Organized labor has been President Joe Biden’s ally for the last two weeks. However, some are beginning to question that support, both in private and in public.
Concerns about the president’s position on the Gaza war and his poor debate performance have prompted state and local leaders at the National Education Association, the biggest labor union in the US, to publicly voice their reservations about its endorsement of Biden.
Three anonymous sources with knowledge of the meeting said that union leaders, such as Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants and Shawn Fain of the United Auto Workers, voiced their concerns about the president’s chances of being re-elected at a closed-door meeting between AFL-CIO officials and campaign officials this week.
On Friday, Nelson clarified that her comments were “distorted” and that she fully supports “President Biden and Vice President Harris,” but she did admit to having misgivings. At the same time, Fain seemed to travel farther.
At a seminar for labor activists in Baltimore on Friday, Fain stated, “In this election, we can’t put our heads in the sand and hide from reality.” That was an unsuccessful attempt in 2016. Embracing the truth, even when it’s painful, is the hallmark of true democracy and effective leadership.
It would appear that most union leaders are not going anywhere soon from their support of Biden, who has accomplished a lot of their main goals. The must-win states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are at stake, and the rumblings suggest that Biden might not have the unanimous backing of a bedrock constituency.
According to a former union president who is still involved with the movement, “Everyone’s a little nervous,” and other people are “extremely nervous,” as they told AWN on Friday.
At a time when his campaign has attempted, with mixed success, to halt the torrent of calls from congressional Democrats and other supporters to step aside, Biden’s steady union support is important.
The president has received full support from the AFL-CIO’s upper echelons. During a campaign event in Detroit on Friday, Liz Shuler, head of the union federation, joined Biden. Following the event, she issued a letter to Democrats in Congress, which AWN obtained, in which she urged them to “stand with us as we stand with President Biden and Vice President Harris.”
An aide to the Biden campaign, Kevin Munoz, made the following statement: “President Biden has labor’s back, and he’s proud labor has his.”
Two sources familiar with the matter said that following Biden’s speech earlier this week, the executive council members of the AFL-CIO met with campaign workers from Biden’s campaign and the atmosphere was very different.
According to one of the attendees, “I don’t know if the right word is ‘contentious,’ but there were people who spoke who were not happy with the campaign,” mentioning names like Fain and Nelson.
It appears that union officials, like other Democratic-aligned groups, were frightened by Biden’s performance in the debate.
The AFL-CIO organized a “special call” with local union leaders from the United States who are part of Central Labor Councils just days after the debate. During the call, Shuler reaffirmed the organization’s support for Biden, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
An anonymous source added, “I’m sure people in the Biden campaign wanted to shore up people in the AFL-CIO nationally, and that’s why that call happened.” Their statement was never officially confirmed. “We have a call scheduled for three o’clock in the afternoon on July 3.”
The call was described by AFL-CIO spokesperson Mia Jacobs as a typical engagement with local officials, challenging that interpretation.
Among labor leaders, Biden’s accomplishments in fulfilling his campaign pledge to become the “most pro-union president in history” are commonly acknowledged.
In exchange, with a handful of prominent exceptions, they rallied behind the president’s reelection record-breakingly quickly. A few have taken offense to the concerns voiced by some inside their own ranks.
Biden was formally urged to remain in the race by the head of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in a letter submitted to the White House on Friday.
“Seniority is highly esteemed in the IAM,” stated Brian Bryant, the worldwide president of the union. We think that a person’s past actions are the greatest predictor of their future actions. Also, people who have already shown they can handle the position, and have done it admirably, should keep doing it.
Still, next week during the Republican National Convention, Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien will speak, putting the union’s lack of unity on full display.
Other union officials are furious with O’Brien because, despite his request, he has not yet received an invitation to the Democratic convention, regardless of their reservations about Biden.
Former union president claims she “pushed every button I know” to prevent the invitee from attending the Democratic National Convention. “The Republican convention is no place for anybody speaking for the working class.”
