United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said his union is “ready to work” with President-elect Donald Trump in a statement released Sunday.
“For 40 years, the American working class, especially manufacturing workers, has been under attack,” Fain wrote in the Washington Post. “Corporate America went on the offensive in the 1980s, closing factories and cutting thousands of jobs.”
Since 2016, Trump has made labor policy, immigration, tariffs and working-class voters central to his campaign and political platform. However, labor union leaders like Fain have not always supported Trump, with Fain having previously endorsed outgoing President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said his union is “ready to work” with President-elect Trump in a statement released Sunday. (Getty Images)
“Donald Trump capitalized on this bipartisan betrayal in 2016, speaking to the anger and disillusionment of workers,” Fain wrote in an op-ed titled “I’m the President of the UAW. We’re Ready to Work with Trump.”
“He promised to fix the system, but his renegotiated NAFTA, known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), didn’t fix the problem,” Fain continued. “Since it passed, the US trade deficit with Mexico has only widened, and thousands of employed workers have continued to leave the country.”
Fain endorsed Harris in 2024 during it presidential campaignsaying the choice for American voters was between returning “a billionaire to office who opposes everything our union stands for or we can elect Kamala Harris, who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war against corporate greed.”
Trump responded sharply to Fain’s comments in his closing speech Republican National Convention (RNC).
“And the leader of the United Auto Workers should be fired immediately,” Trump said in July 2024. “And every single auto worker, union and non-union, should vote for Donald Trump because we’re going to bring auto manufacturing back, and we’re going to bring it back fast. “
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Fain endorsed Harris in 2024 during her presidential campaign, saying the choice for American voters was between returning “a billionaire to office who opposes everything our union stands for or we can elect Kamala Harris.” (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
“While we supported Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, we have said all along that no matter who is in the White House, our fight remains the same,” Fain wrote in his Sunday op-ed for DC media house. “On the campaign trail, Trump promised to use the USMCA’s six-year renegotiation clause to get a ‘much better deal,’ specifically targeting the auto industry. We agree with Trump that the USMCA needs to be fixed.”
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Fain claimed that despite political differences with Trump, he hopes to “find common ground on rethinking our devastating trade policies and rebuilding American manufacturing.”
“As Trump himself has said, ‘free trade’ has been ‘slaughter’ for the American working class,” Fain wrote. “The corporate class has stacked the deck and dealt the losers to American workers. It’s time to reshuffle the deck and fix our broken trade deals for workers everywhere. The UAW stands ready to support any politician or administration that confronts corporate greed to do just that.”
