More autoworkers strike days after Biden visit

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain announced another 7,000 union members were joining the strike Friday at noon after more failed contract negotiations with Ford and General Motors. The strike now includes 25,000 autoworkers at dozens of plants owned by Ford, GM, and Stellantis. U.S. President Joe Biden visited picket lines in Detroit on Tuesday and voiced his support for a 40 percent raise for union members over the next four years. Former President Donald Trump spoke at a nonunion supply factory in Detroit the day after Biden and said he also supports the striking workers.

Why was Stellantis spared from the expanded strike? Fain said Ford and GM have refused to “make meaningful progress” in the past week despite UAW’s willingness to bargain. Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, apparently submitted an offer minutes before the announcement. Last Friday, the unions expanded the strike at Stellantis and GM and gave Ford a reprieve after the company agreed to reinstate cost of living wage increases, among other concessions. Michigan professor Erik Gordon said UAW leadership is “having fun making [car companies] dance” by targeting certain companies and sparing others.

Dig deeper: Listen to Nick Eicher and David Bahnsen discuss the strike’s origins on The World and Everything in It podcast.