Posts tagged battleground states
Walz will address union members in first solo campaign stop
August 13, 2024 // As Minnesota governor, Walz signed a variety of pro-worker laws supported by labor — most significantly paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. He also supported laws that banned noncompete agreements, prohibited employers from holding mandatory meetings intended to persuade workers against unionizing, raised safety standards in warehouses and meatpacking plants, and expanded unemployment benefits to hourly school employees who do not work during the summer.
Labor’s GOP flirtation heightens Democrats’ 2024 election nerves
June 20, 2024 // In February, the Teamsters made its first major donation to the RNC since 2004 after its president, Sean O'Brien, met with former President Trump the previous month. O'Brien has since requested speaking slots at both the Republican and Democratic conventions. Another sign of a potential shift: The United Auto Workers — a powerful force in battleground Michigan — waited until January to endorse Biden amid tensions over electric vehicles. The Biden administration has enacted policies strengthening unions, with the president also taking the unprecedented step of visiting a UAW picket line last September before winning the group's endorsement.
Why is union support so important in politics?
March 5, 2024 // LaShawn English is the director for Region 1 of the UAW, and she said President Biden's support during their recent strike was critical. "We just came out of a strike. So 70% of Americans supported our strike, and we had a president who came out and supported our strike. So his actions pretty much swayed us in the way we needed to support someone because we wouldn't have won the things that we have," said English. English and her members have met with President Biden and had the opportunity to talk with him, and she said those interactions only solidified her support for the president. She has said she would "run through a wall" for him, and that there is nothing he could do that would change her support for the president.