UAW Local 677's Shawn Smith poses for a portrait at the UAW Local 677 building in Allentown, Pennsylvania on October 5, 2026. The region's last remaining Mack truck manufacturing plant employs some 2,800 people. The company had announced plans to lay off up to 350 workers at the facility in April 2025, partly due to Trump's tariffs. Around 170 employees were ultimately let go, only to be recalled when business conditions improved -- and Trump himself visited the site in June to tout his policies. "I wasn't interested in being involved with that," said Shawn Smith, 52, a technician who puts finishing touches on heavy trucks. Smith, a union representative, supports Democratic candidate Brooks. He added that workers "don't talk politics" at the plant as it "just starts an argument." Nonetheless, he believes: "There's enough of a disconnect, and there's enough independents and Republicans that (will) say enough is enough, and they want a little bit of a change." (Photo by Matthew Hatcher / AFP via Getty Images)