Auto Workers Bristle at Trump Speaking at a Non-Union Facility During Strike

WAYNE, Mich. – The news that former President Donald Trump is speaking at a non-union facility on Wednesday evening outside of Detroit has not gone over well with unionized workers currently on the picket line against the Big Three automakers.

Trump is traveling to Michigan on Wednesday to deliver a speech at the same time that the United Automobile Workers are mounting a historic strike against all three of the so-called Big Three American automakers. But Trump, according to his advisers, does not currently have plans to walk the picket line with workers as President Joe Biden did Tuesday. Moreover,  according to the union and multiple union workers, the site where Trump will speak is a non-union facility, Drake Enterprises in Clinton Township, Michigan.

That decision was blasted Wednesday morning by workers on the picket line, including some who had voted for Trump in previous elections.

“It’s contradictory,” said Bill K., a worker with Local 900 who voted for Trump in 2020 and said he currently plans to support him again. Bill declined to provide his last name as he walked the picket line outside Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich. “If you are going to back us in our strike, you need to go to a union shop, not a non-union shop.”

He added: “It makes no sense. If you are saying you are with the workers, you need to go to a union shop.”

A spokesperson for Drake Enterprises did not respond to The Messenger’s questions about whether the facility employs union workers. However, the Michigan AFL-CIO and other union workers and leaders have said that the machining manufacturer is not a union facility.

“Nothing speaks louder about Donald Trumps view of union workers than holding a supposed rally for workers at a nonunion facility,” said Ray Zaccaro, a top adviser to AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Like we have seen time and time again, Donald Trump’s rhetoric and reality don’t even come close to matching up. 

Jason Miller, a top adviser to the former president, did not dispute the question when asked about Trump appearing at a non-union facility during the strike.

“President Trump is fighting to protect the jobs of all working middle-class voters in Michigan, union and non-union alike,” said Miller. “Joe Biden meanwhile wants all working middle-class voters in Michigan, union and non-union alike, to transition to the unemployment line.”

That answer, however, was not enough for some workers on the picket line.

Michelle Gillis, a local 900 worker on strike at the Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, said she thought Trump was “a little scared” to come to a union facility or the picket line.

“He is going to a non-union-represented plant,” said Gillis, who did not vote for Trump in either 2016 or 2020.  

When Gillis informed the workers around her that Trump was speaking at a non-union facility, many expressed surprise, including one who was supportive of the former president.

“Just go to one,” an exasperated Gillis said of the numerous picket lines across Southeast Michigan. “If you want us to support you, come out and support us. … It makes him a goober.”

Miller told The Messenger on Wednesday that “as of now” there are no plans for Trump to walk the picket line with striking workers.

“But if he did he’d be able to speak longer than Biden’s 1 minute and 18 seconds,” Miller said, referring to the short remarksBiden delivered on Tuesday when he became the first president to walk a picket line with striking workers, a theme that some of the Trump-supporting union workers on the picket repeated on Wednesday.

Not all workers were prepared to come down on Trump for speaking at a nonunion facility, especially those who backed him in the past.

‘It’s not going to work’

Michael Alexander, a nearly three-decade worker with UAW Local 1248 who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, echoed the concerns Trump has raised about what the transition to electric vehicles will do to union workers in Michigan.

said he was “happy with” Biden coming to the picket line.

“It’s not going to work,” said Alexander, flanked by two other Trump-supporting skilled trades workers on strike outside the a Stellantis facility in Warren, Mich. “It is not ready. It’s fine, start it. But don’t require it.”

Alexander added that he was “happy with” Biden coming to the picket line and said he “felt better” with UAW head Shawn Fain in charge, but still supported Trump.

Biden has set a goal of having 50% of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, but he has called for a “fair transition to a clean energy future.” The statement won him appreciation from Fain, who had blasted the administration just two months earlier for giving Ford a $9.2 billion loan without union protections. Fain also praised the administration for announcing new funding aimed at ensuring electric vehicles are built by union workers.

All three dismissed Trump speaking at a nonunion facility – “He will bring us up,” said Chris Schultz, one of the three union workers – but their support for Trump and concerns about Biden ran deeper than just union issues and primarily focused on money being spent to aid Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

“What could we do with that money in this country,” said John Wyon, gesturing to a badly potholed road outside the plant. “I always said when I first started voting, who is going to screw me the least?”

This divide, between people like Wyon and those who are offended by Trump's decision to speak at a nonunion facility, highlights a broader divide inside the rank-and-file of the labor movement. Trump did particularly well with union households in 2016: Democrat Hillary Clinton won just 53% of union households in Michigan in 2016. But Biden clawed back some of htat support in 2020, winning 62% of Michigan union households according to exit polls.

A ‘fatal error’

Chants of “scab, scab, scab,” rang out as 18-wheelers attempted to turn into the main gate at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant on Wednesday. Some workers, primarily those who have never supported Trump, suggested the former president speaking at a nonunion facility this evening was similar.

For Tiffanie Simmons, another member of Local 900, Ford has been a part of her life since the moment she was born: Her father has worked at the company for decades and both she and her three younger brothers followed him to both the company and the union.

“Trump chose, of all the plants, of all the facilities, of anywhere in the US he could go, he chose to visit a nonunion shop, and that speaks volumes to those of us who have been literally fighting for our livelihoods for the past two weeks,” Simmons said in a phone interview on Tuesday. The Ford employee since 2007 said she was not a Trump supporter.

Charles Wade, another UAW worker with Local 900, echoed that sentiment, calling the decision to appear at a nonunion facility a “fatal error.”

“He is going to a nonunion plant saying he supports American labor unions,” Wade said. “That’s not the cause that we are actually here for.”