The United Auto Workers union - which has endorsed Kamala Harris' 2024 bid - said on Tuesday that it took umbrage with comments regarding worker strikes made by former President Trump and Elon Musk during Monday night's conversation on X, and have filed federal labor charges against the pair.
In a Tuesday statement, the UAW said that Trump and Musk engaged in "illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes" - pointing specifically to a comment in which Trump said "You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone."
Trump was apparently referencing the 2022 gutting of Twitter staff afteR Musk took over the company and renamed it X.
Musk's crime was apparently laughing at Trump's comment.
It is illegal to threaten to fire workers for going on strike, or to actually do so, according to the union.
"Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly," said UAW president Shawn Fain in a statement. "It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns."
"When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean," Fain continued. "When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean."
Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes called it a "frivolous lawsuit" and "shameless political stunt intended to erode President Trump's overwhelming support among America's workers."
As Axios notes, When labor charges are filed, the National Labor Relations Board decides whether to investigate the allegations. If it concludes there were violations, it could impose penalties.
Trump’s praise of union busting is notable because the Republican presidential nominee is currently fighting to win support from organized labor in a tight race against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The UAW, which represents more than 400,000 autoworkers, has already endorsed Harris. But another major U.S. labor union, the Teamsters, has yet to make an endorsement.
A spokesman for the Teamsters did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s support for union busting.
In July, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien delivered a speech at the Republican National Convention.
He said his attendance was intended to underscore that the union’s powerful political endorsement was still available to whichever candidate pledges to champion workers’ interests.
“Companies fire workers who try to join unions, and hide behind toothless laws that are meant to protect working people but are manipulated to benefit corporations,” O’Brien said at the RNC in Milwaukee.
“This is economic terrorism at its best,” said O’Brien.
Musk, meanwhile, is no stranger to labor battles - with Tesla having clashed with unions for years - and the NLRB finding in 2021 that the company violated labor laws when it fired a union activist.
SpaceX has also been accused of labor violations for firing eight employees for what they said was an internal open letter criticizing Musk and his public conduct.
