Governor Walz addressing UAW Region 1A memebers in Taylor on Friday
Governor Tim Walz delivered a powerful message of solidarity with union workers on Friday, addressing United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 1A members at their Union Hall in Taylor. Standing alongside prominent Michigan leaders, Governor Walz emphasized the critical role of the Harris-Walz ticket in championing pro-union policies, contrasting it with what he described as a starkly anti-worker, anti-union agenda from Donald Trump and his allies.
The event, hosted in UAW Region 1A’s Union Hall, was attended by some of Michigan’s most influential leaders, including Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II (D-MI), and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), each of whom took the stage to voice their support for the Harris-Walz agenda. Sandra West-Pelletier, a UAW Local 245 member, introduced Governor Walz, recognizing his commitment to labor rights and the working class.
“During the time Donald Trump was President, we lost 2.7 million jobs, 280,000 jobs in Michigan alone, 9000 in the auto industry. When six plants closed, look, Donald Trump botched the pandemic response so poorly,”Walz said.
“Not only did we lose 10 million jobs, we were pitted into a hunger game against our neighbors to find toilet paper. That’s how bad it was. So now I suppose it wasn’t too bad thinking back to that economy if you’re a billionaire, Elon Musk, for example, say that got that guy got it.”
UAW Region 1A, which represents approximately 150,000 active and retired members across various industries including Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, healthcare, and public service is a powerful force in Michigan politics. This union has thrown its support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, a candidate it believes will prioritize the needs of American workers. Governor Walz highlighted the administration’s achievements as the “most pro-union” in U.S. history, crediting Harris with creating millions of jobs, leading the White House’s Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, and actively standing by workers in their demand for fair wages and labor protections.
“It is Kamala Harris grew up in a middle class family too. She understands what it’s like. She knows what it’s like. She was the priority for her every single day; her single mother was trying to make ends meet to buy that house for her,” Walz said.
“And she often says, how great is America, where a middle-class kid from Oakland and a middle-class kid from rural Nebraska can be running for president and vice president,” Walz said.
Walz and the other speakers at the event sharply contrasted this pro-worker agenda with what he described as Donald Trump’s “Project 2025,” an agenda Walz characterized as a significant threat to the working class. He outlined the risks of Trump’s policies, which would raise taxes on middle-income families by $4,000, limit overtime pay eligibility, and rollback critical workplace safety protections.
“The only thing he (Donald Trump) knows about working people and middle-class people is how to take advantage of them. That’s his entire set of knowledge that he has. And he talks about this. He talks about manufacturing. The only thing he knows how to manufacture is bull—. His presidency was an endless string of broken promises,” Walz said.
Governor Walz’s visit to Michigan comes as part of a larger effort to mobilize voters ahead of the 2024 election, especially among union members whose support could be pivotal. He urged those present to make a plan to vote and to consider what’s at stake for working families across the country.
He presented Michigan voters with a clear choice: Kamala Harris’s “New Way Forward,” grounded in strengthening the middle class, versus Trump’s “extreme Project 2025” agenda, which he argued would place corporate interests above those of everyday Americans.
For Michigan’s working families, this year’s election represents a pivotal moment. Governor Walz’s rallying cry resonated with the crowd, signaling an energized push from UAW and Democratic leaders to support Harris, a candidate they believe will protect and advance the rights of workers across America.
“There is an opportunity to craft the next generation of American policies based on a joyful vision where everybody’s a part of it, following the science, doing the things that we know will make a difference, and for all of the reasons to vote for Kamala Harris,” Walz said.
“Now we’re in the final stages. We got the ball. We’re driving down. We got to get it over the line. Now it’s time to say when we vote, we win; Michigan, Win this thing for America!”
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