Building trades leader hammers Trump for his ‘anti-union record’ ahead of Saginaw rally

A major union leader and three Detroit Democrats blasted former President Donald Trump, the likely 2024 GOP nominee, for “his anti-union record” one day before he’s set to return to the state to campaign.

During a Tuesday news conference in Detroit, Pat Devlin, secretary/treasurer of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, said Democratic President Joe Biden is the “most pro-union president in American history” during the gathering that included his membership. 

“Under Donald Trump, Michigan lost over 200,000 jobs,” Devlin said. “Trump’s trade policies shuttered factories and actually incentivized companies to move operations overseas.” 

Trump to campaign in Saginaw County next month

Later in his remarks, Devlin said that Biden has created “390,000 good-paying jobs right here in Michigan alone.” 

The event comes after the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) last week endorsed Biden’s campaign. Several other unions have endorsed Biden, including the United Auto Workers, which held a celebratory event with the president in Michigan earlier this year.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, state Rep. Tyrone Carter (D-Detroit) and Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield were also at the press conference. 

The gathering was held at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 58 just ahead of Trump’s scheduled campaign visit. He is set to visit Avflight Saginaw near Freeland for a campaign rally on Wednesday. 

An email to the Michigan Republican Party was not returned. 

Michigan remains a key battleground state in 2024. In 2016, Trump won Michigan by about 10,000 votes and the presidency over Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton 2016. Biden defeated Trump in Michigan by a margin of about 150,000 votes in 2020. 

Duggan touted Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for helping to create jobs in Michigan and throughout the country. 

“We’ve got jobs coming here,” Duggan said. “When President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, he cut by 30% the cost of solar power.” 

Duggan said that he is poised to present a plan to the Detroit City Council to help power dozens of downtown Detroit buildings by solar power, which would create jobs, cost savings and bolster environmental efficiency. 

Carter encouraged union members in the room to help “better tell the Biden story.”

“Let’s talk about what we’ve done and how we have progressed in this country,” Carter said. 

Sheffield said that Biden “has proven to be a supporter of the labor movement.”