On Tuesday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) filed federal labor charges against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and tech tycoon Elon Musk.
The union alleged former President Trump and Elon Musk attempted to “intimidate and threaten” workers during their Monday evening interview on X.
“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”
— UAW (@UAW) August 13, 2024
“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That's OK, you're all gone. You're all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”
Federal law protects workers who go on strike from being fired, and it is illegal to threaten to do so, the UAW asserted.
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” said UAW President Shawn Fain.
Following allegations of unfair labor practices, Musk's SpaceX has directly challenged the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board in a move experts warned could hobble the agency charged with investigating allegations brought by employees, unions and employers.
“Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” Fain said.
“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO), a federation of 60 national and international labor unions, posted their own criticism of the conversation on X, saying, “Scab recognize scab.”
Scab recognize scab. https://t.co/lDDUSp2XF4
— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) August 13, 2024
UAW which endorsed Vice President Harris last month in the upcoming presidential election has had a rocky relationship with Trump for years.
Following the video's release, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called Fain “a puppet for the Democrat Party who is sadly not serving the millions of hardworking union laborers across the country who are supporting President Trump because they know he will protect their jobs and put them first.”
This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.
READ NEXT: Gavin Newsom Put A Presidential Photographer On His Payroll Raising Speculations On His 2028 Plans
Unions suck. I was forced to join one to get the job. They charged me a large Membership fee before I got my first paycheck, and every check from then on had a large deduction for Union Dues! I was in the Retail Clerks Union. Well, the Butcher’s Union went on strike because the markets started bringing in prepacked meat in Styrofoam and plastic covers that were cut at a factory and then displayed and sold in the stores. We were forced to support their strike and could not cross the picket lines to go to our jobs for several months. When the strike was over, all of the Butchers got back pay but not one of us got paid for supporting them. I quit and never have worked a union job again. Plus the union representatives were very well paid and had luxury cars provided by the union! Never again. I also choose not to purchase from merchants who are unionized (their prices are much higher anyway). Go Trump and Musk!
HOW MUCH DID THE PRESIDENT OF THE UWA GET PAID BY THE DEMOKRAZIES TO PULL THIS STUNT!! IT WILL HAVE NO MERIT TO IT. JUST ANOTHER PLOY TO GET TRUMP INDICTED. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAP. SAME GAME, SAME CHEAP SHOTS…..THEIR PLAYBOOK IS THE SAME. AND I GUESS WE CAN PREDICT ANOTHER WOMAN WILL COME FORWAD WITH FALSE ACCUSATION AGAINST TRUMP AND JD VANCE.
Free Speech is NOT a crime. This is total bullsh*t! Good luck filing charges, BOZOS!!!
There was a time that unions actually were the base for workers safety and security. Having at one time being a card caring member of the AFL-CIO I grew disenchanted with the true reason for this union. I watched in genuine consternation when they came out against a raise for a portion of state workers who were sorely underpaid for the job they did. It didn’t matter that it was to balance pay to make it comparable to others in state employment. Mere secretarys made way more than these other workers. In some cases thousands more. They torpedoed this pay increase and celebrated its defeat. As I studied the history, I found that it had lost its core purpose. Insane demands and stratification or simply jobs had made the. Ew unions grow. Unions became more powerful with insane pay for the leaders of which very little trickled down to the worker. If you look into the individuals who join. The union it wasn’t because they see a reason but because it’s become compulsory. Required in order to even have a job.
My father told me a story that happened to him, this was long after I had retired. He was a heavy equipment operator trained by the military. He got out after his first enlistment and attained a job with a company in his home town. This was the late 50’s. He went to the union hall to pay for his union card in full. He was told that they wouldn’t take his money in cash but would deduct it from his paycheck each pay period which he figured out would be way more than the upfront cost. He immediately quit and eejoibed the military and never looked back.
I hope that in UAW-heavy districts that voters are asked after voting are you Uaw, and who did you vote for.