President Biden visits UAW picket line in Michigan

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President Joe Biden joins striking United Auto Workers on the picket line. Associated Press/Photo by Evan Vucci

President Biden visits UAW picket line in Michigan

United Auto Workers members on Tuesday continued their 12-day-long strike against Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis. President Joe Biden joined picketers on Tuesday afternoon in front of a GM parts distribution warehouse west of Detroit. Union President Shawn Fain traveled with Biden from the Detroit airport to the warehouse. In a speech through a bullhorn, Biden supported the workers’ demands for a 40 percent pay raise and told strikers to “stick with it.”

Why is this significant? Labor historians, like University of Rhode Island history professor Erik Loomis, say Biden is the first sitting president to join a picket line. The union has not officially endorsed Biden’s 2024 campaign for president, though the group did endorse him in 2020. Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday is scheduled to speak to union members in Detroit.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Marvin Olasky’s report on finding sympathy for government union workers.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.