DETROIT (WWJ) -- With the polls showing a very tight election every vote counts — but some seem to matter more than others, particularly in a battleground state.
Berkeley Labor expert, Harley Shaiken, says large voter blocks like United Autoworkers Union members can make a big difference in a race like this one.
"I think the UAW impact could prove decisive," Shaiken said, in an interview with WWJ Auto Beat Reporter Jeff Gilbert. "I think their efforts in Michigan could means Kamala Harris is the next president of the United States."
That's why UAW leaders are campaigning so hard, including in key Michigan counties like Oakland and Macomb.
"The linchpin of a Harris-Walz victory in Michigan is the UAW," Shaiken said.
Shaiken said Harris' opponent, Donald Trump, in fact does have significant support among some autoworkers, and has been campaigning hard to get more UAW member votes, UAW leadership is fully in support of Harris.
"That's pivotal, and I think the efforts are truly resonating," Shaiken said.
The Associate Press reported Monday that union reps knocking on doors on behalf of Harris have been finding what they say is an effective line of attack against Trump — that he’ll defund Social Security.
Trump has said he would make Social Security income tax-free. That’s problematic because those revenues help to fund the program and the loss of that money means Social Security would be unable to pay out its full benefits in fiscal year 2031, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.
“That’s one of the big issues for our folks,” said Laura Dickerson, the United Auto Worker’s Region 1A director in Michigan. “People need to think about that they do not want to fully fund Social Security.”
The UAW has twice as many staff working on turnout compared to 2020 and 2016, enabling the union to directly contact all of its members and retirees and families of its members in support of Harris.
As it has been for more than two decades, UAW members have Election Day, Nov. 5, as a holiday.