Viewpoint: To Unify the Working Class, Put Workers First

Union leaders have a duty to tell members the truth about politics and how they affect our union. As the President of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, I did: I spent all of October and the first few days of November traveling through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin to get out the vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

I visited worksites and union meetings—and I knocked on doors and made phone calls—to meet thousands of members, connect with them about the issues that matter to them and their families, and learn their thoughts about the presidential election.

What I found did not surprise me. Our members are concerned about inflation and how much things cost; they’re worried about making ends meet. They are no different than the rest of the voting public—I met some staunch Kamala supporters, some die-hard Trump supporters, members who were on the fence, and some who said they probably wouldn’t vote at all.

It is not always easy to have these conversations with our members. We don’t feel the same about every issue, and it can be awkward to disagree. But it’s my job to lead our union and engage our members on all of the issues that matter to working people. Part of that responsibility is supporting politicians and candidates who support the working class, and making sure our members understand that process and are involved in those decisions.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH ANYMORE

I am not a Democrat—I’m a fourth-generation union member, and that’s how I vote. I’ve long been open about my dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party. That’s because the Democratic Party has failed to prioritize a strong, working-class message addressing issues that really matter to workers. The Democrats did not make a positive case for why workers should vote for them, only that they were not Trump.

That’s not good enough anymore! Rather than offer a positive agenda on what immigrant workers bring to our country, they bought into the punitive, “tough,” anti-worker messaging that is championed by Trump, even though we know it’s the bosses’ fault.

They claim to be the party of the working class, but for the past few decades, they’ve made choices that don’t reflect their commitment to my class: passing the North American Free Trade Agreement, moving away from us and to college-educated suburban voters, and not making any progress on labor law reforms, like the Employee Free Choice Act and the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

I’ve gotten pushback for talking about this stuff publicly because pundits and politicians take unions’ support for Democrats for granted, but my most important job as a union leader is to be honest with members and organize to deliver economic justice, no matter who is running for office or who is in the White House.

A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

I want to be clear that Joe Biden was the most pro-union President of my lifetime, and delivered huge gains for working people across the country, including the union trades. The CHIPS and Science Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law improved our economy and put so many construction workers to work. But the previous Democratic administrations’ lack of commitment to the issues that matter to us are hard for members to forget.

Adding to that, the Biden administration and Harris campaign both failed to convey the importance of these wins for workers. Donald Trump is a union-buster and a scab, and does not have workers’ interests in mind—Project 2025 and a potential Republican trifecta will be disastrous for union members and for all working people. But Trump is a talented communicator who speaks to the discontent and fear that many working people are feeling.

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The Democrats failed to address inflation, saying that it wasn’t a big issue or that the pain that working people feel right now isn’t real. So while we were able to get many of our members out to vote for Harris, others went to Trump or sat it out entirely.

Of course, racism and sexism play a role in this as well, and we need to continue challenging our members (and the rest of our country) on these issues. But Vice President Harris’ loss this election was too large for us not to take a cold, hard look at the Democratic Party’s failures and where we go from here.

MOST UNION MEMBERS VOTED HARRIS

As the elected leader of 140,000 painters, glaziers, and other skilled tradespeople, I will always work to make sure our members vote their union values first. And that’s what they did this election—union members, including members of the IUPAT, showed up for Vice President Harris. Exit polls are pointing to a nearly 20 percent increase in union turnout for Harris in 2024 over Biden in 2020.

But we can’t carry the entire election for the Democratic Party. There’s simply not a large enough labor movement to do it.

The message that the majority of voters gave is that it's up to the Democrats to change course if they want to be the party of the working class. Let’s hope they listen.

Jimmy Williams Jr. is president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, representing over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada.