One of the nation’s largest labor groups embraced Donald Trump at the start of his presidency, in hopes he would create construction jobs and retreat from proposals that might reduce workers’ wages.

But now the two sides are on the brink of war, endangering a key bloc of Trump’s support in Midwestern swing states in 2020.

Last week, President Trump announced the nomination of Eugene Scalia for Secretary of Labor. Following in the footsteps of his father, the late ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Eugene has built his career on preserving and expanding  power for banks and corporations. The nomination of Scalia raises major red flags due to his staunch anti-labor positions as well as his advocacy for multi-billion dollar CEOs.

When corporations violate the law by calling some workers “independent contractors” instead of recognizing them as employees, those workers are denied a host of fundamental protections like a minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance and workers’ comp. Without these protections, working people are living on the edge. Every single day.