Campaign

UAW endorses Harris, citing ‘track record’ with workers

by Taylor Giorno - 07/31/24 2:57 PM ET

Vice President Kamala Harris responds to a speaker at a round table of labor leaders held by the Annual Greater Boston Labor Council on Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 5, 2022 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

The United Auto Workers (UAW) endorsed Vice President Harris on Wednesday in the upcoming presidential election.

UAW President Shawn Fain praised Harris ahead of her planned appearance at a rally with union members on Aug. 7 and took aim at former President Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

“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,” 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,” Fain added.

Fain and Trump have sparred publicly for months. Trump called for Fain to be fired during his speech at the Republican National Convention, and the UAW hit back on the social platform X, calling the former president “a scab and a billionaire.”

Last week, Fain praised Harris for walking the picket line with UAW workers in 2019, saying Trump, who was in office at the time, “sure as hell wasn’t on the picket line.”

The UAW endorsement ended weeks of speculation as to whether the union would back Harris after President Biden, endorsed by the UAW in January, exited the race on July 21.

Biden endorsed Harris after he dropped out, and the party has largely fallen in line behind Harris ahead of the Democratic National Convention next month.

She has also snagged endorsements from major labor unions including the AFL-CIO, the United Steelworkers, the American Federation of Teachers, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The United Brotherhood of Teamsters, another prominent labor union, has not yet issued an endorsement.

“This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November,” Fain said.