WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Donald Trump and United Auto Workers leadership are at odds after the former president criticized the union and called for its President Shawn Fain to be fired.
The comments were made during Trump’s speech during the last night of the Republican National Convention. In the hours after the speech, Fain and the UAW have fired back.
“They’re being built by China to make cars and to sell them into our country, no tax or anything. The United Auto Workers ought a be ashamed for allowing this to happen," Trump said during his speech. "The leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately, and every single auto worker, union and non-union, should be voting for Donald Trump."
Some UAW workers like Marcus Howard of Taylor don't agree Fain should be fired.
“I do support Fain. I mean, he looked out for us,” Howard said. “I appreciate everything he did for the Chrysler division. He made it happen for us.”
But while Fain is urging members like Howard to vote for Joe Biden in November, Howard isn’t falling in line.
“We don't need these 'Bidenomics' that we got going on right now," Howard said. "We make decent money. Most of us shouldn't be struggling."
Howard says he switched to the Republican Party to vote for Trump in 2016. He's one of many union workers that both candidates are hoping to win over.
"This could be pivotal in the state of Michigan and other swing states where you have a high level of union membership,” said Marick Masters, professor emeritus at the Wayne State University School of Business. "All polls are showing the election is going to be very close and it’s going to depend heavily on get out the vote, and labor is very critical in that.”
Masters says while unions tend to support Democrats, Trump is trying hard to sell his vision to the rank and file workers, notably saying he would end the electric vehicle mandate on day one if he were elected.
Trump also invited the Teamsters President to speak at the Republican National Convention.
“He’s trying to introduce a wedge into the UAW and pick off as many members from the leadership and their position that they’ve taken in support of President Biden as possible,” Masters said. "He’s going over the leadership head and saying look, if your leaders want to come and talk to us, we're more than happy to hear from them.”
In response to Trump's comment, Fain responded with a statement that says:
"Last night, Donald Trump once again attacked our union on a national stage. That should tell you everything you need to know about the man, and the candidate. As we’ve said for many months, he stands for everything we stands (sic) against.
Trump claims to be attacking us in the name of protecting American autoworkers.
So tell us why, when Lordstown closed in 2019, when Trump was President, and our members were on strike for 40 days, he said nothing and did nothing.
Tell us why Trump pushed to move auto jobs out of Michigan to drive down wages.
Tell us why Trump “renegotiated NAFTA” for the disastrous USMCA, under which manufacturing jobs continue to leave the country and the trade deficit with Mexico has gone up, not down.
Tell us why Trump blamed the 2008 auto crisis on the autoworkers.
We’ll tell you why. Because Donald Trump always has and always will side with the billionaire class against the working class.
He doesn’t want to protect American autoworkers. He wants to pad the pockets of the ludicrously wealthy auto executives. He wants to cut the corporate tax rates of his golfing buddies, and keep the stock buybacks and Wall Street manipulation going. He wants autoworkers to shut up and take scraps, not stand up and fight for more.
He talks about the electric vehicle transition as the reason our industry is under threat. Our members don’t go to work every day because they’re passionate about combustion engines. It’s about our families and our communities getting our fair share of the record auto profits, electric or not. The threat we face is corporate greed run wild, and that’s what Donald Trump enables and celebrates.
America’s autoworkers aren’t the problem. Our union isn’t the problem. The working class isn’t the problem. Corporate greed and the billionaires’ hero, mascot, and lapdog Donald Trump, are the problem.
Don’t get played by this scab billionaire. Stand up and fight for more."
“As far as I'm concerned, I support Donald Trump," Howard said. "That’s just how it is.”
