(New York) The metalworkers union (USW) on Wednesday supported Joe Biden for the November presidential election, where he must face his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
“President Biden has proven time and time again during his first term that he stands with working families,” David McCall, the union’s international president, said in a statement.
“His vision and governance have enabled our country to strengthen workers’ access to collective agreement negotiations, to grow the middle class and lead it on the path to broader prosperity,” he said. he adds.
This announcement comes a few days after Mr. Biden announced that he was opposed to the takeover of the American steel group US Steel by the Japanese group Nippon Steel.
“US Steel has been an iconic company for more than a century, and it is vital that it remains an American company, controlled and managed from the United States,” Joe Biden said on March 15.
Concern is particularly strong in Pennsylvania (northeast), a state in which US Steel’s headquarters are located and which could be decisive in the presidential election in November.
The USW is fiercely opposed to the nearly $15 billion buyout project announced in December. On the other hand, he supports a marriage with the American steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, whose offer was rejected by U.S Steel in the summer of 2023.
Crucial vote
The vote of industrial workers could weigh heavily in the presidential election in November, especially in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio. These states are likely to lean Democratic or Republican from one presidential election to the next.
The USW clarified that its call to vote for Biden stemmed from a “long process” of reflection, including consulting its members to find out their priorities.
He also said he sent candidates from both parties a detailed questionnaire “to determine where each of them stood on fundamental issues.”
These themes included retirement security, affordable health care and legislation favoring the establishment of unions.
“The Biden administration has revitalized the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board so that they can once again fulfill their mission of defending the working class,” noted Mr. McCall.
With his laws on investment in infrastructure or the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – a vast energy transition and social reform program –, among others, the Democratic president “is keeping his promises to create good jobs with unions “, he continued.
Mr. Biden already received the support of the powerful American automobile union UAW at the end of January.
“I kept my promise to be the most pro-union president. I am proud of your support. […] You have mine,” responded Mr. Biden, the first American president in the country’s history to go on a picket line, in 2023.
The UAW led an unprecedented six-week strike in the fall of 2023 against the three largest American manufacturers: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, owner of the Chrysler brand.