“In the UAW, we’re not Republicans or Democrats, we’re trade unionists.”
— UAW President Shawn Fain in 2025 on his support for Trump’s tariffs.
First of all, shame on Shawn Fain to imply that the Trump presidency is in the interest of unions. Donald Trump is hostile to every interest, vested and unvested, unions maintain. One issue does not justify Fain to speak in favor of Trump.
Moreover, Fain is dead wrong on his support for Trump’s tariffs. Protectionism is the most discredited policy in the history of economics. Tariffs are at the core of protectionism and are inflationary. And studies are overwhelming in the finding that tariffs don’t sustain jobs, good paying or otherwise.
The New York Times ran a recent story warning the Democrats about losing support of union members due to declining support of blue collar workers. But the actual numbers tell a different story. Last year, according to a poll conducted by AP and Fox, Democrat Kamala Harris won 57% of the union vote to 41% for Trump. And this margin was two percentage points higher than the margin by which Joe Biden won over Trump in 2020.
These numbers aren’t necessarily at odds with the assertion in The Times. The numbers also show that Trump won the working class vote (defined as those without a college education) by 12 points. But the prognosis of organized labor’s support for Democrats is not alarming, as union support for the Democrats has grown on a consistent basis since 2016.
This is not to dismiss the concern Democrats must grasp in their quest for support from organized labor. There was a time when union votes for the Democrats were much more reliable. Beginning with the re-election of Richard Nixon in 1972 and culminating in the re-election of Ronald Reagan in 1984, a visceral and undeniable disenchantment union members harbor toward Democrats (especially in presidential elections) emerged within their ranks. While Democrats can take heart in the fact that Harris took the union vote in 2024, the margins maintained today by the Democrats would have been unsatisfactory in years past.
So what is my point? Are Democrats on good terms with organized labor or not? Labor Day weekend is an occasion to ponder this question. The answer is a mixed bag. Though union members are in the Democrats’ column (and will remain so for the foreseeable future), the Democrats do not have a lock on organized labor.
It’s incumbent on Democrats not to take organized labor for granted. But grumbles of union members about Democrats are not based on facts or truth. Unions built the middle-class in this country and forged into our culture the 40 hour work-week and the 8 hour work-day. And non-union workers who enjoy overtime pay, good wages, and health benefits have unions to thank, as employers of the non-union employees extend these advantages only to keep unions out of their workplaces. In an inadvertent pattern, non-union employees are beholden to unions.
But union employees who doubt the role Democrats have played in the above listed gains betray a strain of ingratitude. Indeed, rather than the Democrats taking union members for granted, the reality is the other way around. Social Security, the minimum wage, and Medicare and Medicaid are institutions cherished by organized labor and are the work of Democrats in both the White House and Congress.
The tradition of Labor Day is to celebrate unions. And there is much to celebrate. But unions are democratic institutions, thereby allowing for criticism as well. It’s time unions file their grievances against corporate greed and exploitation instead of blaming their allies. No political party is perfect. But Democrats are organized labor’s best friend.
John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance writer and a graduate of Wayne State University. He is a retired member and officer in AFSCME Local 3309 in Wayne County.
