Recently, former President Donald Trump issued plans to speak in front of the striking United Auto Workers instead of participating in the second Republican primary debate. The move has some Democrats panicking, fearing Trump could win the votes of blue-collar America.
Thousands of workers for the big three auto manufacturers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, have been striking against their employers, demanding substantially higher pay and improved benefits. According to reports, the United Auto Workers are demanding a 46 percent increase in pay over the next few years. The demands follow historically high levels of inflation where consumers feel their spending power has deteriorated.
Democrats have responded to Trump’s speaking arrangement, urging President Biden to be more proactive in addressing the concerns of the striking workers. “Trump scooped us. Now if we announce we’re going, it looks like we’re just going because of Trump,” one Democratic strategist said. “We waited too long. That’s the challenge.”
Some liberals have insinuated the former president’s move is a “cynical ploy” to win votes from unionw workers. However, one union member stated “[Trump] actually has people who know what they’re doing. He boxed Biden in. It was kinda genius.”
California Democrat Rep. Ro Hanna indicated his party needs to step up and connect with the United Auto Workers. The representative noted that Trump should not be underestimated, suggesting liberals are falling short in offering a coherent economic strategy to American workers.
“We should not underestimate Donald Trump. He’s a survivor and this is going to be a very hard-fought campaign.,” Khana said. “We need a message to working-class Americans. Right now, they’re still hurting in terms of gas prices, food prices, housing costs, utilities costs, and they don’t feel like their wages are going up fast enough, and they feel like the very wealthy are getting too much of the rewards. That’s what I heard on the picket lines.”
Donald Trump recently warned the United Autoworkers of the perpetually increasing demand for electric vehicles and its implications on their job security. The former president stated their jobs would likely be outsourced to China. “The autoworkers will not have any jobs, Kristen, because all of these cars are going to be made in China. The electric cars, automatically, are going to be made in China,” Trump told NBC News. “The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump,” he added.
However, leadership within the auto worker’s union has maintained that politics will have little impact on achieving their demands. President of the UAW, Shawn Fain, said his negotiation teams will ultimately bring resolutions to the table.
“People are talking about them trying to interject themselves into our — into our negotiations,” said Shawn Fain, president of the UAW. “Our negotiators are fighting hard. Our leadership’s fighting hard. It’s going to be won at the negotiating table with our negotiating teams, with our members manning the picket lines and our allies out there. Who the president is now, who the former president was or the president before them, isn’t going to win this fight.”
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