Skip to content

Trump is “pro-union”? Do you also believe in unicorns?

Myths abound, from Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to Unicorns and the Easter Bunny. But there’s one myth that’s in a class all by itself: the whopper that Donald Trump is pro-union.

1 min read
Views:
(Caricature of Donald Trump by DonkeyHotey)

Myths abound, from Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster to Unicorns and the Easter Bunny.

But there’s one myth that’s in a class all by itself: the whopper that Donald Trump is pro-union. “Donald Trump likes to portray himself as pro-worker but like many of his assertions, this is a flat-out lie,” LiUNA! Chicago warned as the 2020 presidential election neared.

Despite a mountain of evidence that Trump was the most anti-union president since Herbert Hoover, the myth persists. Sadly, some union members believe it.

Trump’s own words are a good place to start: “I like ‘right to work.’ I mean my position on ‘right to work’ is 100 percent,” he said on the 2016 campaign trail in South Carolina, which has been a RTW state since 1954. It’s no coincidence that RTW states are the poorest states.

So, it’s time for some myth-busting with hard, cold facts. Check this out:

-- Democracy Journal: The myth of a pro-union Trump

-- AFL-CIO: When Donald Trump had a choice, he close nonunion labor for his construction projects with IBEW

-- CWA: Trump's anti-worker record.

-- EPI: The Trump administration's attacks on workplace union voting rights forewarned of the broader threats to voting rights in the upcoming election

-- LiUNA! Chicago: Anti-union actions by the Trump administration

-- Northwest Labor Press: Four years of Trump: The record speaks for itself

-- NFFE: President Trump's union-busting executive orders: What you need to know

-- People's World: By a thousand cuts, Trump trying to exterminate unions

-- Labor Notes: Trump's anti-worker labor board

-- The American Prospect: Here's how Trump has waged his war on workers

-- St. Louis-/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune: 50 ways Donald Trump has hurt workers and their families

-- Coastal Bend Labor Council: Is Trump a champion of workers? His anti-union policies indicate otherwise

-- IUPAT DC 82: Abridged list: the Trump administration's attacks on working people

-- Jacobin: Trump claims he's pro-worker. But his labor board is trying to destroy worker organizing

-- ACT OHIO: Anti-worker NLRB rulings and the Trump administration

--30--



Print Friendly and PDF

Berry Craig

Berry Craig is a professor emeritus of history at West KY Community College, and an author of seven books and co-author of two more. (Read the rest on the Contributors page.)

Arlington, KY

Comments

Latest

Could it be ‘Andy for America’?

Could it be ‘Andy for America’?

Nema and Aaron dig in on the big news of the day: Kentucky finding itself smack-dab in the biggest political story of the ... decade? Then bring in Kentucky Democratic Party chair, Colmon Elridge, to discuss whether Andy’s being vetted for Veep yet.

Members Public
Thank you, Al Cross

Thank you, Al Cross

Kentucky Hall of Fame journalist retires from UK, leaving a legacy of good journalism for rural folks and beyond

Members Public
Clicky