According to a new report from the Daily Beast, MAGA Republican candidate Tom Barrett (MI-07) is refusing to visit the picket line and “has not issued a public statement on the strike since it began.”
Barrett has a long anti-worker, anti-union record, including his opposition to the recent repeal of the state’s right-to-work law, which had “eroded labor’s clout.”
When asked why he hasn’t shown his support for the striking UAW auto workers, Barrett’s excuse was that “no one’s asked.”
For decades, Republicans have campaigned on promises to weaken organized labor.
But in the face of a pivotal moment for the labor movement—a historic auto workers walkout—some GOP candidates are trying to talk about anything but the strike.
The area surrounding Lansing, Michigan—where some 2,000 United Auto Workers members are on strike at a General Motors plant—is the turf of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, one of the most competitive in the country.
The lead GOP candidate in the race, Tom Barrett, is a consistent anti-union conservative who criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent repeal of the state’s right-to-work law, which eroded labor’s clout by allowing workers in unionized shops to opt out of paying dues to the union for their bargaining efforts.
But despite his own record and the fact that the strike is dominating headlines in the district, Barrett has not issued a public statement on the strike since it began.
Barrett’s response reflects the bind in which anti-union, right-to-work Republicans now find themselves. Today, public support for labor unions sits at 67 percent, according to Gallup’s tracking poll—a huge leap from 2010, when public sentiment for unions bottomed out at 48 percent support.
DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
“Tom Barrett has a long anti-worker record of putting corporate special interests ahead of Mid-Michigan. He voted more than five times against bipartisan measures to support thousands of auto manufacturing jobs in his district, so it’s fitting that Barrett won’t stand with the UAW workers on the picket line fighting for fair pay and the right to retire with dignity.”
