At a time when Democrats are debating how to win back working-class voters in the era of President Donald Trump, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) is looking to build on the support he received from union voters in his 2022 election.
“I respect the union way of life,” Shapiro told reporters following an event at the Heat and Frost Insulators Local 38 union hall in Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
“[I] believe in the fact that unions built this commonwealth, and they’re not just an important part of our heritage, but they’re critically important for the future of Pennsylvania.”
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Since the start of the campaign, union halls and training centers have been staging grounds for campaign events with Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, and Sunday was no different.
Over 100 supporters and volunteers crammed into the Insulators Local 38 union hall for a canvass launch featuring Shapiro and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti (D), who is running against US Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-Luzerne) in one of the country’s most closely watched races.
“I want a partner in Congress that’s gonna work to expand union opportunities, not restrict them the way her opponent has,” Shapiro said.
“I just want you to know that I will always have your back, and on my watch Pennsylvania will never be a right-to-work state. We need a governor who respects the union way of life,” Shapiro told the crowd to a roaring round of applause.
In the gubernatorial race, Shapiro’s opponent, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity (R), has the backing of the Associated Builders and Contractors Keystone Chapter PAC, which supports right-to-work laws nationally and opposes the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would make it easier for workers to form unions.
“I’ll let you know what I did with the pen on the very first day,” Shapiro recalled. “I signed an executive order doing away with the college degree requirement to work for state government. That’s about 70,000 jobs that would now be open to people without a college degree.”
In the previous election, Shapiro carried union voters 60% to 38% over his Republican opponent and, according to the AFL-CIO, union members gave Shapiro an estimated net gain of 185,000 votes, which accounted for 28% of the vote margin.
Shapiro’s performance among union voters was significantly better than how Democrats performed against Trump in previous presidential elections.
Blue Compass Strategies, a progressive research firm, noted that union voters used to account for 30% of the electorate in 2000, with 65% of members voting for then-Vice President Al Gore. The total share of union voters in the commonwealth’s electorate dropped to 18% and exit polls showed that Trump carried union members in 2020 by a two-point margin.
Union members backed then-Vice President Kamala Harris by a five-point margin in 2024.
Bill Hooper, a retired laborer who was waiting to get a photo of Shapiro autographed following Sunday’s event, highlighted the governor’s track record of supporting apprenticeship programs and investing in union training centers during his first term in office.
“I believe that the governor with his apprentice programs are making a big difference because we need people in the trades,” Hooper told The Keystone.
“It’s tough to get people into the trades, and the apprentice programs that are through all the unions are just fantastic for our youth. To bring the youth in and teach [them], I’m all for it.”
