President Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to join striking workers on a picket line when he met Tuesday with members of the United Auto Workers union participating in a targeted walkout at a parts operations plant in Belleville, Michigan.
US President Joe Biden addresses striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union at a picket ... [+]
Biden spent about 15 minutes with the workers and at one point grabbed the bullhorn from UAW President Shawn Fain and yelled “unions built the middle class, it’s a fact, so let’s keep going!”
Fain, who greeted Biden on the tarmac upon his landing in Michigan, thanked him for his support, calling it a “historic moment” as Biden stood with his arm around one of the picketing workers.
The visit comes as Biden—who has repeatedly referred to himself as the “most pro-union president in history”—is seeking the UAW’s endorsement for his re-election campaign, but has faced criticism from the union over his support of electric vehicles and workers’ fears that the transition could prompt job losses.
Biden traveled to Michigan a day before former President Donald Trump is set to deliver a speech to autoworkers there, while Trump has sought to capitalize on the industry’s fears that a Biden-backed transition to electric vehicles would “annihilate the U.S. auto industry and cost countless thousands of autoworkers their jobs,” he wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden greets workers as he joins the UAW picket line. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via ... [+]
United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain addresses picketing UAW members during Biden's visit. ... [+]
US President Joe Biden embraces a United Auto Workers (UAW) union member on the picket line. (Photo ... [+]
US President Joe Biden arrives at the United Auto Workers (UAW) union picket line outside of a ... [+]
Some 13,000 UAW workers went on strike at a General Motors plant in Missouri, a Stellantis plant in Ohio and a Ford plant in Michigan on September 14, when the union’s current contract expired. The strike has expanded to include about 5,600 additional workers at 38 General Motors and Stellanis plants in 20 states. Biden firmly backed the union in his first public statements on the strike a day after it began, calling on the companies to share their “record profits” with the workers.
Biden Strongly Defends Auto Workers In First Remarks After Strike (Forbes)
‘The White House Is Afraid’: Union President Swipes At Biden Over UAW Strike (Forbes)