One of the most-sought-after demographics of the 2024 election was the union vote. And even though Vice President Kamala Harris earned endorsements from many of the country’s biggest unions, voter support among union workers was decidedly split.
Before yesterday’s election, Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, said that a second Donald Trump presidency would be “a CEO’s dream and a worker’s nightmare.”
During his first term, the Trump Administration rolled back workers’ rights to form unions, reduced the number of workers who received overtime, made it easier for employers to fire employees, and restricted where and how workers can discuss workplace issues.
Now, Trump’s second term could reverse the gains unions had made under President Joe Biden and damage organizing efforts at companies such as Apple, Amazon, REI, Trader Joe’s, and Starbucks. Experts also believe a second Trump term will include a reversal of the landmark 2023 Cemex decision, in which companies that commit unfair labor practices during a union election can be ordered to recognize a new union.
Within hours of Trump’s 2024 presidential election win, many labor unions began organizing their resistance.
Here’s how some of the country’s most powerful unions are responding so far:
Autoworkers
Last year, Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he supported United Auto Workers’s (UAW) historic 46-day-long strike, which resulted in significant pay increases for workers. During the 2024 presidential campaign, the UAW endorsed Harris. “Trump has never supported working-class people. He has never supported unions,” said UAW president Shawn Fain. “But he sure as hell was trying to pander for our votes now.”
In August, the UAW filed charges against Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for suggesting that striking workers should be fired.
After Trump’s win, Fain issued the following statement:
“UAW members around the country clocked in today under the same threat they faced yesterday: unchecked corporate greed destroying our lives, our families, and our communities. It’s the threat of companies like Stellantis, Mack Truck, and John Deere shipping jobs overseas to boost shareholder profits. It’s the threat of corporate America telling the working class to sit down and shut up.
We’ve said all along that no matter who is in the White House, our fight remains the same. The fight to fix our broken trade laws like the USMCA continues. The fight for good union jobs and U.S. leadership in the emerging battery industry continues. The fight for a secure retirement for everyone in this country continues. The fight for a living wage, affordable healthcare, and time for our families continues.
It’s time for Washington, D.C., to put up or shut up, no matter the party, no matter the candidate. Will our government stand with the working class, or keep doing the bidding of the billionaires? That’s the question we face today. And that’s the question we’ll face tomorrow. The answer lies with us. No matter who’s in office.
If that’s the question you’re asking today, no matter who you voted for, sign up and join us at solidarity.uaw.org.”
The UAW also shared a fiery article on social media by the labor journalist Hamilton Nolan in which Nolan suggests that Harris supporters, in the wake of defeat, should recommit themselves to the labor movement in order to fight back against Trump’s “class war.”
“Allow me to suggest to you one concrete thing that you can do, in the event of a political catastrophe, that will actually matter: Join a union,” Nolan writes. “I know that people want to join this fight. There is no question that the will exists among millions and millions of you. What I am saying is that the labor movement is the army to join. It is a weakened but still potent army that you can help to revive. And it has a power—labor power—that no other group does. Begin your resistance plotting with this in mind. The labor movement is waiting for you.”
Service workers
The Service Employee International Union (SEIU) has had a long–standing fight with Trump during his last administration. For instance, in 2020, the AFL-CIO and the SEIU filed a complaint arguing that the Trump Administration’s COVID response violated global labor standards.
Then earlier this year, when JD Vance was selected as Trump’s running mate, SEIU President April Verrett spoke out against the decision. “JD Vance may portray himself as a working-class hero, but his record tells another story. The truth is that Senator Vance’s loyalties lie with the Wall Street bankers and Silicon Valley billionaires who have bankrolled his political career. Together, Donald Trump and JD Vance will seek to protect the wealthy and corporations while enacting their insidious Project 2025 agenda,” she stated. “There’s a stark contrast between Biden-Harris, who have backed workers and taken action to lower prices and raise wages, and Trump-Vance who side with price-gouging, union-busting corporations.”
Shortly thereafter, the SEIU threw its full support behind Harris.
Today, Verrett released the following statement:
“We are not defeated, we are determined. And we won’t back down. We remain united to each other and to our vision for a healthy, joyful, and prosperous future. And we’re not going to let anyone divide us based on racism, sexism, or fear.
SEIU’s 2 million members did monumental work in this election, reaching more than 7 million voters in 12 languages. Those conversations weren’t just about one vote, they’re about the world we’re determined to build together. Our shared future is one rooted in joy and optimism, where we have Unions for All so that workers can share in the nation’s prosperity.
We are putting corporations, billionaires, and extremist politicians on notice—we see you, we know just what you’re trying to do, and we won’t back down. We know what it’s like to face down bullies. We know how to keep going, to care for each other, to face down systems built to keep us out of power and divided. We will fight back by organizing, mobilizing, and winning worker power. We will not allow anyone to take away our fundamental rights and freedoms. Hear us: When you attack just one of us, you’re attacking every worker who makes our communities, our economy, and our nation strong.”
