Detroit Evening Report: UAW endorses Joe Biden for president
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President Joe Biden is greeted by Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, as he arrives to speak to a United Auto Workers' political convention, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Washington.
The United Auto Workers union has endorsed President Joe Biden for re-election.
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UAW President Shawn Fain made the announcement Wednesday at the union’s National Community Action Program Conference in Washington, which Biden also attended.
“I’m honored to have your back and you have mine,” Biden told the cheering crowd. “That’s the deal.”
Numerous unions have already backed Biden. But the UAW withheld its endorsement, in part over concerns about Biden’s push for electric vehicles. Now, the union says Biden presents the best chance for the White House to help blue collar workers in the future.
Biden has long billed himself as the most labor-friendly leader in American history, and was the first U.S. President to march with strikers on a picket line, during the UAW’s strike against Detroit’s automakers.
Courting manufacturing workers could be critical in political battleground states like Michigan.
Labor experts said that the UAW usually endorses candidates later as it has a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters. The endorsement may also sway nonunion blue-collar white males, who have been voting more for Republicans than in the past.
“The days of working people being dealt out of a deal are over in this country as long as I’m president,” Biden told the crowd. “I want to say to all of you thank you, thank you. I could not be more proud.”
The union has more than 380,000 active members and many retirees.
WDET reporter Quinn Klinefelter and Associated Press writers Tom Krisher, Fatima Hussein, Darlene Superville, Zeke Miller and Colleen Long contributed to this report.
Other headlines for Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024:
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her sixth State of the State address this evening at 7 p.m.
- A Detroit man was bound over this week and will stand trial for the murder of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll.
- Ford is recalling nearly two million Explorer SUVs in the U.S due to a hazard that could be caused by pieces of trim flying off the vehicle.
- The Detroit Lions set a new decibel record in Ford Field last weekend during the Lions playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Lions will play the 49ers in San Francisco on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game.
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