Young union members -- key US voters who could tip either way

Young blue-collar workers like Luke Gonzalez are being courted in a tight US presidential election that is forcing voters to weigh competing claims on immigration, inflation and other hot-button issues.

Earlier this month, Gonzalez, a 25 year-old glazier, sat through an 80-minute presentation at his Warren, Michigan union hall where labor leaders pressed the case that Kamala Harris was better for workers than Donald Trump.

Gonzalez, who is undecided, is a member of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), one of several leading unions backing Harris due in part to industrial policy under the Biden-Harris administration expected to sustain building-trades employment for years.

Democrats also back collective-bargaining rights, in contrast to Trump who joked recently with billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk about firing striking workers.

But Trump's unconventional style has enjoyed lasting appeal with a sizeable number of blue-collar workers, who can be more conservative culturally -- that has helped keep the race tight in Michigan and other swing states with large working-class populations.

Trump supporters include Isaiah Goddard, 24, who is part of a group of insurgent United Auto Workers members who back Trump.

Trump "is not a politician," he said. "He knows how to run the country and he can do it again."

Goddard, who works at Ford, doesn't believe Harris' support for electric vehicles will be good for Michigan.

He also endorses Trump's stance on abortion and immigration, saying "these illegal immigrants are going to be taking American jobs."

Nick Nabozny, another Ford worker, sold 32 red "Auto Workers for Trump" t-shirts at his Wayne, Michigan plants this week.

"There's more people in the union that support Trump than they truly believe," Nabozny said of the UAW.

- Turned off by politicians -

Trump in 2016 became the first Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan to cut significantly into the Democratic lead among union households.

Besides immigration, Trump in 2016 blasted international trade deals that led to industrial job loss in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Biden won back enough of these voters in 2020 to flip those states, although this year's race is neck-and-neck.

Democratic pollster David Mermin expects a big gender gap, with working-class women supporting Harris based in part over abortion rights.

Young voters are the most "persuadable" part of the working-class population, said Mermin, who works at Lake Research Partners. "They don't like the parties. They don't like politicians."

They "are the ones you can influence, they're learning still," said Jeff Tricoff, 39, a refinery worker at the Teamsters union in Detroit who is undecided.

Lucas Hartwell, 22, a labor organizer with the Operating Engineers union who backs Harris tells peers to "vote your interests, even if the social issues don't match up for you."

- Debating immigration -

While the national Teamsters union made no endorsement, other prominent unions such as IUPAT and the UAW are campaigning hard for the Democrat, distributing lawn signs, phone banking and canvassing door to door.

IUPAT president Jimmy Williams attributes the Democratic Party's slippage to decades of failures to deliver.

But Williams, a fourth-generation member of his union who became a glazier after high school, considers Biden to be a turning point because the outgoing president became the first to join a strikers' picket line, and because of big legislative successes.

At the Warren event, Williams described to apprentices that Trump talked about infrastructure, but didn't get anything done, adding that Harris will continue Biden's ambitious initiatives.

But when Williams polled the audience of around 30, about a third raised their hands for Trump. Inflation, cost of living," explained one bearded young worker.

Williams acknowledged that costs are "going through the roof," as he blamed big business and described inflation as a global phenomenon due to supply chain problems.

Williams got more pushback on immigration, but he argued workers should aim their outrage at the businesses that exploit cheap labor.

"As a union, we just can't stand for that," Williams told the group. "The biggest tool that the bosses use to divide workers is race."

After the event, Robert Gonzalez, head of IUPAT's Michigan district, estimated the room as "50-50 split."

His son, Luke, was drawn to the idea that "Kamala is for the working union" in contrast to "big business" candidate Trump, before adding, "I still have a lot of reading up to do."