock market to the low jobless rate. He mentioned Trump’s extensive efforts to do away with regulations and renegotiate or scrap trade agreements as being advantageous for American workers across a variety of industries.
Republicans have always attempted to portray themselves as pro-worker while also being anti-union. The Democratic Party has been supported by organized labor for many years, yet the party has positioned itself as being for “the working class” while criticizing it.
In an effort to distance employees from a UAW leadership that supported Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and has subsequently opposed Trump, Trump has tried a similar strategy. Trump urged autoworkers in a recent campaign video to forego union dues, saying that union officials “got some deals going for themselves.” Trump said that he will increase their pay and safeguard their employment.
Statistics on job growth in the car sector during Trump’s presidency refute his assertion that it prospered under his administration. Even during Trump’s administration, Michigan, the state with the most automotive jobs in the country, maintained its overall number of manufacturing jobs.
Less than 2,000 jobs were added to the car manufacturing sector in Ohio during Trump’s four years in office. However, Green, the UAW director, claimed that some of the neighborhoods that had supported Trump in 2016 had been left behind. He cited Lordstown, Ohio, where Green had previously held the position of local UAW president and where Trump won by a big plurality in 2016.
During a trip there in 2017, Trump promised that the region’s employment will “all be coming back” and urged locals to remain. One of the area’s main employers, General Motors, announced the closing of its Lordstown facility a year later.
Green said last week that “the guy came to my community and flat out lied to everyone.” Schools were closed, and banks were closing. I sent the guy two letters, but he never even responded.Trump aspires to reclaim the support of union-friendly states like Michigan in 2024. Michigan recently became the first state to do so in over 60 years. It is one of three Rust Belt states, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that went against Democrats in the 2016 presidential election yet where Trump narrowly prevailed. In the 2020 election, Biden won those states from him.
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