WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President picked up an endorsement from the United Auto Workers union Wednesday, an important boost to the Democratic president's reelection bid as he pushes to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.
鈥淚鈥檓 honored to have your back and you have mine,鈥� Biden said to the cheering crowd. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the deal.鈥�
Biden spoke as the union closed out a three-day gathering in Washington to chart its political priorities. The event follows Tuesday鈥檚 primary vote in New Hampshire, where Republican front-runner Donald with a victory and Biden scored a write-in win.
Biden has long billed himself as the and went so far as to turn up on a at a GM parts warehouse in the Detroit area during a strike last fall.
The president is hoping to cut into the advantage that Trump has enjoyed with white voters who don鈥檛 have a college degree. Labor experts said that the UAW usually endorses candidates later as it has a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.
"The days of working people being dealt out of a deal are over in this country as long as I鈥檓 president," Biden told the crowd. "I want to say to all of you thank you, thank you. I could not be more proud.鈥�
Union president Shawn Fain had demurred even earlier this week, but on Wednesday said Biden had earned the endorsement, contrasting what he said was the president's obvious support with Trump's trash talk and anti-union stance.
鈥淗e heard the call and he stood up and he showed up,鈥� Fain said of Biden鈥檚 historic picket line appearance.
But when UAW went on strike against GM in 2019, Trump, then president, was silent. 鈥淗e said nothing. He did nothing. Not a damn thing because he doesn鈥檛 care about the American worker,鈥� Fain said.
Fain called Trump a 鈥渟cab,鈥� a derogatory term for workers who cross union picket lines and work during a strike.
鈥淭his November we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause, or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way. That鈥檚 what this choice is about,鈥� Fain said.
Among union members, support for Biden has varied from enthusiastic to uncertainty about whether to even vote come Election Day.
Caroline Loveless, a Waterloo, Iowa, resident and retired UAW member, said she would enthusiastically vote for Biden, recalling his appearance on a picket line during last fall's strike. She said his appearance should remind union members that Biden is on their side.
鈥淚 hope they don鈥檛 get amnesia,鈥� Loveless said, 鈥渃ome Election Day.鈥�
William Louis, of Groton, sa国际传媒icut, another member, said that while he is 鈥渇ed up with politicians鈥� he will reluctantly vote for Biden, though he said the president had not fully earned members鈥� vote given the current state of the economy.
Louis said Biden would get his vote because Trump, the likely Republican nominee, "was a terrible president.鈥�
Leo Carrillo, a member from Kansas City, said Biden鈥檚 appearance on the picket line showed that 鈥渉e was there for us,鈥� and helped him to decide to vote for Biden in November.
鈥淔or me it meant a lot鈥� that a sitting president would show that level of solidarity to autoworkers, Carrillo said. 鈥淏ut there鈥檚 more work to be done,鈥� he said, pointing to the PRO Act 鈥� proposed legislation that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level. The legislation advanced to the U.S. Senate but does not have enough support to survive in case of a filibuster.
Biden could run into dissent, however, over his support for Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza. Some younger members of the union were less enthusiastic about the president for that reason, and there were scattered protests during his speech.
Johannah King-Slutzky, a Columbia University graduate student and member of the student workers union within the UAW, was one of several attendees who chanted 鈥渃easefire now鈥� during Fain鈥檚 afternoon speech Monday. The union called for a ceasefire in Gaza in December.
鈥淩ight now he鈥檚 done nothing to earn my vote,鈥� King-Slutzky said, because 鈥渉e has not acted with urgency to stop the genocide in Gaza.鈥�
Fain, the , took office after a huge bribery and embezzlement scandal that ended with two union presidents serving prison time. So he鈥檚 making sure to follow union procedures on the endorsement and show that members made the decision, even though there鈥檚 no way the UAW would have backed Trump, said Brian Rothenberg, a former union spokesman.
The UAW, with roughly 380,000 members, is normally one of the last unions to endorse presidential candidates, Rothenberg said. For example, the union didn鈥檛 endorse Biden in 2020 until April 21.
In a November interview with The Associated Press, Fain made clear that he personally supports Biden, as he railed against Trump.
Fain pointed to Biden's trip to the GM parts warehouse, which is believed to be the first time a sitting president appeared with union picketers.
About that same time, Trump held a rally at a nonunion auto parts maker near Detroit, which Fain said was odd. Biden鈥檚 administration also supported the union鈥檚 bid to persuade Stellantis to reopen a shuttered plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and in the city 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of Chicago to celebrate its reopening, Fain said.
Internal UAW polling typically shows that in the spring and early summer, 30% of members support the GOP, 30% support Democrats and the remaining 40% swing between parties, he said. By Election Day, members and UAW retirees usually vote 60% Democratic, said Rothenberg, now a public relations consultant in Columbus, Ohio.
The endorsement may also sway nonunion blue-collar white males, who have been voting more for Republicans than in the past, Rothenberg said.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller and Colleen Long contributed to this report. Krisher reported from Detroit.
Tom Krisher, Fatima Hussein And Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
