Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are making competing Labor Day pitches in Ohio, setting the stage for a critical month in their testy presidential campaign.

The Cleveland airport offered a glimpse of how critical the fight for Ohio has become in the lead-up to the general election, as airplanes for both party nominees and their running mates passed each other on the tarmac Monday morning. Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, prepared to leave Cleveland as Clinton and Tim Kaine arrived.

It was a near-encounter that even forced the Trump press corps to the side of the road as Clinton’s motorcade whizzed by.

“It’s kind of interesting to have all the planes here on the same tarmac,” Kaine said as he walked over to greet Clinton. “Just shows you how important Ohio is. We’re going to be here a lot.”

The Democratic candidates plan to take part in a Labor Day festival with union leaders and workers in Cleveland. Trump and Pence attended a round-table discussion with union members, where Trump warned that America’s manufacturing jobs are “going to hell”.

The Republican presidential nominee blamed the Obama administration for allowing companies to move jobs to Mexico. He also lashed out at the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership as “a catastrophe”

Trump also highlighted President Barack Obama’s reception in China at the Group of 20 summit this weekend as a sign that he is not respected. He noted that Obama couldn’t use his traditional staircase to exit Air Force One when he arrived in China over the weekend, instead, using something Trump described as “a metal staircase in the back of the plane”

“If that were me,” Trump said, “I’d say, ‘You know what folks, I respect you a lot, let’s close the doors, let’s get out of here.”’

Trump also said he planned to take part in all three presidential debates against rival Clinton.

The Republican nominee was rumored to be considering skipping at least one of the debates. But he told journalists aboard his private plan in Ohio on Monday that only something along the lines of a hurricane or natural disaster would keep him from participating.

“I look forward to the debates,” Trump told reporters, saying he regarded them as “an important element of what we’re doing.”

As for preparation, Trump said he did not believe in doing mock debates, as is tradition for many candidates, saying: “I’ve seen people do so much prep work that when they get out there they can’t speak.”

The first debate between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees is scheduled to take place on Monday 26 September.

Trump was also expected to campaign at a fair in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday, in a nod to the state’s role as a make-or-break proving ground for Republican presidential candidates. No Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio, and Trump is trying to overcome some splintering in the state party, which was supportive of Ohio governor John Kasich during the presidential primary.

While Labor Day has traditionally been the kickoff to the fall campaign, both Clinton and Trump have been locked in an intense back-and-forth throughout the summer. Clinton has questioned Trump’s temperament and preparation to serve as commander in chief while seeking to connect the reality television star to the extreme “alt-right” movement within the Republican party.

Trump visited a predominantly black church in Detroit on Saturday in a rare appearance with minority voters, aiming to counter Clinton’s argument to moderate and suburban voters that he has allowed a racist fringe to influence his candidacy.

The start of full-fledged campaigning opens a pivotal month, culminating in the first presidential debate on 26 September at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Polls show Trump trailing Clinton in a series of must-win battleground states, meaning the debates could be his best chance at reorienting the race.

Clinton will have millions of dollars at her disposal this fall to air television advertising and power a sophisticated get-out-the vote operation in key states.

The former secretary of state raised a combined $143m in August for her campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties – her best month yet. She began September with more than $68m in her campaign’s bank account to use against Trump, who has not yet released initial fundraising totals for August.

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine arrive at Cleveland’s airport. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Clinton was expected to attend the Labor Day festival in Cleveland alongside running mate Tim Kaine and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Later in the day, she was joining with labor leaders in the Quad Cities community of Hampton, Illinois, across the Mississippi river from Iowa, where she is locked in a tight contest with Trump.

Democrats were fanning out across battleground states, dispatching Kaine and vice-president Joe Biden to Pittsburgh, former president Bill Clinton to Detroit and Cincinnati and one-time Clinton primary rival Bernie Sanders to New Hampshire.

Addressing a crowd of union workers in Pittsburgh, Biden, standing alongside his possible successor, told the crowd that Trump has no understanding of the struggles Americans face every day, such as how to afford college or a family vacation. He warned that a Trump presidency would bring about economic stagnation for middle-class workers.

The destinations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Hampshire point to Clinton’s battleground map of approximately a dozen states that hold the key to the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the presidency.

Clinton was arriving in Ohio and Illinois aboard a new blue-and-white Boeing 737 campaign plane emblazoned with her slogan, “Stronger Together”. She has mostly traveled by private jet during the primaries and the summer but was being accompanied on the plane by journalists for the first time.

Greeting reporters traveling aboard her campaign plane before takeoff, Clinton said, “Welcome to our big plane! It’s so exciting.”

She said she had a good Labor Day weekend, calling it “the last moment before the mad dash”.

Asked her Labor Day message, she said, “If you want more happy Labor Days you know who to vote for.”

Clinton has been pressured by media critics and Republicans alike to hold a news conference for the first time in 2016. She has not held a formal question-and-answer session with reporters since one in Iowa in early December.

