Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized President Biden’s advice to striking UAW autoworkers during his visit to the picket line on Tuesday, when he supported their demands for a 40% pay hike and a shorter work week.
It is a "sure way to drive GM, Ford and Chrysler bankrupt in the fast lane" Musk posted on X. His remarks came on the 12th day of tense discussions between the UAW workers and the three U.S. auto manufacturers.
Biden, in a union baseball cap, told striking autoworkers from a bullhorn in Belleville, Michigan, yesterday to "stick with it" while also saying they deserve a "significant raise and other benefits."
When asked if UAW members deserved a 40% raise, Biden said, "Yes. I think they should be able to bargain for that."
President Biden addresses a UAW picket line at a General Motors Service Parts Operations plant in Belleville, Michigan, on Sept. 26, 2023. Some 5,600 members of the UAW walked out of 38 US parts and distribution centers at General Motors and Stellant (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, the White House has said they are "not going to get into negotiations," while adding Biden is "always going to stand on the side of the workers."
In addition to pay increases, strikers want workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis to get cost-of-living adjustments, increases in pension benefits for current retirees and restoring pensions for new hires.
President Biden, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Former President Trump is expected to visit the UAW strikers in Michigan Wednesday despite UAW head Shawn Fain's advice to stay away.
Speaking on CNN’s "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," Fain denounced this visit and insisted that he sees no point in meeting with a servant of the "billionaire class."
FOX Business reporters Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.