On September 15, the United Auto Workers began a targeted strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis (the conglomerate that includes Chrysler) in an effort to secure higher wages, a four-day work week, and other protections in the union’s next contract. The strike is a huge development for American workers, but it’s also a big deal for President Joe Biden—these car companies are central to his green-infrastructure agenda. The union wants assurances that the industry’s historic, heavily subsidized transition toward electric vehicles will work for them, too.
Biden, whose National Labor Relations Board has been an ally of labor organizers in fights against companies such as Amazon and Starbucks, has called himself “the most pro-union president in American history.” He has expressed support for the UAW’s cause (workers “deserve their fair share of the benefits they helped create,” he said last week) and has sent aides to Michigan to assist in the negotiations.
And on Friday, the White House announced that Biden would do something no sitting president has ever done before: Next Tuesday, the president will walk a picket line in Michigan to show his support.
Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create. It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with well-paid UAW jobs. — President Biden (@POTUS) September 22, 2023
Biden’s move comes at a critical time in the strike, both as a labor struggle and a political development. On Friday UAW president Shawn Fain announced new plans to target GM and Stellantis facilities in 20 states and issued a public invitation to Biden—and “everyone who supports our cause”—to “join us on the picket lines.” (Ford workers are still striking, but the UAW has acknowledged that its negotiations with that company have been more productive). And next week, former President Donald Trump will speak to autoworkers in Michigan, ostensibly to make the case that the push for electric vehicles—and not corporate profits—is what’s crushing workers. (Trump’s Republican primary rivals, for the most part, have abandoned any pretense and simply told the workers to get lost.)
It’s not unusual for politicians to walk a picket line; candidates often make a point of dropping by with donuts and coffee to express their solidarity for the cameras. In 2020, Biden marched outside The Palms in Las Vegas with casino workers who were pushing for owners to sign a contract with the union. But no sitting president has ever walked a picket line with striking workers. They have, historically, been much more prone to extravagant shows of solidarity with companies that are trying to break strikes. In 1894, Grover Cleveland sent 2,000 federal troops to Chicago to break a railroad strike.
Biden hasn’t announced where exactly in Michigan he’ll be. But it’s a safe bet that wherever he ends up going, the National Guard won’t be coming with him.
SurroundTiny on September 23rd, 2023 at 17:12 UTC »
LOL. Im 63. One thing my parents branded upon my soul was never to cross a picket line. They may not know or support the position of the striking workers but you couldn't drag them through one. When the teachers at my high school went on strike, most parents were passed, mom and dad were taking them coffee and donuts on the way to work.
Now I have a mental image of Biden and his secret service detail out in front of a Chrysler plant holding signs. No one will even get close, let alone go across it.
EDIT: Juat to give you a sense of the timeline, I was born in 1960 when my parents were both in their 50s. My father had worked the assembly line and other jobs during the Depression until he got drafted. One of the shops he worked at had the bathrooms in the middle of the shop floor. The top half of the bathroom walls were glass, so the supervisors could see how long people were spending in the bathroom. I don't know if women shared that bathroom or not.
That shop at least had a bathroom.
Horoika on September 23rd, 2023 at 16:43 UTC »
I hope we get to see him hold up a sign! That'd be epic
thistimelineisweird on September 23rd, 2023 at 16:23 UTC »
It is insane that no President has ever done this. But I fully support Biden being the first!