National and state labor leaders rally in Detroit for Democratic candidates

DETROIT — National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler joined state labor leaders at a Detroit union hall Tuesday morning to rally for Democrats in the final stretch of a midterm election that has drawn national and international scrutiny.

Schuler spoke alongside Democratic Attorney General nominee Eli Savit, renowned civil rights activist Charles Mauldin and others at a canvass launch at UNITE HERE Local 24’s office, a hospitality workers’ union that is a part of AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the nation.

“I don’t know about y’all, but I’m sick of the TV ads. Every state I’ve been to, it’s nothing but division. It’s nothing but toxicity and attacks, and you know why they’re doing that,” Shuler said to a packed room of mostly Black supporters donning Unite Here! shirts. “They know if the working class comes together and unites around these issues, that they’re toast.”

Schuler said the labor community has a unique ability to cut through the noise of the political ads that have inundated Michigan’s airwaves.

“We open people’s ears in a way that no one else does,” she said.

Shuler’s presence in Detroit reflects the high stakes of the election, and of turnout in the Black-majority city. In the U.S. Senate election, Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed and Republican nominee Mike Rogers have battled to win over the city’s residents. Black voters, a strong Democratic voting bloc, make up about 14% of the state’s population, and the party will likely need strong turnout among people of color to win.

Antonio George, the Michigan political director of Unite Here Local 24, told Michigan Advance that the surprise endorsement by Democratic U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens’ of Rogers on Sunday was a “real big hit in the gut, especially for working people, especially for this union specifically.” 

Unite Here Local 24 had endorsed Stevens in the primary, then rallied behind El-Sayed in the general election.

“For [Stevens] to cross lines like that, you tell the unions, you’re telling the Detroit residents, we don’t matter,” George said. 

He said union members were angry and surprised by her announcement on Sunday, and her appearance with the Trump-endorsed candidate at a predominantly Black church in Detroit was especially offensive. 

For the general election, George said Unite Here has knocked 150,000 doors for El-Sayed and he plans to continue canvassing before the polls close Tuesday.

Mauldin, who was a student leader in the Selma, Alabama, civil rights protests in the 1960s, began his address at the canvas launch by leading a rendition of Woke Up this Morning With My Mind Stayed on Jesus. 

In a “Black Voters for Abdul” t-shirt, Mauldin said he’s spent the last 10 days traveling across the state to rally for Democrats.

“I don’t have an office to run for but I’m here to run for you. I’m a foot soldier,” he said. “A foot soldier is a person who does a lot of work, but doesn’t need a lot of credit.”

Savit said in one of his final addresses since launching his campaign in May 2025 that the last few months have been marked by a “divisive, cynical attempt funded by Elon Musk and his allies” to pit communities against one another and to prove that people of different races, religions and backgrounds can’t stand together. 

“Well we’re gonna send them a goddamn message tonight,” Savit said.

Savit told the Advance after the event that he’s optimistic and excited about the Democratic Party’s chances Tuesday night.

“Labor and working people built the state, so there’s no better way to end our campaign to spend Election Day than with our friends in labor.”