FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 5, 2024
Media Contact: Aaron Pelo, apelo@miaflcio.org | 734.355.2741
Trump’s “Support” for Workers a Fake Enterprise
CLINTON TWP., Mich. – The Trump re-election campaign paid $20,000 to stage a rally at Drake Enterprises, a non-union parts supplier facility in Michigan, back in September. The rally was seemingly an attempt to curry favor with striking union auto workers after President Biden made history the day before as the first President to walk a picket line. Reporters at the Trump event struggled to find any evidence of auto workers in attendance. In reaction, Michigan AFL-CIO Communications Director Aaron PELO released the following statement:
“Having to pay twenty grand to rent a non-union facility because nobody wanted to host your event is literally so embarrassing. Trump’s whole bit is that he supports blue-collar Americans and wants to protect auto jobs but he couldn’t even find a real auto worker to hold up a rally sign. Scabbing has truly never looked so desperate.”
Trump’s record is decidedly anti-worker. During his presidency he slashed health and safety protections, packed the National Labor Relations Board with anti-union appointees, installed anti-worker judges, oversaw an increase in offshoring, and slashed taxes for billionaires and wealthy corporations at the expense of workers.
From the Detroit News:
“One individual in the crowd who held a sign that said “union members for Trump,” acknowledged that she wasn’t a union member… Another person with a sign that read “auto workers for Trump” said he wasn’t an auto worker.”
The Michigan AFL-CIO, Michigan’s largest labor organization, is a federation representing forty different labor organizations, eighteen different central labor councils, and eight constituency groups representing over 1 million union members and their families.
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