Biden vs. Trump: Who’s more pro-union — and will it determine who wins?

MILWAUKEE — Could the American worker determine who wins the presidency in November? Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump seem to think so.

Unions and blue-collar workers have historically supported Democrats, but that could be changing. With the November election less than four months away, as the Democratic Party highlights its long pro-union record, the Republican Party is carving out support from workers who feel dejected by high prices.

On the first day of the Republican National Convention, Trump’s plans to appeal to workers and unions was evident, with union speakers Robert “Bobby” Bartels Jr., a member of Steamfitters Local 638, and Sean O’Brien, general president of the 1.3 million member International Brotherhood of Teamsters, taking the stage.

“Like many of my fellow union members, I have been a Democrat my whole life, and like so many of my fellow union members, we have come to expect empty promises from Democratic politicians,” Bartels said Monday, ending his speech saying he and other union members will vote for Trump in the fall.

O’Brien, who said he was the first Teamster in its 121 year history to address the Republican convention, highlighted the union’s bipartisan history and said past Teamsters endorsed GOP candidates like Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush.

“I want to be clear: At the end of the day, the Teamsters aren’t interested if you have a D, R or an I next to your name,” he said at the convention, with Trump watching in the audience. “We want to know one thing: What are you doing to help American workers?”

O’Brien and other Teamster leaders are considering not endorsing a candidate in the presidential race, according to Reuters, which would damage Biden’s re-election bid, as the union endorsed him in 2020. It is not likely the union will endorse Trump, though the internal divisions within the union may signify a shift away from the long loyalty to Democrats.

Fighting for the union vote

In Nevada, which has a large hospitality workforce and union members, could that make the difference in who wins the Silver State in November?

Nevada Republican Party Michael McDonald said Trump is making strides in “helping out unions” and “fighting for working men and women,” pointing to Trump’s plan to end the federal taxes on tips.

Democrats, however, say Biden’s pro-union history is indisputable. At a press conference here on Tuesday, Democrats compared and contrasted Biden’s record with Trump’s and highlighted the pro-worker policies of Biden, who was the first sitting president to walk the picket line when he joined autoworkers in Detroit who were striking for higher wages and cost of living increases.

“I think that the GOP is trying to pull the wool over Americans’ eyes about what they actually stand for,” said Biden-Harris Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks at the press conference Tuesday.

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Trump picked someone as his secretary of labor who was anti-union. Trump’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration supported measures to speed up processing plant lines and he rolled back worker safety protections. The Biden administration is working to give workers “crazy things like rest breaks,” Booker said.

“This is a clear contrast, America,” Booker said.

Liz Shuler, president of the 12.5 million member AFL-CIO called Biden the most pro-union president, saying he “walks picket line” while Trump “crosses picket lines.”

“I believe when working people have the facts and they see the stark choices that we’ve been talking about this morning, we are going to invest in ourselves, we are going to invest in our future and we are going to support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, who have a clear record and stand with working people,” she said.

Nevada union support?

Trump has used union labor for most of his projects in New York, and during his administration, he fought to provide more access and knock down barriers Democrats put up, McDonald said. The Republican Party and Trump, whom McDonald called a “blue-collar billionaire,” helps the worker, McDonald said.

McDonald has walked the picket line with strikes before and has had union support, he said. It’s not impossible for Republicans to gain that union support, which could make the difference in the election, he said.

“They’re taking their memberships to the best person who can do the job,” he said.

Trump plans to increase domestic manufacturing and balance the trade deficit, according to his campaign.

“Union workers and all the nation’s working families are paying the price for Crooked Joe Biden’s failed economic policies,” a campaign national press secretary said in a statement. “When President Trump returns to the White House he will get the U.S. economy back on track, rescue our industrial base, and make America great again.”

Major Nevada unions, however, still support Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The AFSCME Local 4041, for instance, endorsed the ticket as well as Democrats down the ballot for the primary.

Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer for the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 and Bartenders Union Local 165, which represents 60,000 workers in Las Vegas and Reno, thinks the election is going to turn on “working class voter issues at the end of the day, and President Biden is the absolute best president of our lifetime for workers.”

The Culinary, a political powerhouse that has gotten key Democratic leaders elected through get-out-the-vote efforts, has previously endorsed Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and Gov. Kenny Guinn, but a “new breed” of Republicans are not union-friendly, while Nevada Democrats have supported workers, Pappageorge said.

He supports Trump and Republicans’ efforts to ban federal taxes on tips — which Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen signed onto — but he thinks Republicans are trying a “new shtick” to appeal to Nevada workers.

“Politicians should be speaking to working class issues, and if they do, that’s gonna, we think, make the difference in the election,” Pappageorge said.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.