Trump makes play for UAW support amid strike threats

(NewsNation) — Former President Trump’s campaign joined the conversation Thursday as contract talks between Detroit’s big automakers and the United Auto Workers labor union intensified.

Trump’s campaign aimed its ire at the Biden administration’s plans to push more Americans to use electric vehicles.

“Joe Biden’s Electric Vehicle mandate will murder the U.S. auto industry and kill countless union autoworker jobs forever, especially in Michigan and the Midwest,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement. “There is no such thing as a ‘fair transition’ to the destruction of these workers’ livelihoods and the obliteration of this cherished American industry.”

Negotiations between UAW and the Big Three — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — began in early July over pay increases, pensions and career security. 

One of the major concerns of the autoworkers threatening to strike is how a shift to EVs could threaten their jobs and pay.

“On Balance” host Leland Vittert says the looming UAW strike puts President Joe Biden in the middle of his two core constituencies: Union workers and climate change progressives who are at odds over the electric vehicle debate.

Biden’s administration proposed new car regulations in April, attempting to require automakers to limit their greenhouse gas emissions from their fleets. Under this proposal, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projected two-thirds of car sales could be EVs by 2032. 

“The only acceptable policy for UAW members should be the complete and total repeal of Biden’s catastrophic EV mandate,” the Trump campaign statement read. 

“President Trump looks forward to doing exactly that on his first day back in the Oval Office. Union leadership must decide whether they will stand with Biden and other far-left political cronies in Washington, or whether they will stand with front-line autoworkers and President Trump,” the statement continued.

General Motors’ first wage-and-benefit offer to the United Auto Workers on Thursday fell far short of the union’s initial demands and a potential strike by 146,000 United Auto Workers union members inched closer to its deadline.

The union is threatening to strike any automaker that hasn’t reached an agreement by the time contracts expire at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.

Over Labor Day, Biden told reporters he doesn’t think the UAW members will strike.

Biden, who often says he’s the most pro-union president in history, has touted the importance of organized labor and applauded American workers in building the economy.

The Associated Press and The Hill contributed to this report.