Who’s Really Fighting for the American Working Class?
American manufacturing can’t thrive when the workforce is treated as expendable
There is no true Labor Party in the U.S. Democrats and Republicans both claim to champion the working class, but too often their actions say otherwise.
Democrats pay lip service to being pro-union and pro-labor, but the historically blue union workers are much more splintered these days as they feel the party has done little for them.
In 2020, Biden made a campaign promise to get a week of paid sick leave for every American. And that was a big sticking point in the 2022 negotiations between railroad workers and companies. Yet it wasn’t included in that contract. Why? Because Biden outlawed a union strike against railroads in the name of national security. “Union Joe” did go back two years later to mediate for four paid sick days, but once again, it was the railroad tycoons first, the American rail worker second.
Republicans paint themselves as the party of the heartland, the hard-working middle class, touting grit, patriotism, and self-reliance. But their definition of self-reliance usually means: stop whining, work harder, and forget about organizing. “Why do you need a union? It just protects lazy people–you’re not lazy, are you?” They count on a large number of workers to believe they’re special and not just a number, that they’re patriots willing to work harder for less out of love for their country. For some reason, these folks then believe they have more in common with the powerful and wealthy elite than the actual working class they belong to. I know y’all want to be rugged individualists, but there is strength in numbers. And even if you rake in $300,000 annually, you have more in common with the low-wage earner than with the rich and famous.
The reality is that elites want big businesses to control your hours, pay, health care, and often your life. Regardless of party, those in power push for fewer labor rights, safety rules, and environmental protections because all of those cut into profits.
Organized labor is our counterbalance.
Some argue that we no longer need unions and that today’s labor laws are enough. But those laws are constantly under attack by anti-worker politicians and corporate lobbyists. During Donald Trump’s first term, there was a major push to expand the number of workers classified as “managers,” since managers can be forced to work overtime without extra pay. The idea was to label regular employees—cashiers, fast food workers, shelf stockers—as managers to dodge fair pay requirements.
Unions helped block that law, but in practice, this tactic is still used illegally and costs American workers an estimated $4 billion a year. That’s $4 billion stolen from the working class and funneled to shareholders.
(https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/are-you-mistakenly-classified-as-a-manager/) (https://www.nber.org/papers/w30826)
Unions haven’t become obsolete—they’ve become inconvenient for those profiting from exploitation.
Remember the battle to raise the minimum wage? Critics warned it would cause massive inflation. But inflation happened anyway, and wages still haven’t caught up. During the pandemic, prices skyrocketed due to “shortages” and corporate profits soared. Now, five years later, those prices remain high while the service staff remains cut.
The elites have no issue using the topic of inflation to make insane profits, but when you want a raise or fair pay, it’s suddenly: “If you get a raise, everything will cost more!”
All this to say: I’m genuinely worried about the future of the American worker.
If you’ve followed my writing, you know I support American-made products and backed the 25% steel tariffs during Trump’s first term. I believe in strategic tariffs to reshore jobs, rebuild our industrial base, and strengthen national resilience. The global economy hasn’t played fair with American manufacturing; low-regulation environments and oppressive regimes abroad keep labor costs artificially low, undercutting our workforce.
From a national security standpoint, that’s dangerous. We engineered and built our way through previous wars. Now, we outsource far too much—even to countries we might one day or currently see as adversaries.
The recent creation of a White House Shipbuilding Office and renewed investment in ship and submarine manufacturing show that some in D.C. recognize the stakes. The idea is to bring back well-paying, blue-collar jobs.
Sounds great—until you look closer.
Things are moving fast in D.C., and in every direction all at once. One day, the president slaps huge tariffs on personal electronics, and there’s a glimmer of hope—maybe we’ll start making those products here again. The next day, he exempts them from the tariffs entirely.
The auto industry faced massive new tariffs, which were then suspended for a month. Now, they’ve been rolled back so significantly that at least one of the Big Three automakers is expanding its operations in Mexico to absorb even more work historically done in Detroit.
The promise of “more American jobs” often feels less about rebuilding our workforce and more about using us as leverage. The message to foreign markets seems to be, “Give us better trade terms, or we’ll pretend to reshore.” In that game, American workers who’ve held this country together aren’t the priority—we’re just a bargaining chip in the “art of the deal.”
