General Motors and the United Auto Workers union are moving into the second month of a strike that has pushed 175,000 blue-collar workers out of their jobs, and the 2020 Democrats have found their culprit: GM.
“I’ve met with these members of the UAW who are striking outside of facilities in Cincinnati, in Lordstown, Ohio, which has just been devastated, decimated by GM and their malfeasance, paying effectively zero in taxes last year,” Beto O’Rourke said during tonight’s Democratic debate.
Malfeasance? What about the UAW’s habitual pattern of corruption that has resulted in several arrests, a four-year federal investigation, and possible Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization charges? Or the UAW leaders who used members’ dues to splurge on personal luxuries, such as private villas in California? Has O’Rourke forgotten about UAW Vice President Joe Ashton, who demanded more than $500,000 in kickbacks and bribes from GM auto executives and contractors?
O’Rourke is deliberately ignoring the UAW’s blatant corruption and shameful maneuvering. GM has had a deal on the table for the past 30 days and has even revised it to better meet the UAW’s demands, but the UAW continues to keep the strike at a standstill, costing its members up to $1,200 a week and triggering dozens of temporary layoffs.
O’Rourke is just as bad: He cares about Detroit’s automotive workers just as much as the UAW — that is, he doesn’t care at all unless they have something to offer. If O’Rourke and union leaders were truly concerned for the welfare of blue-collar workers, they’d advocate for a quick deal that puts GM’s employees back to work under better conditions.
But O’Rourke won’t for the same reason the UAW continues to drag its feet: Detroit’s automotive workers are nothing more than pawns used to secure more power for the UAW and more votes for the likes of O’Rourke. Is it any wonder Michigan abandoned the Democratic Party in 2016?
