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.
An actual newsletter worth subscribing to instead of just a collection of links. —Adam
Sign up to receive The Sift email newsletter each weekday morning for the latest headlines from WORLD’s breaking news team.
Please wait while we load the latest comments...
Comments
Please register, subscribe, or log in to comment on this article.