This year saw some real gains for workers and unions but it may be hard to sustain the momentum in 2025.
The UAW’s reform movement brought membership back into the fold, harnessing their energy and forging it into a weapon that could force the companies to bend.
The electric vehicle sector is growing fast, and auto companies have been using the transition as an excuse to open non-union plants. Organizing them is do-or-die for the UAW.
Some unions are making huge efforts to talk to members about the stakes of the 2024 election. Rather than sit by while union members hear pro-Trump messages, unions like the UAW and UNITE HERE are taking leadership and engaging voters on the issues.
Workers say speaking with voters in person is important as they aim to knock on millions of doors for the Democrat.
Anyone wanting substantive discussion of jobs in last night’s debate was disappointed. But because of the UAW’s organizing and strikes over the past year, both Trump and Harris felt compelled to insist they were the best candidate for autoworkers.
Workers at Ultium’s Spring Hill electric vehicle plant, a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution of Korea, have unionized. It’s the latest case of the UAW’s Big Three strike bearing fruit.
In the United States and Canada, we’ve seen an increase in labor militancy. This upsurge is a chance to inject working-class politics into the political arena, which has so far been mostly unresponsive to workers’ demands.
Harris will almost certainly win the labor vote, but what will really matter is Trump's ability to cut into her margins with appeals to working-class voters on issues like immigration and trade.
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