UAW files federal labor complaint against Trump campaign over Elon Musk interview

Union launches assault against Trump campaign over his remarks on striking workers

The United Auto Workers union launched a volley of attacks against the Trump campaign on Tuesday after the former president joined Elon Musk for a live interview on X Monday evening.

A statement from the union indicated that it had filed a complaint against Trump and Musk with the the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the two of intimidating workers with their comments in the interview about strikes.

The UAW’s X account also released a video Tuesday morning highlighting that segment of the interview, in which Trump described Musk supposedly firing a group of striking workers — though it was unclear whether he was referring to a real situation.

“I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk, chuckling. “You walk in, you say, You want to quit? They go on strike, I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.”

He's for the billionaires. Not for you.
Donald Trump is a scab. #StandUpUAW pic.twitter.com/hj10zDPbzw

— UAW (@UAW) August 13, 2024

The Independent has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment on the UAW’s labor complaint.

“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected,” UAW president Shawn Fain said in a statement accompanying the union’s press release on Tuesday.

Donald Trump is pictured participating in a live Twitter Spaces interview with CEO Elon Musk (Margo Martin/X/Reuters)

“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns,” his statement continued.

The AFL-CIO, another major union, seemed to agree: “Scab recognizes scab,” its X account posted Monday evening.

Scab recognize scab. https://t.co/lDDUSp2XF4

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) August 13, 2024

Fain has long been an outspoken critic of Trump’s, and the UAW’s latest action only further highlights the divide between two of America’s largest unions, the UAW and the Teamsters, whose president Sean O’Brien became the first organized labor leader to speak at a Republican convention when he did so in July.

O’Brien’s speech at the RNC lent credulity to the economic populist image that Trump has sought to recapture, particularly with his selection of Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate. Vance was the only Republican member of Congress to show up on the UAW’s picket line in 2023 during strike efforts that year. But these latest comments about strike actions, and the UAW’s efforts to publicize them, will undermine that image.

Vance has also been the target of criticism from Democrats over missing a vote to extend the child tax credit in the Senate as he has been on the road campaigning for Donald Trump in the past several weeks. On Monday evening, the Harris campaign trashed the Trump-Musk interview in a press release mocking the Spaces CEO and his guest for technical issues that significantly delayed the interview.

Our statement on... whatever that was pic.twitter.com/bOZfUu8rbk

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024