Biden to speak at United Auto Workers conference as he woos blue-collar vote in battleground states
President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker at a United Auto Workers’ political convention as he works to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker Wednesday at a United Auto Workers' political convention as he works to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin.
Biden will speak as the union closes out a three-day gathering in Washington to chart its political priorities but leaders kept mum in advance about whether they will use the moment to endorse the Democrat’s bid for a second term — or hold out longer to try to increase the UAW's leverage.
It will be Biden's first political event since Tuesday's primary vote in New Hampshire, where former President Donald Trump cemented his hold on core Republican voters with a victory and Biden scored a write-in win.
Biden frequently bills himself as the most labor-friendly leader in American history, and went so far as to turn up on a picket line with union workers at a GM parts warehouse in the Detroit area during a strike last fall.
But as recently as Monday, UAW President Shawn Fain was restrained in his comments, saying as the conference opened, «We have to make our political leaders stand up with us. Support our cause, or you will not get our endorsement.”
At this week's conference, support for Biden among union members has varied from enthusiastic to uncertainty about whether to even vote come Election Day.
Caroline Loveless, a Waterloo, Iowa, resident and retired UAW member, said she would enthusiastically vote for Biden, recalling his appearance on a picket line during last fall's strike.
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