President Joe BidenAllies of organized labor have supported him over the past two weeks. But for some, that support is starting to waver — both behind closed doors and in public.
State and local leaders of the National Education Association, the largest labor union in the U.S., have begun to publicly express reservations about Biden’s endorsement. Those concerns, initially prompted by the president’s stance on the war in Gaza, have been exacerbated by his poor performance in debates.
During a closed-door meeting between AFL-CIO leaders and campaign officials this week, union leaders, including the president of the United Auto Workers, spoke Shawn Fain and the Association of Flight Attendants Sara Nelsonexpressed concerns about the president’s path to a second term, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations.
Nelson said Friday that her comments were “twisted” and that “President Biden and Vice President Harris have my full support,” but acknowledged that she was raising concerns. Fain, meanwhile, appeared to move on.
“In this election, we can't bury our heads in the sand and hide from reality,” Fain said Friday at a labor activist conference in Baltimore. “We tried that in 2016 and it didn't work. Real democracy and real leadership is about not being afraid of the truth — even the hard truths.”
The vast majority of union leaders show no sign of giving up their championship of Biden, who has delivered on many of their top priorities. Still, the rumors suggest that Biden may not have broad support among the grassroots constituency that will be crucial in must-win states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
“Everyone is a little nervous,” a former union president who is still involved in the movement told POLITICO on Friday, adding that some are “extremely nervous.”
For Biden, continued union support is critical at a time when his campaign has tried, with mixed results, to stem the tide of calls from congressional Democrats and other advocates to step aside.
The AFL-CIO leadership has been fighting hard for the president. On Friday, the union federation’s president, Liz Shuler, appeared with Biden at a campaign event in Detroit and sent a letter to congressional Democrats, obtained by POLITICO, urging them to “stand with us, as we stand with President Biden and Vice President Harris.”
Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a statement: “President Biden supports the Labor Party, and he is proud that the Labor Party supports him.”
But when members of the AFL-CIO executive board met with Biden's campaign staff earlier this week, after Biden himself had attended, the tone was different, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting.
“I don't know if the right word is 'controversial,' but there were people who spoke who were not happy with the campaign,” including Fain and Nelson, one of the people said.
It appears Biden's performance in the debates caused as much unrest among labor leaders as it did among other Democratic-leaning groups.
Just days after the debate, AFL-CIO officials scheduled a “special call” with local labor leaders across the U.S. who are members of umbrella organizations called Central Labor Councils, at which Shuler reiterated his support for Biden, according to a person with knowledge of the call.
“I’m sure people in the Biden campaign wanted to support people in the AFL-CIO nationally, and that’s why that conversation happened,” said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly. “It’s July 3rd, and we’re having a conversation at 3 p.m..”
AFL-CIO spokeswoman Mia Jacobs disputed this characterization of the call, saying it was a routine conversation with local officials.
Biden has made it his mission to become the “most pro-union president in history,” and labor leaders give him a lot of credit for delivering on those promises.
In return, they backed the president's reelection in record time, with a few notable exceptions. Some are irritated by the reservations now being voiced by some in their ranks.
The president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers sent a letter to the White House on Friday urging Biden to stay in the race.
“At the IAM, we value seniority,” wrote Brian Bryant, the union’s international president. “We believe that the best indicator of what someone will do in the future is what they’ve done in the past. And that those who have proven they can do the job — and have done it exceptionally well — should continue to do it.”
Still, the unions' lack of solidarity will be on full display when the Republican National Convention takes place next week, when Teamsters President Sean O'Brien is scheduled to speak on Monday.
Despite their reservations about Biden, other union leaders are furious with O'Brien, who has so far not been invited to the Democratic Party convention despite his request.
“I pushed every button I could to make sure he wasn't invited to the DNC,” the former union president said. “Nobody who represents the working class should be anywhere near the Republican convention.”
