Francine Eason and Andrew Gangwer are both union members, and affordability is top of mind for each of them. But she\u2019s voting for Vice President Kamala Harris and he\u2019s backing former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eason works as a housekeeper at a hotel in Philadelphia, where she has belonged to UNITE HERE Local 274 for five years. Gangwer is a Teamster of 10 years in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, who works as an operations specialist at Anheuser-Busch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen they talk about strengthening the economy through corporations, that\u2019s who pays me every week,\u201d Gangwer, a 50-year-old registered independent, said of Republicans\u2019 pro-business messaging. \u201cIt gives me the opportunity to fight for a better contract next time, because we can say, \u2018Hey, look at these record profits you\u2019re making.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea that the working class is naturally united is mistaken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While union membership has continued to edge down in recent years, first the Biden-Harris administration<\/a> and then the Harris campaign have pushed to shore up the clout of organized labor and Democratic support within its ranks. But views like Gangwer\u2019s show there may be limits to that effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harris has taken aim at \u201cexcessive\u201d corporate profits<\/a> and promoted a more blue-collar ticket<\/a>, looking to fend off a rival who who peeled away more union voters<\/a> from what remains a Democratic-leaning chunk of the electorate. Trump lost labor households by just 8 percentage points<\/a> in 2016 after President Barack Obama won them by 18<\/a> four years earlier \u2014 still higher than Biden\u2019s improved 16-point margin<\/a> with union voters in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrump exploited that open door,\u201d said Tobias Higbie, a professor of history and labor studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, referring to Democratic policies that embraced free trade and lighter regulation at a time when unions were on the wane. And while labor has been flexing more political muscle lately, it remains a heterogeneous cohort of 14.4 million people<\/a> all heading to the ballot box with a range of interests and preoccupations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe idea that the working class is naturally united is mistaken,\u201d Higbie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harris secured the endorsements of labor groups from the AFL-CIO<\/a> to the National Education Association<\/a> and repeats her belief on the trail<\/a> that \u201cwhen unions are strong, America is strong.\u201d Meanwhile, Teamsters President Sean O\u2019Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention<\/a> last month, praising Trump as \u201ctough\u201d before slamming as \u201ceconomic terrorism\u201d<\/a> his recent suggestion that workers should be fired for organizing. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, visited a United Auto Workers picket<\/a> last fall shortly after President Joe Biden did the same<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eason, a Democrat, isn\u2019t voting strictly as a union member. Other top concerns include gun violence, which she said remains \u201cout of control\u201d in Philadelphia<\/a> despite it seeing the steepest drop<\/a> in those incidents of any major U.S. city so far this year, after a record surge during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But labor issues are important for Eason, who has worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years, but only five as a union member. She said she sees the difference between her wages and treatment compared to her nonunionized counterparts nearby, and being in a union has boosted her confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the hotel where I work at now, my mouth is big,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not scared to fight against the boss when they\u2019re not treating us fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She believes Harris can deliver for her and fellow union members, calling the Democratic nominee a \u201cbreath of fresh air\u201d for whom she\u2019s canvassing alongside UNITE HERE colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the hotel where I work at now, my mouth is big. I\u2019m not scared to fight against the boss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FRANCINE EASON, UNITE HERE LOCAL 274, PHILADELPHIA<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gangwer, meanwhile, said he has struggled to grapple with recent inflation. He pushed off \u201cmust-do\u2019s\u201d on his home<\/a>, like a partial roof replacement, because it\u2019s too expensive. His co-workers have become more willing to vote for Republicans in recent years, he said, citing the party\u2019s commitments to cut taxes and an emphasis on law and order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeff Egkan has also seen colleagues warm up to conservative candidates. But the retired Teamster in San Diego County, California, who worked for UPS for 33 years, said he isn\u2019t persuaded by Republicans\u2019 pitch. Egkan is a Democrat who plans to vote for Harris, and he\u2019s worried Trump\u2019s rhetoric toward union voters isn\u2019t genuine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen specific promises from President Trump,\u201d he said. \u201cI have seen specific promises from Vice President Harris. She said she will sign the PRO Act,\u201d he said of a Democratic bill<\/a> that would strengthen workers\u2019 rights to organize and increase penalties on employers that violate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cecilia Ortiz is planning to back Harris after voting for the first time in 2020 for Biden. Ortiz, 43, is a lead passenger service agent at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and a member of the SEIU\u2019s Airport Workers United, and said she was disappointed with Trump\u2019s term in office. \u201cHe was just more about himself,\u201d she said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t talk policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since then, she has stayed engaged. Last year, she got involved in organizing<\/a> for more protections for employees who work in the intensifying Arizona heat, which has raised safety concerns and forced the aviation industry to adapt<\/a>. Phoenix passed a worker heat-protection ordinance<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKamala and Tim Walz,\u201d Ortiz said, \u201cthey are big advocates for investing in good union jobs, and that\u2019s what we need here in Arizona,\u201d she said, nodding to Harris\u2019 running mate, who was himself a union member as a public school teacher in Minnesota before becoming its governor. Ortiz added that protecting abortion access is also a top issue for her, with Arizonans weighing a ballot referendum<\/a> on the issue this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dahlia Saba, an electrical engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is undecided, but only on whether to vote for Harris or not at all. Her top issue is the war in Gaza. Saba had family members in the region who were able to evacuate earlier this year and is disappointed with the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s robust support<\/a> for Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is a decision that I don\u2019t take lightly,\u201d said Saba, who belongs to the Teaching Assistants Association, the oldest graduate student union in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduate student workers\u2019 power<\/a> often fluctuates depending on who is in the White House<\/a> determining labor policy. But for Saba, backing members of the current administration amid the civilian bloodshed and suffering in Gaza \u201cwould be a signal that this is something Democrats can get away with in the future,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are signs Democrats may be able to overcome some of these fissures, experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They can\u2019t break the unions. So we\u2019re not afraid of that. It\u2019s almost impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe labor movement has become much more active since the pandemic,\u201d Higbie said. \u201cThere was \u2018Striketober<\/a>\u2019 [and] \u2018Hot Labor Summer<\/a>.\u2019 \u2026 When you have a lot of activity like that, it changes the political dynamic.\u201d A more active labor movement could re-engage rank-and-file members to vote more like union leadership does, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not for Gangwer, though. If anything, labor\u2019s recent show of strength takes some pressure off of having to defend it at the ballot box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey can\u2019t break the unions,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019re not afraid of that. It\u2019s almost impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n