Harris, Trump, and the Working Class

Trump's got the votes, Harris has got the policies. It's weird.

Ben Shahn, I think.

Happy Labor Day!

Kamala Harris gave a good speech today in Detroit. “We celebrate unions,” she said,

because unions helped build America, and unions helped build America’s middle class…. Nearly 140 years ago, in this very city, ten thousand marched in one of our nation’s first Labor Day parades. Many held signs that read, “Divided, we can beg. United, we can demand.”

Harris was referring to a march down Detroit’s Woodward Avenue that took place in 1865, 29 years before Labor Day was established. In her speech, Harris said that unions raise wages for everybody, not just union members, and she pledged to get the Protecting the Right to Organize bill passed. Harris planned to travel to Pittsburgh to appear jointly with President Joe Biden, who’s strong support for organized labor has been a signature of his presidency.

And Donald Trump, who in 2020 captured 50 percent of all voters who lack a college degree (the conventional pollsters’ definition of the working class) to Biden’s 48 percent?

Who has since expanded that lead from two points to seven points according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted August 9 to 13, and to eight points according to a Fox News poll conducted August 9-12?

Who, according to that same Fox News poll, has narrowed the Democrats’ advantage among union households from 16 percentage points to 10 percentage points?

That Donald Trump? What’s he telling workers this Labor Day?

Nothing.

Trump has no public events scheduled today, per The Washington Times, though the Independent says there will be one “virtual” event in Detroit.

Instead, Trump posted this on Truth Social:

Happy Labor Day to all of our American Workers who represent the Shining Example of Hard Work and Ingenuity. Under Comrade Kamala Harris, all Americans are suffering during this Holiday weekend - High Gas Prices, Transportation Costs are up, and Grocery Prices are through the roof. We can’t keep living under this weak and failed “Leadership.”

….In my First Term, we achieved Major Successes to protect American Workers by negotiating Free and Fair Trade Deals, passing the USMCA (U.S./Mexico/Canada), and giving Businesses and their Workers the tools to thrive. We also invested heavily in Education and Job Training programs for those who wish to expand upon their abilities, and be successful in an Industry that they love. We were an Economic Powerhouse, all because of the American Worker! But Kamala and Biden have undone all of that. When I return to the White House, we will continue upon our Successes by creating an Environment that ensures ALL Workers, and Businesses, have the opportunity to prosper and achieve their American Dream. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

No mention of the PRO Act, and of course no mention of labor unions at all.

Fact check: The 2019 USMCA is Trump’s sole pro-labor accomplishment; it was the first free trade agreement in 18 years to win the endorsement of the AFL-CIO. (The previous one was the far less significant U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement.)

Otherwise, this is all nonsense. As Harris pointed out today, Trump appointed union-busters to the National Labor Relations Board. Trump also substituted industry-led apprenticeship programs with predictably lax standards for existing programs supervised by unions, employers, apprentices, community colleges. Biden reversed that. With respect to Trump’s “Economic Powerhouse” bullshit, when Trump left office unemployment was 6.3 percent, as against 4.3 percent today. Oh, and Trump praised Musk in a recent interview for threatening to fire striking workers.

You can see why the working class loves him so much.

Anyway. My latest New Republic piece offers a cautiously optimistic forecast for organized labor. You can read it here.