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Former Vice President Joe Biden, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, U.S., on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
Matthew Hatcher | Bloomberg | Getty Images
DETROIT – The United Auto Workers union said Tuesday that is endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden for president, citing an “assault on worker rights to organize and fair wages” under the President Donald Trump.
The union said it chose to endorse Biden because of his experience under the Obama administration during the 2009 auto bailout and “anti-worker federal appointees” by the Trump administration.
“In these dangerous and difficult times, the country needs a president who will demonstrate clear, stable leadership, less partisan acrimony and more balance to the rights and protections of working Americans,” UAW President Rory Gamble said in a statement.
The endorsement by the UAW, which represents more than 400,000 workers, is a win for Biden, but not unexpected. The union historically endorses Democrats for president, including Hillary Clinton in 2016 and two-term former President Barack Obama.
Despite the UAW endorsing Clinton four years ago, blue-collar workers such as those in the union assisted Trump in winning office, including a surprising victory in the union’s home state of Michigan. Trump, a Republican, has continued to tout the support of auto workers and other unions as many have voiced support for his America-first policies. He also won the support of the AFL-CIO union federation for the revised U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump also has not fulfilled campaign promises of auto manufacturing and jobs returning from Mexico. Most notably, Trump told a crowd at a rally in Ohio in 2017 that jobs were “all coming back.” Two years later, General Motors shut down its massive Lordstown assembly plant in the state.
The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the UAW endorsement.
