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.”
It’s also entirely symbolism, though. And now they’ve endorsed him and helped fearmonger against the orange man, he can (and presumably will) shit all over their workers’ interests, same as any POTUS nowadays.
If you ask me (as a non-white- Asian-Canadian) it strikes me as symbolic of the real issues of much of western labor. They’re still just bloody opportunists, and they’ll take their lumps like anyone else. Doesn’t escape my notice, nor the notice of anyone with an eye for history, that western unions historically were the ones who worked hardest to exclude blacks and other minorities from meaningful employment- that they were the ones who championed all the various Asian exclusion acts, and the expulsion of up to 2,000,000 Mexican-Americans without due cause during the great depression. Same as how the “white working class” and peasant-farmers were the ones most actively committing genocides against indigenous peoples.
They’re opportunists happy to look away at genocide (and even their own livelihoods- not like Biden is doing them any particular favors here other than showing up once to picket) for the warm fuzzy feelings the empire has their back once again. And I won’t have any pity when they take their lumps like the rest of us. Settlers by Sakai might have its issues, but I fully expect the white masses of the west to need a lot more lumps, before the majority of them are able to get back down to earth with the rest of humanity.