United Auto Workers Endorses Joe Biden for President
Today, the United Auto Workers International Board (UAW), announced its endorsement of Joe Biden for President of the United States. UAW is one of the largest and most diverse unions made up of over 400,000 active members across North America. Citing Vice President Biden’s commitment “to giving UAW members that voice at the table,” UAW issued the following press release:
UAW Endorses Joseph Biden for President of The United States of America:
Detroit - The UAW International Board Tuesday announced the influential unions’ endorsement of former Vice President Joe Biden for President of the United States.
“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,” said Rory Gamble, President of the UAW. “UAW Members need a federal government that ensures that members have both a good job to go to, and that they come home to their families at night having earned a fair day's wage in a safe and secure place.”
Over the last four years, UAW members have seen an assault on worker rights to organize and fair wages, NLRB rules that impede organizing, and anti-worker federal appointees.
Biden has committed to a plan that will:
Reign in the abuse of corporate power over working people and hold corporate executives personally accountable for violations of labor laws. Encourage and incentivize unionization and collective bargaining; and Ensure that workers are treated with dignity and receive the pay, benefits and workplace protections they deserve. Ensure we expand access to affordable quality health care
In recent days, the UAW has been negotiating for enhanced safety standards over COVID-19 return-to-work policies. “This issue demonstrates the need for Presidential leadership to follow the guidance of science and give workers a seat in discussions over their safety and well-being. Now it is time for workers to take their place at the table.”
Biden’s experience in the Obama-Biden Administration during the successful auto recovery will be instrumental as the industry experiences massive changes in technology and jobs in auto and other UAW sectors.
“In a changing economic environment, we need steady leadership and planning to make sure the jobs of the future are good-paying union jobs with benefits,” said Gamble. “And UAW members need to know they have a voice in those changes.”
Gamble added that it is important to have leadership that, at all times, considers the needs of working men and women in making policy choices, and judicial appointments. “UAW members ultimately want a voice. And Joe Biden is committed to giving UAW members that voice at the table.”
National unions representing a range of other workers and professions have also endorsed Biden, including the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), National Education Association (NEA), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers (IW), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA), and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA).
