After four years of grappling with the fact that many of its own members supported Donald Trump on his way to winning the White House in 2016, the leadership of the United Steelworkers has again endorsed a Democrat for the presidency, putting its support behind former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday.
The union, headquartered in Pittsburgh and representing more than 1 million workers in North America, came to its decision after a monthslong effort of talking to its members about their concerns and priorities, according to a statement. It had also shared with its members the results of questionnaires it sent to prospective presidential candidates last fall — a series of issues-based questions that Mr. Trump did not answer.
“We listened to our members when they told us that their top issues were affordable health care and prescription drugs, retirement security, and labor laws that protect working people,” USW president Tom Conway said.
Deeming Mr. Biden a longtime friend of workers who will put the U.S. “back on a path toward shared prosperity through responsible leadership,” Mr. Conway added that the former vice president shared his plans for expanding access to affordable health care, protecting Americans who have pre-existing conditions and defending and expanding labor rights, among other policy themes.
The union endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, warning at the time that Mr. Trump has shown an affinity for wealthy and powerful people rather than those of the working class. Its former president, Leo Gerard, had said that a Trump administration would support “union-busting legislation” and try to repeal the Affordable Care Act without having a plan to replace it.
But Mr. Trump ended up winning the election with the support of many union workers in manufacturing. Mr. Gerard told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last year that Mr. Trump’s promise to rewrite trade deals resonated with members, fracturing the union that had usually been loyal to Democrats.
Mr. Gerard also warned that Democrats cannot ignore the issue of trade, and at a gathering of more than 600 union members in Washington late last year, executives pushed for more internal messaging with members about the ways Mr. Trump has failed to deliver on his promises to them.
In the Wednesday statement, Mr. Conway said Mr. Biden’s record shows he’ll “help keep workers healthy and safe” and foster an administration that “takes workplace health and safety seriously.”
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1952, Twitter @julianrouth.
First Published: May 20, 2020, 11:43 p.m.
