OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — On a crisp fall morning last week, a brown uniformed UPS worker rushed to the warehouse here to start his shift as a group of teammates handed out campaign literature supporting Kamala Harris for president.
The worker was visibly agitated, gesticulating with his arms and raising his voice.
But he was not angry with those who offered him a sample ballot. He was talking about former Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 war on labor unions in the state. He also talked about former President Donald Trump’s promise to bring a flood of jobs to the state. Through Foxconn, this never materialized.
“Don’t they remember the history of Republicans attacking unions?” Their memories are so short,” he said, incredulous that any union members in Wisconsin now support Trump. “This is great,” he said, holding up a sample ballot and separate flyers for the re-election of Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, as well as Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
It was just one of dozens of conversations that took place here in the 90 minutes between shifts at this UPS facility. Members of the team supporting Harris made what is considered among the most persuasive arguments in the campaign: peer-to-peer. It was part of a broader strategy repeated in Wisconsin, as well as in the battleground states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, aimed at reaching white working-class voters who polls show overwhelmingly favor Trump.
Recently NBC News national survey It showed Trump 56% to 42% among white voters and 65% to 33% among whites without a college degree. Those numbers reflect the battle that Harris’ team has continued in the final days of the campaign.
But while blue-walled battleground states still appear to be in a dead heat, according to polls, part of the strategy behind the Harris campaign has been to try to gain a margin among various groups that have favored Trump in the past.
Such union organizing is just one example of the various efforts— to appeal to soft Republicans to survey rural counties — the well-funded Harris campaign has used it to target specific demographics just 12 days before the Nov. 5 election.
“I’m going to compare it to the kind of top-down astroturf organizing that Elon Musk tried somewhat unsuccessfully,” Josh Orton, Harris’ top labor adviser, said of the Teamsters effort. “In order for such peer-to-peer conversations to be successful, to be trusted and believable, there must be existing relationships. There must be trust and it must be based on facts.”
Sean O’Brien, CEO of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced last month In what was seen as a blow to Harris after the group endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020, the national association said it would not support the race. (However, there were signs in July(Reuters reported that the group considered not endorsing Biden after his speech about his debate performance.) After news broke that the national organization would not endorse Harris, however, local Teamsters groupsincluding the largest, rapidly supported Harris. In all, the campaign says, 1.5 million Teamsters nationally have endorsed Harris.
Trump spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt, however, criticized Trump for his lack of approval from the national union, saying it was “the first time in decades that the approval has been neutralized.”
“Team Trump has a data-driven, people-driven ground operation on every battlefield,” Leavitt said. “We’ve trained tens of thousands of volunteer captains who are specifically focused on getting out the vote and encouraging Americans in their communities to vote for President Trump, and President Trump has more enthusiasm on the ground than Kamala Harris. A clear policy on average that led him to win every battle.”
However, analysts they warned to be very careful noted that by including this survey average, it includes many surveys of red-leaning firms that could alter the average. Regardless, even these numbers move within the margin of error.
Still, Leavitt pointed to an internal Teamsters poll it showed great support For Trump.
There were other points of labor support for Harris. On the day the teams assembled, Jim Ridderbush, vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473, spoke at a rally in Green Bay.
“He crossed the picket line with striking auto workers in 2019,” Ridderbush said to applause. He contradicted Trump by arguing that the former president didn’t think about working people, but instead gave huge tax breaks to companies that moved new jobs overseas.
“He went further to attack unions’ ability to organize,” Ridderbush said. “The bottom line is that Trump is an itch.”
The crowd chanted: “Trump is an itch! Trump is an itch!”
The United Auto Workers union, which has broad representation in Michigan, also threw its weight behind Harris. It recently released its own internal version voting data According to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, among UAW members without a college degree, Harris now leads by 5 points.
“When members hear directly from other members what’s at stake and which candidate to get behind, we can crack,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “By engaging our members and highlighting the issues that matter – their wages, their families and their futures – the union makes a real difference.”
Back in Oshkosh, several workers in Wisconsin said the massive infrastructure build under the Biden administration would boost union jobs for at least a decade.
This includes providing investment More than 1 billion dollars have been allocated To replace the John A. Blatnick Bridge between Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
Daniel Jones, a 37-year team player, pointed to walking picket lines as a sign of the project and that both Biden and Harris will support the effort.
“This will provide many years of gainful employment for construction unions as well as for blacksmiths. This is my tax money going to union workers,” Jones said. “Donald Trump had four years to prepare an infrastructure bill. He would make a promise, but he would never fulfill it.”
Bill Carroll, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 344, pointed out Conservative policy document Project 2025 and among the warning signs if Trump returns to the White House are Trump’s ties to him.
“The labor section of Bill 2025 is a continuation of Scott Walker’s policies: attacking public sector bargaining, national right-to-work, eliminating prevailing wage laws — things that will hurt the ability of average working Americans to work, especially in organized jobs. labor,” he said.
Trump abandoned Project 2025, despite the fact that many of his allies participated in the development of the project.
Some workers gave a thumbs up as they walked briskly holding flyers. Someone called out with a smile, “I already did it!” others share similar sentiments.
Some complained about Trump, noting that he had a public conversation with billionaire Tesla magnate Elon Musk they laughed inside on the dismissal of striking employees.
There were occasional critics. An unnamed man walked past the group, saying he was a staunch Trump supporter.
“I’m Trump all the way,” he said. Asked about Trump’s praise for firing striking workers, he paused, “Well, you’d hate to see that.”
Jacob Ralph, 28, of Oshkosh, quietly took the flyers. He said he hasn’t given much thought to the election yet, but is leaning toward Harris.
“It’s safer,” he said. Another union member, Lori Jensen of Neenah, said she did not want to say who she supported, citing Wisconsin’s highly volatile political climate and deep divisions within her family.
“It’s very explosive for me,” he said.
However, he indicated his support for his local council, which supported Harris.
At one point, an employee turned to approach the group after realizing they were defending Harris. He was hostile to them.
“You haven’t heard of Sean O’Brien? How come Sean O’Brien didn’t support him? he said.
“I can’t speak for Sean,” said one of the organizers, noting that members are free to support whoever they want.
The man replied, “Aren’t you going after your president?”
The organizer replied: “I’ll let Sean speak for himself.”