Biden walks the line—that is, the picket line!
Nope, it wasn’t Joe Hill, the martyred union activist, but Joe Biden walking the picket line. With a bullhorn in his hand and a UAW cap on his head, Biden joined a throng of union members as they marched and chanted Tuesday afternoon at the Willow Run Redistribution Center in Wayne, Michigan.
Biden, the first sitting president to picket with striking workers, told them as if answering their chants about “No pay, no parts!” that “The fact of the matter is that you guys, the UAW, you saved the automobile industry back in 2008…you made a lot of sacrifices. You gave up a lot. And the companies were in trouble. Now they’re doing incredibly well and guess what? You should be doing incredibly well.”
Moreover, he said, “You deserve the significant raise you need and the benefits. It’s about time for them to step up for us.”
After his short speech, Biden returned the bullhorn to Shawn Fain, the union’s president. “Thank you, Mr. President, for coming to stand up with us in our generation-defining moment,” Fain said.
Fain put the strikes in historical perspective, recalling Detroit’s role as the arsenal of democracy during World War II: “It’s a different kind of arsenal of democracy and a different war we’re fighting. Today, the enemy isn’t some foreign country miles away, it’s right here in our own area.”
While negotiations have proceeded fairly well with Ford and the Canadian plant, an agreement with Stellantis and GM seems to be as far apart as ever. The union has expanded the strikes to more than 38 sites, hoping the additional pressure will bring the companies to the bargaining table.
Biden and the DNC are also hopeful that his appearance at the strike will bolster his numbers and improve his standing with blue-collar workers. To date, the UAW has not endorsed Biden.
Trump is expected in Michigan on Wednesday.
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