Labor leaders sent a message loud and clear on the opening day Monday of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago: Unions stand behind Vice President Kamala Harris in her quest to keep former President Donald Trump out of the White House.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain summed up the sentiment when he removed his blazer while speaking onstage, revealing a red T-shirt that read: “Trump is a scab. Vote Harris.”
“When the UAW stands up, we know who stands with us and who stands against us,” Fain told the crowd. “Donald Trump laughs about firing workers who go on strike. Kamala Harris stands shoulder to shoulder with workers when they’re on strike. And that’s the difference.”
Delegates responded to Fain’s remarks with chants of “Trump’s a scab!”
Fain was one of a half-dozen union leaders who addressed the crowd Monday night, showcasing the Democratic Party’s close ties to organized labor.
Some of the largest unions quickly announced they were backing Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, and the AFL-CIO labor federation of 60 unions said Harris received a unanimous endorsement from its executive council.
Organized labor is historically a pillar of the Democratic Party and could prove pivotal in driving turnout for Harris and down-ballot Democrats in battleground states such as Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Kenneth Cooper, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, urged union members to get behind the Harris campaign, noting that Harris had cast a tie-breaking vote to pass a massive pension rescue for union workers and retirees.
“She has come through for all of us,” Cooper said. “Now it’s our turn to come through for her.”
There was, however, one striking omission from the DNC’s union-heavy speaker list on Monday: Sean M. O’Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
O’Brien angered many Democrats and union activists when he sought and accepted Trump’s invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last month. Trump was overtly hostile to unions and union organizing during his first term in the White House, and precious few Republicans support policies that would bolster the labor movement.
O’Brien used the opportunity at the RNC to court Republican support for unions. But his appearance, which included praising Trump as “one tough S.O.B.,” may have come at a political price: A Teamsters spokesperson told HuffPost that the DNC never responded to O’Brien’s request for a speaker slot in Chicago.