The United Auto Workers (UAW), the largest auto industry union representing more than 400,000 working and middle class members, is withholding support for President Joe Biden over his administration’s “actively funding the race to the bottom” with a massive effort toward Electric Vehicles (EVs).
In an internal memo, UAW President Shawn Fain has said the union will not be endorsing Biden until major commitments are made to protect jobs and high wages for American auto workers — both of which have been threatened by the White House’s EV push.
“We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments,” Fain wrote in the memo.
For years, Breitbart News has detailed how a publicly-funded transition from combustion engines to EVs has the potential to eliminate millions of American auto jobs and leave auto workers with drastically cut wages.
Likewise, Biden’s efforts to “decarbonize the economy,” with green energy mandates to drive up EV sales to ten times their current level by the next decade, could see China supplant Detroit, Michigan, as the auto industry’s center.
Last week, in its latest move, the Biden administration announced a more than $9 billion loan to Ford to build EV plants in Tennessee and Kentucky. In response, the UAW blasted the decision to shower the automaker with billions in public dollars without ensuring job losses and lost wages will not hit American auto workers.
“Not only is the federal government not using its power to turn the tide – they’re actively funding the race to the bottom with billions in public money,” Fain said in a statement:
These companies are extremely profitable and will continue to make money hand over fist whether they’re selling combustion engines or EVs. Yet the workers get a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. Why is Joe Biden’s administration facilitating this corporate greed with taxpayer money? [Emphasis added]
In particular, Fain said the issue has already played out for laid-off Americans in Lordstown, Ohio when General Motors (GM) shut down the plant and invested in a lower-paying EV battery plant where employees are making half what they previously made.
“Not only is the White House refusing to right this wrong, they’re giving Ford $9.2 billion to create the same low-road jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee,” Fain said. “… it’s an absolute shame to see another Democratic administration doubling down on a taxpayer-funded corporate giveaway.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
