Leaders of labor unions are reportedly backing away from President Joe Biden, suggesting they want another Democrat candidate in his place. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), are actively courting support from union workers who are increasingly out of line with the Democrat Party’s upper-middle-class leftism.
On Friday, leaders with Local 3000 of the United Food and Commercial Workers of Washington publicly demanded Biden quit his reelection bid.
“If President Biden continues to demonstrate that he is unable to effectively campaign, and subsequently loses in November, the advances workers have made will be at immediate risk in a second Trump administration,” union executives wrote in a letter to the Washington congressional delegation:
Unions cannot sit on the sidelines while working people are under attack. Working people need a leader who can effectively deliver a strong message between now and November, and then implement that vision over the next four years. We call on President Biden to pass the torch to the next generation. He has much to celebrate over his career of accomplishments fighting alongside working people, but it is time for him to retire with dignity, and campaign as hard as we all will for an alternative candidate. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise. [Emphasis added]
We urge you, members of our Washington State Congressional Delegation, to call on President Joe Biden to step aside for a new generation of leadership. [Emphasis added]
At the same time, the New York Times reported that United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain mentioned concerns over Biden’s candidacy, as did Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson.
Similarly, Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in a historic moment for the GOP. In his speech, O’Brien noted that his union is eager to work with Republicans like Trump and Vance, who are open to the plight of union workers.
“President Trump had the backbone to open the doors to this Republican convention, and that’s unprecedented,” O’Brien said. “No other nominee in the race would’ve invited the Teamsters into this arena.”
Afterward, O’Brien made a point to note that he has yet to be invited to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to speak, and the union has not yet endorsed in the presidential election.
Trump and Vance are actively courting support from the nation’s working and middle class — including union workers and union households in historically Democrat communities that are increasingly disenfranchised by the left.
“Today, our cities are flooded with illegal aliens. Americans are being squeezed out of the labor force, and their jobs are taken,” Trump said in his RNC speech. “By the way, you know who’s taking the jobs, the jobs that are created? One hundred and seven percent of those jobs are taken by illegal aliens … they’re also taking them from unions. The unions are suffering because of it.”
Vance, a fierce populist-nationalist, also made a pitch to union workers in his RNC address.
“We need a leader who’s not in the pocket of big business but answers to the working man, union and nonunion alike,” Vance said. “A leader who won’t sell out to multinational corporations but will stand up for American companies and American industry.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.