And then there’s the elephant in the room: the president and the billionaire who helped get him elected, Elon Musk, are two of the most anti-union, anti-labor businessmen in the country.
Trump has a long, well-documented history of stiffing small businesses, contractors, architects, and even his own lawyers. His family has openly stated they don’t feel bound to honor contracts, often walking away from agreements over the flimsiest excuses.
One example from the 1980s says it all: a family-owned cabinet maker of 40+ years landed a $400,000 contract to build pieces for one of Trump’s casinos. When it came time to pay the final $83,000, Trump decided he had “already paid enough.” At one point, he insulted their craftsmanship, then bizarrely offered to hire them again. The company didn’t survive.
That’s not a business-savvy leader. That’s someone who treats working people as disposable.
A 2016 USA Today piece revealed that more than 3,500 lawsuits had been filed against Donald Trump and his companies by contractors, real estate agents, restaurant workers, architects, glass suppliers, craftsmen, and even his former lawyers. The claims? Failure to pay for materials, overtime, commissions, and completed work.
Many of these small businesses couldn’t afford legal action. They either lost everything or settled for pennies. Does that sound like someone who champions workers or respects small business operators and blue-collar workers?
This isn’t fake news. In that 2016 article, they referenced one 2014 case in which a painting company was owed $30,000 for work at Trump’s Doral resort. A contractor manager testified that Trump didn’t pay because he felt “enough” had already been paid. The judge noted in his ruling that as the witness spoke, Trump’s trial attorneys “visibly winced, began breathing heavily, and attempted to make eye contact” with the witness—clearly realizing how damaging the admission was.
Then there is Musk, who once bragged, “I know more about manufacturing than anyone currently alive on Earth,” while missing every self-imposed deadline and building cars in tents. Musk has spent millions fighting the UAW’s attempts to unionize Tesla. Toyota has successfully kept the union out of its American factories by offering wages and benefits that are comparable to those of the Big Three. Musk is doing it by threatening benefits, spying on the workforce, and firing employees who are vocal about unionizing–you know, things that this country’s labor laws do not permit.
Tesla is facing a flood of lawsuits: civil rights violations, sexual harassment, wrongful terminations, safety violations—you name it. Reports of racism have followed the company since its first factory opened. And Musk’s other company, SpaceX, which I have previously called out, has racked up a troubling record of unreported injuries, safety failures, and even deaths—all while avoiding oversight.
Then, last summer on Musk’s platform X, this exchange took place:
“You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I look at what you do. You walk in and say, ‘You want to quit?’ I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK. You’re all gone.’”
Musk replied, “Yeah,” and laughed.
While they joked about firing striking workers—an open violation of labor law—the UAW filed a suit against Musk and Trump for union interference.
Sanjukta Paul, a law professor at the University of Michigan, told the Associated Press last year that the UAW charges have real substance because the comments from the two could “chill” workers’ efforts to organize or improve conditions. They “wholeheartedly commended the blatant violation of our main federal labor statute,” she said. “It would constitute interference with protected rights.”
Trump is also currently fighting with federal judges to end collective bargaining for federal employees.
So let me be clear: the loudest voices promising to “bring jobs back to America” are the same men who actively despise fairly paid and protected American workers. The wolves aren’t just at the door. They’re running the henhouse.
So, who’s looking out for us? Honestly, no one in D.C.
We must defend our rights and wages as American workers because no one is doing it for us. The elite push policies that weaken unions, strip labor laws, and protect billionaires, not blue-collar Americans. Both political parties are pro-corporate and pro-deregulation, and they are more interested in campaign donations than in shop floor reality.
But we’ve got something stronger: each other.
Blue-collar workers don’t just build things. We build the backbone of America. And if we want a future with fair wages, safe working conditions, and a genuine respect for our trades, it won’t come from the top down. It’ll come from standing shoulder to shoulder. Solidarity still matters.
We are not disposable.
We are the workforce this country depends on—and it’s damn well time we were treated that way.
Additional reference articles:
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/tesla-racism-sexual-harassment/
https://slate.com/business/2025/04/trump-news-blue-collar-jobs-housing-construction-tariffs.html
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/04/10/business/manufacturing-us-jobs-trump-tariffs