The GOP’s “Corporate Agenda Masquerading as Working Class”
UAW Region 9a leader Brandon Mancilla says in an interview with Jacobin that he and his union are not impressed with Republicans’ supposed pro-worker turn — and he explains what a real progressive, working-class agenda would look like.
Former US president Donald Trump stand with his vice-presidential nominee, J. D. Vance, during a campaign event at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, July 20, 2024. (Emily Elconin / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Republican Party has put a lot of effort in recent years into trying to rebrand itself from the party of plutocracy to the party of workers — or perhaps more accurately, the party of plutocracy and workers, depending on who you’re talking to and what day it is. That has been seen in the recent agitation of supposedly pro-worker conservative intellectuals like Oren Cass. And it could be seen in the Republican National Convention speeches of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien and Donald Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, J. D. Vance.
Brandon Mancilla isn’t buying it. Mancilla is the United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9A director and a close ally of progressive, reform-minded UAW president Shawn Fain. Mancilla spoke with Doug Henwood on his show Behind the News on Jacobin Radio. You can listen to the conversation here. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Doug Henwood
Many people are making a big deal out of this new Republican “pro-labor” story. Do you buy it?
Brandon Mancilla
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