The UAW’s position represented a break with the uncritically pro-Zionist stance of the Democratic Party establishment, the Biden administration and, historically, the AFL-CIO. Other national unions, representing millions of workers, followed suit. They include the Service Employees (SEIU) and Communications Workers (CWA).
However, the conduct of the UAW leadership on Jan. 24 could be seen as a negation of almost two months of progressive politics. During a closed meeting of the union’s International Executive Board — the first IEB directly elected by the UAW membership — the board voted unanimously to endorse President Joe Biden for reelection in November.
The announcement was made at the annual conference of the Community Action Program (CAP), the UAW’s political action committee. About 750 delegates, sent by local unions across the country, were gathered in Washington, D.C. Yet none of the attendees, many of whom were wearing “Ceasefire now” stickers, had a say in the decision to endorse “Genocide Joe.”
In fact there was no effort whatsoever to democratically involve rank-and-file members in a discussion on the November election.
Previously, President Fain had said that politicians shouldn’t take the union’s support for granted — they would have to “earn it.” Fain gave a glowing endorsement of Biden, saying he had “earned it.” The message went far beyond anything along the lines of “Biden is bad but Trump is worse so we have to vote for Biden.”