Harris, Walz spotlight support for unions in campaign stop with UAW

Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) leaned into their support for organized labor as they reached out to union members during a campaign stop Thursday with the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Michigan. 

“It’s about the collective. It’s about understanding no one should ever be made to fight alone, that we are all in this together,” Harris told the members at the Local 900 union hall in Wayne, marking her second stop in as many days in the critical battleground state.

“You know why I fought my entire career for unions and labor? Because I understand the concept — and the noble concept behind collective bargaining. And here it is, here it is: fairness,” she said.

Harris has been locking down support from organized labor in the weeks since launching her bid, which could help her build support among working-class voters in critical swing states. The UAW, which had previously backed President Biden’s reelection campaign, is now behind Harris, as is the United Steelworkers union and the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation. 

The campaign argued in a memo Thursday that union workers would help drive the Democratic ticket’s success in November. 

“There are 2.7 million union members in the battleground states. That means something when roughly 45,000 votes in key states decided the election four years ago,” Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in the memo, released shortly before the event with UAW.

Harris on Thursday thanked “the sisters and brothers of UAW” for their support.

“Look, even if you’re not a member of a union, you better thank unions,” she said to applause.

UAW President Shawn Fain kicked off the Thursday event, lauding Harris and Walz while arguing workers were “left behind” by former President Trump. Fain has sparred with Trump, who has been courting the Teamsters.

“Are you ready to show up for the Harris-Walz ticket? I know you are. So UAW family, it’s time to go to work,” Fain said. 

Walz, just two days after Harris named him her running mate, revved up the crowd as he touted the vice president’s “long record of delivering for unions, union members and organized labor.” The Harris campaign has noted that Walz, a former teacher, was a member of the National Education Association. 

Both Harris and Walz stressed the short timeline until Election Day. 

“We got 89 days to get this done,” Harris said. “You know the one thing about all of us, is we like hard work. … We have fun doing hard work.” 

The Harris-Walz ticket was certified earlier this week, after the vice president revealed her running mate pick and kicked off a weeklong tour of key swing states. The duo debuted Tuesday in Philadelphia, stopped Wednesday and Thursday in Wisconsin and Michigan and are off to North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada later in the week.