President Joe Biden’s decision to stand alongside United Auto Workers pickets today on the 12th day of the strike against major carmakers appears to be unprecedented in presidential history, according to the Associated Press.
Biden arrives one day before former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, goes to Detroit to hold his own event appealing to auto workers.
Lawmakers often appear at strikes to show solidarity with unions, and Biden joined picket lines with casino workers in Las Vegas and auto workers in Kansas City while seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Sitting presidents, who have to balance the rights of workers with disruptions to the economy, supply chains, and other facets of everyday life, however, have long avoided the strike fray.
During the ongoing UAW strike, Biden has argued that the auto companies have not gone far enough, although White House officials have repeatedly declined to say whether the president endorses specific UAW demands such as a 40% hike in wages and full-time pay for a 32-hour work week.
Still, the UAW strike, which expanded into 20 states last week, remains a dilemma for the Biden administration since a part of the workers’ grievances include concerns about a broader transition to electric vehicles. The shift away from gas-powered vehicles has worried some autoworkers because electric versions require fewer people to manufacture and there is no guarantee that factories that produce them will be unionized.
The Biden administration has no formal role in the negotiations, and the White House pulled back a decision from the president earlier this month to send two key deputies to Michigan after determining it would be more productive for the advisers, Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, to monitor talks from Washington.
