President Joe Biden celebrates with United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain after Fain and the UAW endorsed Biden for president at a Community Action Program legislative conference in Washington, Jan. 24, 2024.
The United Auto Workers union is endorsing President Joe Biden for reelection this year, UAW President Shawn Fain announced Wednesday at a union conference in Washington, D.C.
"Today, I'm proud to stand up here with your International Executive Board and announce that the UAW is endorsing Joe Biden for President of the United States," Fain said. "We will reelect Joe Biden."
The union's endorsement of a Democratic presidential candidate shouldn't be surprising; however, it comes after months of apparent resistance by Fain, who said politicians, including Biden, would have to earn UAW endorsements.
"Look, I kept my commitment to be the most pro-union president ever," Biden said following the endorsement announcement. "Let me just say I'm honored to have your back and you have mine. That's the deal."
It also comes on the heels of the New Hampshire primary, in which former President Donald Trump defeated former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
"This November, we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause, or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way," Fain said before the endorsement. "That's what this choice is about."
The endorsement is crucial for any candidate looking to secure the battleground state of Michigan, because of the UAW's potential influence there. The Detroit-based union has more than 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members, many of which reside in the state.
In endorsing Biden, Fain had some strong criticism for his likely Republican opponent, at one point setting up a slide of "what Trump said and what actions he took to help the American auto workers" during his first term. The slide was blank.
"He did nothing, not a damn thing because he doesn't care about the American worker," Fain said. "Donald Trump stands against everything we stand for as a union, as a society."
Biden threw his own punches at Trump, whom he expects to face in a general election rematch in November.
"During the Trump administration, a lot of administrations before that, what did they do? So many, so many people around America, lost their sense of pride," he said. "Corporate America found the cheapest labor in the world and they sent the jobs to those laborers and sent the product back to us. But not anymore."
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.