By Tom Krisher, Fatima Hussein and Darlene Superville | Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden picked up the endorsement of the United Auto Workers on Wednesday as he addressed the powerful union’s political convention.
Biden, a Democrat, is pushing to sway blue-collar workers his way in critical auto-making swing states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, hoping to cut into the advantage that Republican former President Donald Trump has enjoyed with white voters who don’t have a college degree. Labor experts said that the UAW usually endorses candidates later as it has a mix of Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters.
“This November we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause, or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way. That’s what this choice is about,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in announcing Biden’s endorsement.
Biden will speak as the union closes out a three-day gathering in Washington to chart its political priorities. It will be his first political event since Tuesday’s primary vote in New Hampshire, where Trump cemented his hold on core Republican voters with a victory and Biden scored a write-in win.
Biden frequently bills himself as the most labor-friendly leader in American history, and went so far as to turn up on a picket line with union workers at a GM parts warehouse in the Detroit area during a strike last fall.
“He heard the call and he stood up and he showed up,” Fain said of Biden’s historic picket line appearance. He drew a contrast between Biden’s pro-union efforts and Trump, who he said was anti-union.
As recently as Monday, Fain was restrained in his comments, saying as the conference opened, “We have to make our political leaders stand up with us. Support our cause, or you will not get our endorsement.”
At this week’s conference, support for Biden among union members has varied from enthusiastic to uncertainty about…
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