Auto Union delays endorsing Biden over EV policies.

United Auto Workers Refrains from Endorsing Biden’s Electric Vehicle Policies

The United Auto Workers, a labor union based in Detroit with about 400,000 members, announced on Wednesday that it would not endorse President Joe Biden over his electric vehicle policies. Biden has advanced initiatives to increase the share of electric cars in the public and private sectors, but the union worries that the policies do not contain sufficient job security guarantees for their membership.

Union President Criticizes Ultium Cells

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain recently met with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and various lawmakers to discuss the issue. Fain criticized Ultium Cells, a joint venture between automaker General Motors and battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions, because workers at a new plant for the initiative in Ohio are currently earning less than $17 per hour, even as workers at a nearby former General Motors facility had earned more than $32 per hour.

Fain said that the union will be “ready to talk politics once we secure a future for this industry and the workers who make it run.” He asserted that a victory for former President Donald Trump “would be a disaster” but said members “need to see an alternative that delivers real results.”

White House Officials Support Labor Unions

Senior officials in the White House have nevertheless emphatically supported labor unions over the past two years. Biden recently touted the fact that unions were emphasized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, proclaiming that “union workers are going to transform America.”

White House officials have suggested an increase in electric vehicle reliance as part of a broader renewable energy adoption push in the federal government. Biden vowed in a speech last year that his administration would “start the process where every vehicle in the United States military” would become “climate-friendly.”

Push for Clean Energy Adoption

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm supported an effort last week that would transition the military to rely solely upon electric vehicles by 2030. Officials have pursued similar objectives in other federal agencies such as the Postal Service, which will acquire 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, and established the overall goal of procuring only zero-emission light-duty vehicles for the federal fleet by 2027, a standard that will extend to all federal vehicles by 2035. The EPA recently proposed nationwide emissions rules that would aim to induce a 56% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles, as well as a 44% decrease for medium-duty vehicles.

• The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers.
• The EV transition is at serious risk of becoming a race to the bottom.
• We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments.

Officials have pursued similar objectives in other federal agencies such as the Postal Service, which will acquire 66,000 electric vehicles by 2028, and established the overall goal of procuring only zero-emission light-duty vehicles for the federal fleet by 2027, a standard that will extend to all federal vehicles by 2035. The EPA recently proposed nationwide emissions rules that would aim to induce a 56% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions for light-duty vehicles, as well as a 44% decrease for medium-duty vehicles.

Reducing our reliance on the volatility of globally traded fossil fuels is crucial for energy security. Home-grown, clean energy that is abundant is the key to achieving this. Let’s hope that national leadership can work with the United Auto Workers to secure a future for the industry and the workers who make it run.