In a memo on Thursday, Harris’ campaign argued that union members will help the Democratic candidate win in November, when she plans to meet with United Auto Workers (UAW) members in Detroit.
Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D), were scheduled to meet with UAW members on Thursday afternoon during their second campaign stop in two days in the key battleground state of Michigan.
In the memo, first obtained by The Hill, the Harris campaign highlighted the pair’s track record of supporting labor unions, arguing that the backing of major labor unions is especially beneficial in a fractured media environment.
“The Trump-Vance track record of attacking and undermining unions at every turn is harmful to working families,” Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in the memo. “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have dedicated their entire careers to unions and the American worker, and now the nation’s leading labor unions are bringing all of their organizational muscle and hundreds of millions of dollars to the White House to defeat Trump’s anti-worker policies.”
Chavez Rodriguez noted that while unions have historically played an important role in Blue Wall states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, they are just as important in Sun Belt states like Nevada and Arizona.
“In a fragmented media environment, union leadership has been highly effective at reaching its members and is one of the most trusted organizations among its members,” she wrote. “We have 2.7 million members in battleground states, which is significant considering that four years ago, roughly 45,000 votes in key states decided the election.”
She added that the campaign and unions will work together to “spend hundreds of millions of dollars to reach out to union voters and encourage them to vote in November.”
The memo also highlighted Harris’ record of supporting labor unions as attorney general and senator, citing her walking picket lines with striking United Auto Workers and McDonald’s workers in Nevada in 2019.
Chavez Rodriguez also noted that Walz, a former teacher, is a member of the National Education Association and has signed pro-worker legislation as governor.
Harris has several major Organized Labor Since she took the helm as the Democratic candidate for President Biden, include Harris has indicated she intends to continue with roughly the same labor policies as Biden, who has cast himself as the most pro-union president in history.
Former President Trump has repeatedly insisted that union members support his campaign, even as he clashed with union leaders, including UAW President Sean Fain.
Trump’s allies argue that peeling away some of Biden’s support from labor unions could make a difference in what is expected to be a close election: Trump lost union support by 14 percentage points against Biden in 2020.
Teamsters Chairman Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention after Trump met with the group earlier this year and asked for its support. The Teamsters have never formally endorsed a candidate in the presidential election.
