The United Auto Workers’ leadership is not truly representing the interests of the rank and file on the assembly line, even if the workers don’t quite see it.

Back in September, Joe Biden became the first president to join a picket line — for a 12-minute photo op with striking UAW workers, anyway. We don’t expect presidents to be in the back pocket of big corporations, and workers do make the cars and trucks, but it’s astounding to see a president literally stand against American businesses and consumers in favor of a dwindling but loud political constituency.

Yes, union workers have historically been Democrats because Biden and his party claim to represent blue-collar workers against the corporate interests of the rich and white Republican Party.

But this ain’t your father’s economy or unions or political parties.

Last May, UAW President Shawn Fain said the union was not ready to endorse anyone because of reservations over Biden’s push to transition the auto industry to electric vehicles. Any endorsement, Fain said, was “going to be earned and not freely given.” Four months later, Biden showed up on the picket line, and four more months after that, the UAW finally did what was only a matter of time.

As sure as the sun comes up every morning, the UAW finally officially endorsed Biden’s reelection bid. “Today, I’m proud to … announce that the UAW is endorsing Joe Biden for President of the United States,” Fain announced Wednesday. “We will reelect Joe Biden.”

.@UAW President @ShawnFainUAW: “If our endorsements must be earned, Joe Biden has earned it…the UAW is endorsing Joe Biden for president of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/24syQyX1BI

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 24, 2024

Biden was there Wednesday to receive the endorsement. “I was so damn proud to stand on that picket line with you,” Scranton Joe crowed of his 12-minute sacrifice for workers that one time four months ago.

But what about the actual policies that matter for American jobs?

A significant factor leading to the UAW strike was federal policy pushing EVs. Our Brian Mark Weber covered that issue in September. Essentially, it boils down to this: “Electric vehicles have fewer parts and require less labor to build, and that reality has driven a wedge between autoworkers and Democrats.” There are also questions regarding where those parts are made and where materials are sourced (hint: often not America).

Despite gobs of taxpayer subsidies, automakers are losing tons of money on EVs, but they have little choice other than to keep producing them given government mandates to save the planet or something. All while losing all that money, Detroit’s Big Three automakers eventually settled last fall’s strike by granting huge pay increases and various assurances to autoworkers. That’s great for those workers, but consumers pay, and the price of new cars has already risen dramatically since Biden “rescued” America in 2021.

Meanwhile, no discussion of American labor is complete without bringing up illegal immigration. Biden deliberately caused an invasion of the southern border, and the insanity on bordering is at a fever pitch. Millions upon millions of people have flooded across our open border, distorting the jobs market among many other things.

If the Left’s climate and immigration policies aren’t enough, there are the taxes and regulations, as well as the cultural and educational degradation. All of these things hurt American workers regardless of the bromides Biden and others toss their way.

Back in 2016, the UAW estimated that one in four of its members voted for Donald Trump, who won Rust Belt states like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He then enacted policies that greatly helped American workers, though he was not rewarded for that with victory in 2020.

If 2024 ends up being the rematch most observers expect, Fain said some things that would lead any sane person to think he was endorsing Trump:

“This November, we can stand up and elect someone who stands with us and supports our cause, or we can elect someone who will divide us and fight us every step of the way,” Faid declared. Complaining about one candidate, he added: “He did nothing, not a damn thing because he doesn’t care about the American worker. [He] is a scab. [He] stands against everything we stand for as a union, as a society.”

Of course, Fain was railing about Trump, but Biden divides us and fights American workers every step of the way. It’s not that Biden has done nothing; it’s worse — he has policy after policy that harms Americans economically and socially. It’s a shame that men like Fain benefit from Biden’s way and that perhaps three-quarters of UAW workers are likely to follow that ruinous path.