Pennsylvania unions rally for Trump ahead of election: ‘We’ll save us again’

Pennsylvania Steelworkers defy union leadership to support former president Donald Trump as the country catapults toward Election Day.

Ahead of Trump’s speech at a Monday evening rally in Pittsburgh, members of the Steelworkers union unionwhose headquarters is in the city, people stood in lines waiting to catch a glimpse of the Republican presidential candidate. As Trump spoke, hard hat-wearing USW workers surrounded him in the background, joining thousands of roaring supporters as he said, “We’ve waited four years for this.”

“He saved us once with tariffs,” commented one steelworker named Ron Anderson. Politician report. “He will save us again.”

2024 ELECTION LIVE UPDATE: LATEST NEWS ON TRUMP-HARRIS PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Trump has repeatedly promised to impose tariffs on China and Mexico if he wins the election. argue that they took jobs away from American workers and helped turn former manufacturing hot spots like Detroit, Michigan, into ghost towns.

Anderson’s comments supporting the former president’s economic plans mark a complete break with the USW’s decision to support Vice President Kamala Harris in July.

At the time, the powerful union, which represents 1.2 million members and retirees, touted the vice president as “an important part of the most pro-Labor administration of our time, supporting countless initiatives to advance the interests of working families.”

However, many members were inconsistent with the leadership, including one local Pennsylvania group, Steelworkers for Trump, which enrolled Trump while maintaining their jobs.

Steelworkers aren’t the only union members who have split with union bosses over Trump.

While the Teamsters, one of the most powerful unions in the country, has refused to endorse Harris, it has also refused to endorse the former president, despite an internal poll released last month showing that 59.6% of its 1.3 million members support Trump. .

Meanwhile, Trump allies have touted domestic support from the United Auto Workers union, which formally endorsed Harris in July.

“We’ve been talking to auto mechanics (UAW) all summer, four or five months, and I’ve been asking them, I’m doing my own survey, ‘What’s it like inside?’ Are they voting for Trump? How is our support? a Trump surrogate said during a recent campaign rally in Warren, Michigan.

“They would say “most.” You have 65 or 70%. We don’t vote for Joe Biden and then Kamala Harris. … UAW members are voting for Donald Trump,” he continued.

Harris still boasts support from most unions across the country, with a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America introducing her at an event in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, on Monday afternoon.

“We must put everything we have into fighting for Kamala Harris in these final hours because the stakes are too high for workers in Pennsylvania not to,” union member Glen Arthur said as he welcomed the vice president to the stage. .

However, the decision by the International Longshoremen’s Association and the International Association of Fire Fighters to also withhold support from Harris’ campaign has angered leading Democrats.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Ordinary union members are one thing. Union leadership is a more political issue than what I’m doing now. They have to cover their ass with their stuff,” Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), who is Harris’ vice presidential running mate, said during an appearance at SmartLess podcast which aired on Monday. “And I’m just as upset about it as you are.”

As millions of voters, including many union workers across Pennsylvania, head to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots, Trump has a razor-thin position. edge over Harris in the Keystone State.