Fain: Doing His Part
By 
The fact of the matter is that unions have not done a good job of political education in recent decades and lots of union members simply don’t see their union membership or interests as important as their racial or gendered interests. And yes, race is as real as class, unlike what certain types of class-first leftists assert. Sometimes, unions elect a leader like Sean O’Brien with the Teamsters–a democratic, anti-corruption candidate who ends up just challenging his members’ worst parts. But sometimes you end up with Shawn Fain at the United Auto Workers, doing all he can to turn around that lack of political education and urge his members to do the right thing.
In the livestreamed speech to union members, Fain asserted the stark differences on labor issues and on policies affecting auto workers, between Trump and Harris.
According to the union, a majority of its members are supporting Harris over Trump.
“You can disagree with me and you can vote however you’re going to vote,” Fain continued. “But you cannot ignore our duty as a union to fight like hell for social and economic justice for every single member of this union and every single member of the working class.”
A poll conducted by the union in October 2024 found UAW members favor Harris over Trump by 22 percentage points, with 57% of members supporting Harris and 32% of members supporting Trump. The poll was conducted among union members in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Members who reported hearing from the union about the election support Harris over Trump by 29 percentage points. The poll noted the union engaged with 293,000 active and retired UAW members and their families.
In Michigan, the poll found UAW members support Harris over Trump by 20 percentage points.
“We can’t sit this one out,” concluded Fain. “Every organizing campaign, every contract, every grievance settlement will be impacted by this election. If the billionaires take back our presidency through their lap dog, that lap dog Donald Trump, you can be damn sure that every single CEO in this country will smell blood in the water.”
There’s a lot more to do going forward to really build the union movement back into a force for the Democratic Party, but Fain is doing his part.