Harris and Walz show their support for organized labor with appearance at Detroit union hall

WAYNE, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, played up their support for organized labor at a Detroit-area union hall on Thursday, with the Democratic nominee saying “we’re all in this together” as the new ticket lavishes attention on a crucial base of support.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Walz, who joined the ticket on Tuesday, spoke Thursday to about 100 United Auto Workers members at Local 900 Hall, which represents Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant. The stop occurred shortly after Republican nominee Donald Trump held a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida.

As she proclaimed that it was “good to be in the house of labor,” Harris described the value of unions, saying they were “about understanding that no one should be made to fight alone” and that “hard work is good work.”

“We have fun doing hard work, because we know what we stand for,” she said. “When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. We know what we stand for, and we stand for the people and we stand for the dignity of work, and we stand for freedom. We stand for justice. We stand for equality.

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She continued: “And so we will fight for all of it.”

Walz, riffing off a favorite line of President Joe Biden, told the labor crowd that “we know that unions built the middle class.

“The rest of America has to,” Walz added.

The members at Local 900 were the first Ford workers to strike in 2023 when the union’s contract with the company expired. Workers at the assembly plant went on strike Sept. 15 and remained on the picket lines until Oct. 25, when the union announced a tentative agreement with Ford.

After President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign last month and endorsed his vice president, organized labor quickly rallied around Harris. The AFL-CIO endorsed her after having first backed Biden. The UAW formally backed her last week.

Harris and Walz have been highlighting their support for working people during their first joint appearances this week in some of the most closely contested states that will help decide whether she becomes the first female U.S. president or whether Trump returns to the White House and brings along Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice president.

Trump, Vance and other Republicans have increasingly criticized Harris for not engaging extensively with journalists and taking questions during the early days of her candidacy. In a brief exchange with reporters before leaving Michigan, Harris said she has talked with her aides and wants to schedule an interview before the end of the month.

She also re-confirmed that she would participate in a Sept. 10 debate on ABC News — which Trump had backed out of before recommitting to it earlier Thursday during his Palm Beach press conference — and said she would be “happy” to discuss subsequent debates after that one occurs.

The Democrats visited Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping Biden get elected in 2020.

Two new polls of likely voters in Wisconsin and Georgia, another key state, show close races in both. Several Georgiapolls conducted earlier in the summer found Trump slightly ahead in the state, which Biden won narrowly in 2020.

UAW President Shawn Fain told The Associated Press last week that Harris’ leading the Democratic ticket boosts the party’s chances of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November. Fain said Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would send the labor movement into reverse in a second term.

On Thursday, Fain welcomed the ticket to “labor’s house” and rallied the union crowd by exclaiming: “Kamala Harris is one of us. Gov. Tim Walz is one of us” and praising their pro-labor records.

“This isn’t about opinions. This election is not about party politics,” Fain said. “All we have to do is look at these candidates in their own words and actions. That’s all the facts we need.”

Fain also spoke Wednesday at Harris’ campaign rally at a Detroit-area airport hangar. The UAW leader has become a top nemesis of the Republican presidential nominee, who frequently rails against Fain at rallies and in speeches.

Vance made his own stops in Michigan and Wisconsin on Wednesday, intent on showing that Republicans will compete in the “blue wall” of Midwestern states. He called Walz a “crazy radical” and said that Harris’ decision to pick him as a running mate shows that she “bends the knee to the far left of the Democratic Party.”

As Harris spoke to an estimated 15,000-person crowd at the airport, she was interrupted by protesters opposed to Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas. At first, Harris said to those trying to disrupt her, “I am here because I believe in democracy, and everybody’s voice matters.”

But Harris lost patience as the shouting continued, with protesters accusing her of supporting genocide in Gaza. That led her to deliver a sharper rejoinder.

“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” she said, talking over the protesters. “Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Metro Detroit, home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the United States, has become a focal point of tension and unrest due to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Shortly after her remarks Wednesday, Harris won the backing of Assad I. Turfe, the deputy Wayne County executive, who is the highest-ranking Arab American official in Michigan’s largest county. Turfe told The Associated Press he spoke with Harris backstage at the event before his endorsement.

“Kamala Harris embodies the America we deserve –- an America that stands for strength, inclusivity and unwavering commitment to justice,” Turfe said in a statement. “I wholeheartedly endorse Kamala Harris, as she represents the true spirit of our nation and the values we hold dear.”

Turfe also pressed the need for a cease-fire in Gaza, but said that Harris “gives us the best chance of achieving peace in that region moving forward.”

Union members attending the rally said they supported Harris.

Jeanne Ruff of Livonia, Michigan, whose husband is a longtime UAW member, said she hoped Harris would visit a union shop in Michigan to show her support.

“I want her to make sure skill trades are back in schools so that the next generation can understand what unions are about. What solidarity is and how strong we can be together, working as one,” Ruff said.

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Cappelletti reported from Lansing, Michigan, and Kim from Washington. AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher contributed to this report.