Biden Backs 40% UAW Pay Raise on Michigan Strike Visit

BELLEVILLE, Mich. (Reuters) – President Joe Biden joined a picket line with striking auto workers in Michigan on Tuesday, backing their call for a 40% pay raise and telling them they deserve “much more” than that they are receiving.

Biden’s appearance, the first visit by a US president to striking workers in modern history, comes a day before Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, speaks to auto workers in Michigan. These rare back-to-back events highlight the importance of union support in the 2024 presidential election, even though unions represent a small fraction of American workers.

Democrat Biden traveled to a parts distribution center in Belleville, Michigan, owned by General Motors (GM.N), and joined dozens of protesters outside. “Businesses were in trouble, now they’re doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well too,” Biden said into a megaphone. “Stay with it.”

He was referring to a government bailout of American automakers in 2009 that included pay cuts. “You deserve what you have earned. And you have earned so much more than what they pay you now,” he said.

Asked if he supported the 40% raise the union had asked for, Biden said simply, “Yes.”

Flanked by Secret Service agents, Biden exchanged fist bumps and took selfies with the crowd after speaking as John Mellencamp’s song “Small Town” played in the background.

Trump will address hundreds of workers at a meeting at an auto supplier in a Detroit suburb on Wednesday. The supplier, Drake Enterprises, is a non-union manufacturer, according to an AFL-CIO spokesperson. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republicans believe Biden’s push to electrify the U.S. vehicle fleet, pumping billions of dollars in tax rebates into electric vehicle manufacturing, is unpopular with auto workers.

In a statement Tuesday, Trump accused Biden of “stabbing” auto workers in the back. Biden’s mandate on electric vehicles, he said, will “wipe out” the American auto industry and cost “thousands of auto workers” their jobs.

UAW President Shawn Fain greeted Biden at the airport and presented the president with a black UAW baseball cap. He also joined Biden on the picket line.

Calling Biden’s visit a “historic moment,” Fain accused CEOs of pocketing the profits and letting workers “fight for the scraps.” “Thank you, Mr. President, for coming to support us,” Fain said. “We know the president will do the right thing for the working class.”

The UAW also encouraged non-UAW workers to join local pickets in support of the “historic” presidential visit. The union is not involved in Trump’s visit and Fain does not plan to attend that event, a source added.

ELECTION PREDICTION

To date, the UAW has refused to endorse any of the 2024 presidential candidates, making it the only major union not to endorse Biden. Both candidates are expected to improve their 2024 campaign messaging in Michigan. When asked what it would take for the UAW to endorse Biden, the president said he’s not worried about that.

“We’re a long way from a general election, but it sure feels like a general election,” said Dave Urban, a Republican strategist who previously worked for Trump.

UAW workers this month began targeted attacks against GM and Ford (FN) and Chrysler parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI) seeking pay increases to match CEO pay increases, shorter work weeks and job security as the industry moves toward electric vehicles.

The White House is holding talks on Ways to mitigate any economic consequences. of a total strike.

Both the Detroit Three and the UAW have a lot at stake in federal policy decisions.

Automakers are counting on Washington to secure billions in subsidies for electric vehicle production and negotiate with the Biden administration over future emissions rules that require a shift toward electric vehicles that the industry believes would be too fast and too costly. . Meanwhile, the union is concerned that the transition to electric vehicles will mean a loss of jobs, since those vehicles require fewer parts in their production.

Only 10.1% of American workers were members of unions in 2022, but they have enormous political influence because the states where they are strong often swing between the Democratic and Republican votes, and their grassroots networks are a powerful influence in the vote of the working class.

RUST BELT IN THE BALANCE?

The auto industry and its labor movement are deeply intertwined with politics and elections in Michigan and other Midwestern states.

In 2016, Trump garnered a level of support from union members that no Republican had achieved since Ronald Reagan, helping him narrowly capture critical states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Biden rallied with unions in 2020, leading by about 16 percentage points in winning back so-called rust belt states, which have been scarred by decades of job losses as companies adopted lower-cost locations, often without unions. He won Michigan in 2020 by about 154,000 votes.

In Michigan, Trump will criticize Biden’s economic policies and incentives that promote electric vehicles and say he would do a better job protecting blue-collar workers if elected to a second term, said Trump adviser Jason Miller.

Trump is betting on driving a wedge between union members and their leaders, who criticized the former president’s labor policies during his term, labor experts said.

Karen Finney, a Democratic strategist, said it was critical that Biden make the trip to Michigan to ensure Trump does not rewrite history.

“Biden is saying we’re not going to let them go out there and lie to people and try to change the conversation,” Finney said.

Biden’s visit to Michigan represents the most support a sitting president has shown for striking workers since Theodore Roosevelt invited striking coal workers to the White House in 1902. historians said.

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