President Joe Biden proudly called himself the most pro-labor president But working-class voters have moved farther from their traditional home in the Democratic Party than ever before in this year’s election, prompting some to rethink their approach to winning over working-class voters.
Although unions say extensive organizing efforts have helped Democrats greatly hold the line along with its members – the support of Vice President Kamala Harris among the union houses this year It was slightly lower than Biden in 2020Party erosion among working-class voters is of greater concern, according to an NBC News exit poll.
“I don’t think the party has really embraced and accepted working class people in decades,” said Brent Booker, general president of the Workers’ International Union of North America. “If the Democratic Party is going to be the party of the working people, we have to deconstruct it and rebuild it.”
Union membership has soared over the past 50 years, so union leaders say 9 out of 10 people around the world have a lot to do. workers there are no unions, and larger trends separate workers from the Democratic Party.
“We cannot communicate with every non-union worker. We can only communicate with a portion of our membership,” said Booker, who thinks Democrats can do better with a more flamboyant populist message on the economy and a cooler message on cultural issues that leave some of their members feeling left out by Democrats. -touch the elitists. “Many of our members have weapons. Many of our members hunt.”
Booker said he heard about inflation, immigration and the collapse of the Keystone Pipeline, which would have created jobs for its members but was killed over environmental concerns, when he toured job sites this year — all issues that played in the GOP’s favor.
The working class is hard to define in a postindustrial economy. But whether measured by income or education, President-elect Donald Trump won working-class voters overall, while making strong gains among non-white working-class voters such as Hispanics and Asian Americans.
As recently as 2012, voters without a college education split their votes evenly or slightly in favor of Democrats. According to NBC News exit polls, they are 2-1 for Trump over Harris this year. Former President Barack Obama won 57% of people making $30,000 to $49,999 in 2012, while Trump won 53% to 45% this year.
Democrats have become wealthier and more educated as educated professionals who used to vote Republican have turned away from Trump. But it has further removed party leaders, donors, operatives and other decision-makers from the lives of low- and middle-income workers, some labor leaders say.
For example, they They say Democrats are refusing to acknowledge the impact of post-Covid inflation, where higher-income professionals are increasingly marginalized, and are instead trying to convince Americans to believe in abstract economic metrics over painful credit card swipe experiences at the grocery store.
Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Artists and Allied Trades, said, “They failed to address inflation, say it’s not a big problem or that the pain that working people are feeling right now is not real.” X said. “The Democratic Party has continued to fail to prioritize a strong, working-class message that addresses the issues that really matter to workers.”
Unions such as Workers and Artists tend to be whiter, more masculine and more conservative than service sector unions. And the labor movement contains many ideas. But there is widespread frustration with Trump’s overreach and resentment of Democrats to portray himself as a champion of working people. not limited to white or male union members.
“The narrative he was able to craft was almost right out of the union playbook in terms of focusing on the economy and jobs, bringing back manufacturing jobs, being tough on China, making sure that working families can put more money into their jobs. pocket,” said Liz Schuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the giant labor federation of 60 unions that together represent 12 million people.
Schuler said this message comes from a billionaire who is toughing out workers fell very little about the promised job creation is bogus – “He talks a good game but never delivers” – but he cannot deny his electoral strength.
Trump addressed the rank-and-file members directly, telling them to “ignore the leaders of the union.” breaking their membership with ridiculously high fees” — even though it sometimes does non-union workers.
And working-class support for Democrats is not a new phenomenon. But some in the party say these long-term trends have reached a crisis point.
“If you’re a middle-class working person, do you really think the Democratic Party is going to the mats, taking on powerful special interests and fighting for you? “I think the big answer is no,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Democrats tried to win back working-class voters with policies designed to help them, especially supporting unions.
The accepted theory on the left is that good politics leads to good politics, and if you do things to improve their lives, people will reward you with their votes. But the consequences of this strategy they are disappointed.
Biden went to the unions. One of his first actions as president is one An $83 billion taxpayer-funded bailout Teamsters pension fund. He even launched his second presidential campaign from the Teamsters hall in Pittsburgh, saying, “I make no apologies. I’m a trade unionist.”
However, the teams could not return this favor. Teamsters leaders decided not to endorse after polls of nearly 1.3 million rank-and-file members found that 60% supported Trump and only 34% supported Harris.
Most unions still supported Harris, as is typical of a Democratic presidential candidate, but the Teamsters weren’t the only union to break from precedent. International Association of Fire Fighters and International Coastal Associationboth endorsed Biden and the United Mine Workers of America in 2020 out of the race absolutely.
Despite Biden’s embrace of organized labor policy wish listfrom appointments to the pro-union National Labor Relations Board to executive actions to strengthen unions while creating millions of union jobs through massive spending on infrastructure, clean energy and semiconductors. Biden was even the first president go to the strike picket line.
Harris, who has been a longtime champion of organized labor in the Senate since he was named the party’s nominee also crossed the picket lineHe pledged to support and expand Biden’s pro-union policies.
But these policies were not enough to overcome larger societal forces that caused many working-class voters to question the Democrats’ commitment to their welfare.
“If there’s a single lesson from the last election, and really the last four years, it’s that handing out handouts to workers won’t help you in an election,” said Will Stancil, a progressive political analyst who follows social media extensively. “It basically destroys the entire political theory of the left.”