Labor Unions reject Harris and Walz Charm Offensive

Harris and Walz, despite their longtime labor ties, are struggling to win over key rank-and-file union members — part of a major political realignment away from the Democratic Party.

When the International Association of Fire Fighters last week declined to endorse either candidate in the presidential race — a snub of the Walz-Harris campaign that underscores a much larger problem for the ticket. The move completely blindsided the vice president’s team.The move completely blindsided the vice president’s team.

Democrats’ waning influence with unions, especially industrial, male-heavy groups like the firefighters and Teamsters, has been a major point of concern for Democrats since Harris took over the ticket from Biden, who was widely hailed by union leaders as a staunch ally of organized labor.

To fill that void, Harris, who has a strong pro-labor record but few personal ties to the country’s unions, has leaned heavily on Walz to help bolster the ticket’s labor appeal. On the campaign trail, the governor frequently talks up Harris’ role in the “most pro-union U.S. administration in history” under Biden.

But even Walz, with his strong union credentials, is facing his own skeptics among working-class men. In interviews, many blue-collar, male voters who aren’t enthused about Trump don’t often appear to be strongly swayed by Walz’s folksy charm.

In Pennsylvania, a must-win state for Harris, the state firefighters’ union has already decided not to issue its own presidential endorsement. Robert Brooks, who leads the group, said it has “never made an endorsement in a Presidential race” and “will continue with that practice and rely on the International Association of Firefighters to handle that.” Brooks also didn’t think any locals in his state would make their own endorsement.