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It's the Brian Laira Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone.

Let's meet a rising star in New York and national politics, very involved in several of today's top issues,

and who represents what you might consider strange bedfellow constituents.

He is Brandon Mencia, age 30, director of the United

Auto Workers, Region 9A, which means basically New York City up to Albany, all of New

England, and also Puerto Rico. The Strange Bedfellows part, well, the UAW these days still

represents auto workers around the country, yes, but increasingly they represent

culture workers, employees of museums, theaters, and universities. According to a stat in the nation

magazine, more than a quarter of the union's active members work in higher education these days.

The several current issues part, Brandon himself grew up in Queens, born into what

his bio page says, was a working class immigrant family from Guatemala, so he's got a personal

connection to the debate over immigration from and U.S. policy towards Central America. He has a

master's in history from Harvard and was president of the graduate students union

there. He's been speaking out recently against both the Trump administration for its threats

and funding cuts and detention aimed at Columbia University and its students and against the

university itself for some of its cooperation.

Also, UAW president, Sean Fane, as we've mentioned on the show,

has recently come out in support of the Trump tariffs, at least on imported cars, but tariffs generally, quite a turnaround from when Fain spoke

at the Democratic Convention last summer

endorsed Kamala Harris and referred to Trump and J.D. Vance like this.

Two lap dogs for the billionaire class who only serve themselves.

...