Topline
President Joe Biden will visit striking workers at the United Auto Workers picket line in Michigan Tuesday to show his support for the workers, the Washington Post reported, citing anonymous sources—an extraordinary display of pro-union sentiment from a sitting president.
President Joe Biden speaks about his economic agenda at International Union of Operating Engineers … [+]
Key Facts
On Tuesday, Biden is reportedly scheduled to speak to the workers after the union invited him earlier Friday.
Biden has endorsed the union’s demands for increased pay, saying last week, “record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,” though he has refrained from getting involved in negotiations at the request of the UAW.
The announcement follows visits from Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who have traveled to various picket lines across the country over the past week, USA Today reported.
Biden has often touted himself as “the most pro-union president in American history” and is seeking the UAW’s endorsement in his upcoming reelection campaign.
Forbes has reached out to the White House asking for confirmation and comment.
Key Background
Last Friday, thousands of autoworkers with the UAW began striking at all of the “big three” automakers. The strike began at three facilities: a General Motors plant in Missouri, a Stellantis plant in Ohio and a Ford plant in Michigan. Those plants produce the Chevrolet Colorado, Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, respectively. The UAW is asking for a 36% wage increase of four years, to end the industry’s tiered system of wages and benefits and to cut the workweek from 40 hours to 32 hours. After making little progress in their negotiations with Stellantis and General Motors, the union expanded its strike Friday to 38 more plants across 22 states (the unions said negotiations with Ford were moving along better and declined to expand the strike there), escalating the feud.
Tangent
Biden’s announcement comes after reports revealed that former President Donald Trump, who is running to return to the White House and unseat Biden, is planning to visit the striking workers in late September. Trump’s visit, which a Trump campaign official confirmed to Forbes via email earlier this week, will coincide with the second Republican primary debate, which Trump plans to skip.
Further Reading
UAW widens strike against GM and Stellantis but not Ford (Washington Post)
Autoworkers Strike Expands Against GM And Stellantis—But Not Ford (Forbes)
Trump Skipping Republican Debate To Address Union Workers In Detroit (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/09/22/auto-workers-strike-biden-will-visit-uaw-picket-line/