Harris, Walz tout union support in campaign stop at Detroit UAW hall

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz honed their pitch to working class voters Thursday with a visit to a United Workers Union hall outside of Detroit.

After being introduced by UAW President Shawn Fain, Harris and Walz each touted their roots as products of working households and of standing with striking UAW members on picket lines.

Harris warmly embraced the idea of collective bargaining, contrasting her stance to that of the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump , who was criticized for "only caring about himself."

"It's about the collective," she told union members. "It's about understanding no one should ever be made to fight alone, that we are all in this together."

The simple concept of "fairness" is what has motivated her to fight for unionism during her political career, she said.

"At its core it's about dignity, and the dignity of labor," Harris stated, adding that fairness is also at the center of her presidential campaign.

"We want dignity and fairness for all people," she declared. "We want to recognize the right that all people have to freedom and liberty, to make choices, especially those that are about heart and home, and not have their government telling them what to do."

Vice President Harris: When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. We stand for the people. We stand for the dignity of work. We stand for justice. We stand for equality. And we will fight for all of it pic.twitter.com/cIflUO6EP8 — Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 8, 2024

She received the enthusiastic endorsement of the union last week. The group had previously endorsed President Joe Biden before his decision last month to drop out of the race.

In his introductory remarks, Fain compared the 89 days remaining for Harris and Walz to win the White House with similar timeframes the union faced in its successful efforts to win record new contracts from the Big Three automakers, as well as a historic unionization vote in April at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"As of today, we've got 89 days to ensure that we put Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the White House," he said to cheers.

Thursday's event was held at the UAW Local 900 union hall in Wayne, Mich., across from Ford's Michigan Assembly Plant, where company builds the Bronco SUV and Ranger midsize truck. The plant's workers were the first to set up pickets during the UAW's 41-day targeted walkout against the automaker last year.

Under the deal won by the union, workers got a record 25% general wage increase over its lifespan, with the top-wage rate increasing by more than 30% to $40 an hour and the starting-wage rate jumping by 68% to $28 an hour.

"I'm eager to see a woman of color be president," Shauna Lewis, 49, of Ypsilanti, Mich., told the Detroit News ahead of Thursday's rally. "[Harris] is very supportive of the UAW, and I'm thankful for that. I don't see that happening with Trump."

On Wednesday, Fain similarly blasted Trump and rallied support for Harris and Walz while warming up for their appearance before thousands of cheering backers gathered in a hanger at Detroit Metro Airport.

"Which side are you on?" he asked . "This is a simple question because on one side, you got a billionaire that serves himself and his billionaire buddies. He lies, he cheats and he steals his way to the top. He's a lap dog for the billionaire class!"

The UAW leader then praised Harris as "strong" and "intelligent," adding, "And I'm just going to put it bluntly -- [she's] a bada-- woman!"

In a counter appearance in Michigan on Wednesday, Sen. JD Vance, the GOP nominee for vice president, told supporters gathered outside the Shelby Township police station in suburban Macomb County that Harris and Walz were weak on crime and immigration .

"We do not consent to an invasion of this country from millions of people who shouldn't be here," Vance said, amplifying a trend of Republican office seekers characterizing the arrival of migrants at the southern U.S. border as an "invasion" and attempting to tie it to higher crime rates.

Democrats in Congress have denounced the usage of the term as "rhetoric that is inexorably tied to the 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory that has repeatedly been invoked by White nationalists and anti-Semites to justify violent acts of domestic terrorism," such as the 2022 Tops Supermarket mass slaying in Buffalo, N.Y.