The leading automotive union in the United States has vowed to support a Ford worker who was suspended after being accused of heckling President Trump during a factory tour earlier this week.
The United Auto Workers union has promised to fight on behalf of a Ford Motor Co. employee who was suspended after shouting at President Donald Trump.
President Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent toured the Dearborn facility in Michigan on Tuesday to meet with the CEO of Ford, Jim Farley, and give a press conference about the economy.
The factory is synonymous with the production of the best-selling Ford F-150 pick-up truck and has hosted every US President over the last 50 years.
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During the visit, an employee, who has been named as T.J. Sabula, shouted at the President, with TMZ claiming that the man reportedly called Mr Trump a "paedophile protector".
Further media reports state that President Trump responded by muttering an expletive to the worker, as well as gesturing towards the crowd.
Following the incident, Steven Cheung, Communications Director at the White House, said a "lunatic" was "wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage".
He noted that the President's response to the man was done in an "appropriate and unambiguous" way.
The United Auto Workers union has pledged to support T.J. Sabula after he was suspended for shouting at President Trump during a tour of a Ford factory in Michigan
|REUTERS/GOFUNDME
Despite this, United Auto Workers has come out in support of the Ford worker accused of shouting at the President during the tour.
Laura Dickerson, Vice President of United Auto Workers, said: "The autoworker at the Dearborn Truck Plant is a proud member of a strong and fighting union - the UAW.
"He believes in freedom of speech, a principle we wholeheartedly embrace, and we stand with our membership in protecting their voice on the job.
"The UAW will ensure that our member receives the full protection of all negotiated contract language safeguarding his job and his rights as a union member.
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Two crowdfunding pages have been set up to support T.J. Sabula
|GOFUNDME
"Workers should never be subjected to vulgar language or behaviour by anyone - including the President of the United States."
Dave Tovar, a spokesperson for Ford, emphasised that "respect" was one of the core values for the Blue Oval brand, the Detroit Free Press reported.
He added that the manufacturer does not condone anyone "saying anything inappropriate" within the confines of its facilities.
"When that happens, we have a process to deal with it, but we don't get into specific personnel matters," Mr Tovar said.
President Donald Trump said auto tariffs imposed on foreign automakers had raised around $70billion for the US
| FORDThe UAW Local 600 leadership team said the worker "acted as an individual" by exercising his rights both as a worker at the Ford plant and as a citizen.
Two crowdfunding pages have been set up for Mr Sabula, having raised more than $810,000 (£603,409).
One of the GoFundMe pages, entitled "TJ Sabula is a patriot!!" stated that the man deserved the money for bills, with a further goal of "forcing Donald J. Trump to release the Epstein Files".
The second GoFundMe page stated that Mr Sabula is a father of two young children, and that the money would go to supporting the worker and his family during the time of uncertainty.