America's moribund labor movement is poised to repeat the same mistake that led to the collapse of its membership and the hollowing out of our middle class.  Despite this president's America First policies and his success in resurrecting American manufacturing, union leaders are lining up with Democrats who cynically promise the moon and stars to labor while delivering policies for the Davos crowd.  Charlie Brown showed more skepticism toward Lucy's football.

Labor has become captive to the (so-called) Democratic Party, using its waning but still considerable political influence almost exclusively to elect Democrats.  This had two predictable results: Democrats came to take their support for granted while Republicans became increasingly adverse to unions.  You might think organizations whose stock in trade is bargaining expertise would know better.

The sharp decline of union membership, and resulting stagnant wages, closely mirrors the offshoring of American manufacturing and historic immigration rates — both legal and illegal.  With more workers competing for fewer jobs, workers' bargaining power was all but lost.  These policies (and illegal immigration is D.C.'s policy) were bipartisan because workers' vehicle for protecting their interests allowed itself to become strictly partisan.

Comes now the improbable Donald Trump, a developer who, unlike career politicians, created hundreds of thousands of good-paying, middle-class jobs in construction, hospitality, and entertainment.  Trump has negotiated contracts with trade unions and understands the value of skilled union labor.  He has prospered in this relationship, and so have his contractors and employees.  Quite unlike the Democrat media's portrayal of him as a heartless capitalist, Trump's a throwback to a time when bosses took justifiable pride in creating enterprises and jobs that support families and communities.  This was the time before vulture-capital perfected the art of chiseling away everyone else's prosperity — Mitt Romney style.

On the macro-level, Trump recognized and for decades railed against Washington's betrayal of wage-earners through disastrous trade and immigration policies.  As president, he has been true to his word and fought tirelessly, against ferocious opposition from moneyed interests in both parties, to return manufacturing and restrict immigration.  In short, Trump has earned the support of workers despite having received almost no support from unions that claim to represent workers' interests.

After decades of economic stagnation, you might think union leaders, seeing record low unemployment, a resurgence of manufacturing and rising wages, would reward Trump — if only not to be seen as indifferent to their members' interests.  But you would be mistaken.

Even now, union heads are lining up behind the Democrat's 2020 presidential candidates and especially "Lunch-bucket" Joe Biden — a political hack who has perfected the art of pro-labor lip service.  This is the very same "Blue-Collar" Joe who voted for NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with (communist) China — trade deals that have been a catastrophe for American workers.  He opposed the job-rich Keystone XL pipeline, while supporting the job-destroying Paris Climate Accord.  And "Ol' Uncle" Joe is all in on an "unrelenting stream of immigration — non-stop, non-stop."

The idea that labor leaders would support job-destroyer Joe Biden over job-creator Donald Trump shows how far the movement has strayed from its core mission and how infected it has become with hyperpartisanship.  At this point, Trump better represents union members' legitimate interests than their labor leaders.

The 2020 presidential election is a rare opportunity for labor to demonstrate their allegiance is to American workers over partisan politics.  If they seize the opportunity to support Trump, they could begin reclaiming their lost bargaining power.  If they fail to do so, they will become increasingly irrelevant.

The author is a former local and state president for the International Association of Fire Fighters and hosts Right Now with Jim Daws, a webcast on news, politics, and culture from an American nationalist perspective. https://twitter.com/RightNowJimDaws