The United Auto Workers union endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president after previously endorsing President Joe Biden.
FULL INTERVIEW: Shawn Fain speaks on Kamala Harris endorsement
In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, the union said that the executive board voted to endorse Harris, saying her candidacy builds on the administration's proven track record of standing with the UAW.
The union said that years before its historic Stand Up Strike, Harris walked the picket line with striking autoworkers in 2019.
They said Harris will be in Detroit on Wednesday to rally with UAW members and meet with members to hear about their issues.
"Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “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. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat President Donald Trump at the ballot box."
We spoke one-on-one with Fain on Wednesday.
"This is our moment, this is our generation's, in my opinion, defining moment to take back our lives,” Fain said during the interview. “It's not political party, it's not my opinion or a board member's opinion, it's putting facts in front of our members and in front of ourselves."
Fain said the Biden-Harris administration has been the best for unions in his lifetime, and in this election the choice was easy.
“It's a tale of two stories here," Fain said. "Donald Trump represents the billionaire class and the corporate class and Kamala Harris has a history and a track record of standing up for working-class people, so it makes the decision pretty easy for us.”
In response to the endorsement, Harris for President Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez put out a statement that read:
“Vice President Harris is honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers, and knows it comes with the responsibility to fight for unions and working families as she’s done her whole career.
Vice President Harris is no stranger to fighting for unions. From walking a picket line with striking UAW workers to casting the deciding vote for the Butch Lewis Act and taking on big banks to protect over $300 million in union retirement funds as California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris has a long, proven record of delivering for unions and organized labor. As President, Kamala Harris will continue to fight like hell for union workers and their families.
Workers across the country have so much at stake in this election. Donald Trump will gut workers’ rights, ship jobs overseas, and give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of working people. With the immense organizing power of the UAW at her side, this campaign will reach out to auto workers across the country and send Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.”
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign reacted to the news, saying in part quote “With the immense organizing power of the UAW at her side, this campaign will reach out to auto workers across the country and send Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.”
“Everyone is going to go to the voting booth and decide who they’re going to vote for, but I can assure you a huge majority of our members will vote for Kamala Harris,” said Fain.
However, not everyone is in agreement. Now retired UAW member Brian Pannebecker believes Trump has the majority of their support.
"To endorse Kamala Harris is sheer lunacy,” Pannebecker said. "How can you not endorse the guy who ripped up NAFTA and re-wrote the trade agreement so that it was to the advantage of the American worker?”
Pannebecker started the group "Auto Workers for Trump" in 2017 and says the group has only grown, attracting workers like Chris Vitale, a UAW member for 30 years who previously voted for Obama.
“Donald Trump is nowhere near a traditional Republican. If the choice was John McCain or Mitt Romney or one of these guys from the East Coast, I wouldn't vote for them either, I never did,” said Vitale. "These are the choices we have, and I'll damn sure take a guy who has built things and stuck up for the American worker over a San Francisco prosecutor.”
While both sides believe they’re the majority, there’s still 3 months to go until the election, with plenty of campaigning still to come.
"That's what's good about America, you have the right to vote for whoever you want to for,” Fain said in response to auto workers voting for Trump. "You're never going to agree on everything, all we can do is put the facts out there. I believe they’re voting against their own interests.”
“They’re (Democratic ticket) going to destroy this industry and a lot of workers know it," Pannebecker said. "That’s why they don't support Kamala Harris, they support Donald Trump.”