In a historic move on Tuesday, President Joe Biden paid a visit to a picket line in Michigan in support of striking autoworkers who are demanding higher pay and cost-of-living hikes.
By joining a picket line, Biden will make history as the first sitting president to further his pro-labor image.
He yelled at the Wayne County autoworkers who were on strike through a bullhorn, “You deserve what you gained, and you’ve earned a helluva lot more than what you’re getting paid now.”
According to a press pool report, when a reporter asked Biden if he supported the union’s demand for a 40% pay rise over four years, Biden answered in the same way as the union employees standing next to him. This response appeared to contradict the White House’s stance that it would refrain from participating in the negotiations and leave the specifics up to the union and management.
In a transcript made public by the White House later that day, Biden was quoted as stating, “Yes, I think they should be able to bargain for that.” That assertion more closely resembles the White House’s previous stance on the negotiations.
Biden changed the way future American presidents will react to strikes just by showing up. Invoking Biden as an example, union leaders and their congressional supporters may now anticipate that a president who claims to be pro-labor will accompany them on picket lines.
According to Tejasvi Nagaraja, an assistant professor of history at Cornell University’s ILR School, “Biden’s decision to walk a picket line is in fact a historic one, especially in the context of such a high-profile strike that is capturing both the economy and broader public attention.”
The UAW strike against General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler manufacturer Stellantis is now in its eleventh day. After the White House spent weeks quietly examining whether it could play a more impartial role in mediating the issue between labor and management, Biden took a stance firmly on the side of striking workers by visiting Wayne County at the invitation of union head Shawn Fain.
The political environment at the time was also reflected in Biden’s appearance. In order to secure a second term, he must win Rust Belt areas like Michigan, and he cannot afford to do it by supporting wealthy corporate executives and alienating workers and their families. The potential rival of Biden in the general election in 2024 appears to have taken a comparable determination: On Wednesday, Donald Trump is scheduled to speak to UAW employees in Michigan.
It wasn’t at all certain that Biden would go to the picket line earlier in the contract dispute. When Fain made it apparent that he didn’t want them involved in the negotiations, he resisted the urge to send two top administration officials to Michigan to help break the deadlock.
Tameka Ellis, a UAW employee who has spent 11 years working at a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, said, “I know he’s busy and has a schedule, but I do believe that he should have been more involved, should perhaps have been here by now, because this is very huge in terms of how it can affect the economy.”
So that both sides will view them as a fair broker, presidents frequently like to carve out room for themselves in these standoffs. Additionally, Biden was hesitant to get too involved in a strike that has already cost the economy more than $1.6 billion.
Steven Rattner, the executive director of President Barack Obama’s auto sector task force, stated in an interview that “for him to be going on a picket line is outrageous.” “There is no history of it. The president is expected to maintain his impartiality in these matters. I understand politics. We don’t want a mediator—we want an advocate, echoed the progressives. And after bowing to the progressives, he is now stepping forward to tip the scales. And it’s incorrect.
People familiar with the White House’s perspective on the matter said that the more involved Biden becomes, the higher the likelihood that he will end up owning the result, for better or worse. Furthermore, Fain, a progressive who doesn’t match the stereotype of conventional labor leaders more acquainted with Biden over the course of his lengthy political career, wasn’t someone with whom he had much of a personal relationship. When Air Force One touched down in Romulus, Michigan on Tuesday, Fain was among those who met Biden on the tarmac.
Faiz Shakir, a senator from Vermont who also supports the UAW in its strike, stated that for a while, the president had expressed a wish and hope that they could achieve a compromise. Evidently, they were unable to accomplish it. Now you must decide whose side you will support. The workers’ strike is a moment of clarity. You must choose a side. In a brave move, the president supported the employees in this.
Obama, the previous Democratic president, never showed up on a picket line, despite having stated as a candidate that he was eager to do so. Obama declared during a 2007 campaign stop that he was ready to walk a picket line in support of Iowa state employees and attacked the Bush administration as “anti-union” and “anti-worker.”
However, dealing with unions like the UAW has always been complicated.
Rattner reported in his book from 2010 about the Obama-Biden administration’s attempt to save the auto industry about a meeting in Rahm Emanuel’s office where officials debated whether to save General Motors and Chrysler. One official referenced polling that revealed people disapproved of government bailouts in order to illustrate the conflicting factors at play. Another brought up the fact that if the businesses failed, thousands of autoworker jobs would be gone. Emanuel allegedly said, “F— the UAW,” as related by Rattner in his book, “Overhaul.” (The UAW made concessions during the Obama administration, during which Biden served as vice president, to restructure the auto sector. Emanuel is now the American ambassador to Japan.)
Biden has taken a more moderate stance on prominent labor issues, despite claiming to be the country’s most pro-union president. He infuriated some rail workers last December by approving a bill to prevent a walkout that increased their salary but did not grant them the paid sick leave they had requested.
Tobias Higbie, a labor historian at UCLA, declared that Biden’s visit was “a symbolic win for the striking workers as well as organized labor as a whole.” In the upcoming rail strike last year, Biden advocated for a settlement that was perceived as going against the demands of the employees. The reasoning behind that move implied that Biden saw a conflict between the interests of workers and the overall health of the economy, which is essentially the message of the businesses. This strategy differs from others.
By visiting Michigan, Biden seems to have atoned for disappointing the rail employees. Using the identical bullhorn, Fain declared: “Today I just want to take a minute to stand with all of you, alongside the president, and say thank you to the president. I appreciate you being here, Mr. President.
“We appreciate you joining us as we stand together at this historic time for our generation. Also, we are confident that the president will act justly toward the working class.
The audience applauded.
Since he has taken up the cause of the autoworkers, Biden appears to have no choice but to continue. The president praised the UAW, saying, “You guys saved the auto industry back in 2008.” “Made many sacrifices. gave a lot up when the companies were struggling. They are currently prospering wonderfully. Guess what, too? You need to be succeeding tremendously, as well.