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CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – As we approach Labor Day, the labor vote is in-play.
For generations, Democrats represented labor while Republicans represented management.
That’s not so cut-and-dry now. Polling suggests between 40- and 50-percent of union households supported Donald Trump. The Teamsters didn’t endorse a presidential candidate in 2024. It’s estimated that around half of their membership are Trumpers.
For union households, Trump has three policies that are favorable and aren’t always talked about. First, tariffs, which are thought of as a way of making international trade more fair, is also a way to fight unfair labor practices overseas. How can a union worker in America compete with someone who assembles iPhones in China for a few dollars a day? Tariffs on imports help to equalize production costs.
Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants will raise wages in union households. How will a union worker make $24 an hour hanging drywall when someone in the country illegally will do it for $14? Removing illegal labor from the marketplace will get a better wage for those who are here legally.
And requiring truck drivers to read and speak basic English is more than a safety issue. It creates jobs for American truckers. A trucker in Florida, in the country illegally and with no language skills, killed three in a highway crash.
Trump has made more progress on all these issues than democrats, who unions used to support reflexively. When any group blindly gives its support to one political party, they eventually are taken for granted. That can’t be said of labor any more.
Chris Conley
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