Communications workers
Many unions have maintained this message of unity in light of Trump’s win—including the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
The CWA’s website includes a page dedicated to “Trump’s anti-worker record,” citing instances in which he restricted overtime pay, opposed wage increases, and gutted health and safety protections for workers.
Claude Cummings Jr., CWA president, emphasized that the labor movement “must move forward, together” in the following statement:
“The election is over, the votes have been counted, and Donald Trump has, once again, been elected President of the United States. While this was not the outcome that many CWA members and retirees had worked toward, I am proud of the work we did in support of pro-worker candidates.
Now it is time to reunite around our shared values. No matter who is in office, our goals are always the same—to use our collective power to protect our rights, to improve our working conditions and give everyone an opportunity to have a union voice on the job. Corporate CEOs are intent on dividing us against each other so they can drive down wages and cut corners on safety to boost profits for big investors. We cannot let that happen.
Just as I was vocal in support of our endorsed candidates during the election, I will not hesitate to speak out when our union or our members are under attack for any reason. I urge every one of you, no matter who you supported in this election, to join me.
This is a time of challenge and transformation for our union and our country. We have faced difficult challenges before. We must move forward, together, as we fight for our families and our country’s future.”
Government workers
Unions that represent government workers have also indicated that they will push back against Trump’s expected policies.
For instance, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing more than 800,000 workers. It has vowed that it will continue to fight back against the Trump administration.
Today AFGE President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
“The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States is not the result our union was hoping for. Nevertheless, federal employees are sworn to uphold the law and the Constitution, and they will continue to do their jobs regardless of who sits in the White House.
As the union representing more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers, we will continue to represent our members and advocate for the programs and services that government employees deliver for the American people.
But make no mistake: Our union will not stand by and let any political leader—regardless of their political affiliation—run roughshod over the Constitution and our laws. During President Trump’s first term, his administration attempted to gut many of our negotiated union contracts, downsize and relocate federal agencies at great disruption and cost to taxpayers, and replace tens of thousands of nonpartisan civil servants with political appointees who would blindly do his bidding.
Federal and D.C. government employees should be able to do their jobs without political interference, without violating their Constitutional oath, and without breaking the law—and as their elected representative, we will do everything in our power to make sure that’s possible.”
To be sure, some labor organizations have recognized that they will need to work with President Trump—even if they did not support him.
For instance, the AFGE Council 238, which represents more than 8,400 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers, endorsed Harris in July. At the time, the organization’s president Marie Owens Powell said, “The Trump administration shackled our union members’ ability to protect human health and the environment,” and “EPA only survives if Trump’s Project 2025 never sees the light of day. We must do everything we can to preserve the hard-won environmental gains EPA workers have achieved. We must act immediately to prevent catastrophic increases of greenhouse gasses in our atmosphere.”
But today, the AFGE Council 238 released the following statement:
“As civil servants at the EPA, we have one focus in mind: protecting our communities. That means doing everything we can to fight against an unprecedented climate emergency, protect human health, and ensure every American has clean air and drinking water.
Whether Republican or Democrat, every American and future generation is entitled to a habitable planet. But in order for us to secure a healthy future for our country and our world, we need to have the resources and opportunity to do our work without interference or fear. We fought for and won a union contract that puts our members in the best position possible to continue with the mission of the Agency—regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. From a first-of-its-kind scientific integrity article that protects workers from political interference to whistleblower protections to language that ensures diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility is prioritized for all EPA employees, we have bold protections in place that will allow us to press forward in these uncertain times.
We remain committed to our mission, and will continue to do everything we can to combat the climate crisis, address natural disasters, and support affected communities. There may be challenges ahead, but we are committed to our work, and will continue to serve our country and work toward creating a healthier world.”
Steelworkers
The United Steelworkers (USW) also endorsed Harris during the campaign, citing how she had cast a tie-breaking vote to secure Teamsters’s pensions.
In a more recent statement, USW President David McCall laid out his organization’s plans to move forward and attempt to work alongside the Trump Administration.
“The American people have spoken, and the USW will respect and honor the electoral process and the Constitution of the United States.
Unfortunately, one of the great tragedies of this grueling election season has been the way in which key figures sought to divide working Americans against each other, be it along the lines of gender, race, occupation, or country of origin. Now more than ever, Americans must come together for the benefit of our representative democracy.
Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration we have made huge strides on behalf of workers, standing up for retirement security, making healthcare more affordable, overseeing historic investments in our critical infrastructure and instituting a long-needed industrial policy to build out our manufacturing base.
We must defend these historic victories, and will not rest until they reach their full potential. We will work tirelessly until all workers have fair wages and strong benefits, until everyone can come home safely from their jobs, until our supply chains are robust and resilient enough that we can withstand the next global disruption.
Our union is intent on moving forward in a way that heals our divides rather than inflames them, and the USW will do its best to work with the Trump administration in the best interests of our members and their families.
But we will not allow the billionaire class to run roughshod over workers’ rights, outsource jobs and call it fair trade or institute tax policies that mortgage our collective future for the benefit of the already wealthy few.
Our mission remains the same regardless of who occupies the White House or the halls of Congress: to fight for working people.”
