Trump made big gains among blue-collar workers. Is he really on their side?

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON : Under Donald Trump, Republicans have drawn swaths of working-class voters away from the Democratic Party.

That presents the president-elect with the challenge of how, if at all, to reflect that new reality in his labor policies. While campaigning, Trump aggressively courted rank-and-file union members and invited Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to speak at the Republican National Convention in July.

At the same time, the former real-estate developer suggested in an interview with Elon Musk, just named to co-head a government efficiency commission, that striking workers should be fired. He recalled at a rally that he “hated to give overtime." The dissonance reflects a deeper fight over labor policy that is unfolding within the Republican Party.

It pits old-guard conservatives who prefer low taxes and minimal government intervention and have generally been hostile to unions, against a self-proclaimed New Right that says it wants to empower workers—and counts Vice President-elect JD Vance among its followers. People close to the transition said Trump’s potential appointments to key labor positions could include old-guard Republican functionaries, corporate executives, or individuals who are closer to the New Right and see themselves as more pro-worker.

“I think there are some issues where, in the past, a Republican administration would just come in and do the reverse of what the Democratic administration did," such as getting rid of union-friendly government contracts, said Oren Cass, founder of American Compass, a New Right think tank. “I don’t think those things are going to be automatic at all." But union officials said Trump’s record is at odds with his pro-worker