This week in Michigan, the UAW strike against General Motors, Ford Motor, and Stellantis will receive the presidential treatment. Indeed, twice.
- ESSENTIAL POINTS
- After receiving a public invitation from UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday, President Joe Biden is anticipated to visit a picket line Tuesday in Michigan.
- The 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, is slated to hold a UAW Strike rally on Wednesday night at an auto supplier in Clinton Township, Michigan.
- Biden and Trump both received support from Michigan voters in the state’s last presidential elections, which were held in 2020 and 2016, respectively.
Following a public request from UAW President Shawn Fain on Friday, President Joe Biden is anticipated to visit a picket line on Tuesday in the Great Lake State in uaw strike. The 2024 Republican presidential front-runner, former President Donald Trump, will hold a rally on Wednesday night in Clinton Township, Michigan, at an auto supplier.
Over a year before the election, Biden and Trump were virtually in the polls. Every 2024 presidential candidate is vying for the support of blue-collar voters like Darius Collier, one of the 18,300 autoworkers presently on strike and a self-described “indifferent” voter.
“It would be good if they actually show the support that we need to get through this,” said Collier, whose Mopar factory in Centerline, Michigan, is one of ten parts and distribution centers that could close as a result of a recent Stellantis contract request to consolidate operations. Biden and Trump both received support from Michigan voters in the state’s last presidential elections, which were held in 2020 and 2016, respectively. Union support has been won by both, but in different ways.
Biden endorsement withheld
Although the UAW has traditionally backed Democrats, including Biden in 2020, Fain is refusing to reendorse the incumbent, who has billed himself as the “most pro-union president in American history.” Numerous union members in the rank and file have endorsed Trump.
According to Mark Burton, a partner at the Honigan law firm and a former chief strategist for Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, “Both President Trump and President Biden understand the importance that Michigan has electorally, and there is a realization that elections can be very close.” As a result, Burton said, “They want to be seen frequently, and the UAW strike is a wonderful, high-publicity moment to deploy their message and be seen once again.”
Since the UAW’s strikes began on September 15, Michigan Democrats, including Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, have attended UAW strike. Fain’s preferred politician, nevertheless, has been Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
At a recent UAW rally in Detroit and in Washington, D.C., Fain made an appearance with the independent senator from Vermont. Additionally, he has echoed Sanders’ arguments against “corporate greed” and characterized the UAW’s negotiations with the Detroit automakers as a “war” between the blue-collar and billionaire classes.
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Days after Trump declared he would skip the second GOP debate to hold a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, where many blue-collar auto workers reside, Fain encouraged Biden to join the UAW picket lines. “We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket line, from our friends and families all the way up to the president of the United States,” Fain said during a Facebook Live broadcast on Friday.
Fain has not been very supportive of Biden, frequently stating that he needs to provide more evidence to support his claim to be the “most pro-union president.” Fain has, however, made it obvious where he stands on Trump.
“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” Fain stated in a statement last week. We can’t keep voting for billionaires and millionaires who have no idea what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to make ends meet and expect them to fix the issues facing the working class.
In advance of Biden’s visit, the UAW released a news release on Tuesday that was largely generic. It began by stating that Biden’s appearance will “mark the first time a sitting U.S. President has joined striking workers on a picket line,” followed by several paragraphs outlining the union’s strike. There was no response from Fain.
Trump’s rally on Wednesday was held at Drake Enterprises, a non-union provider of engines, transmissions, and other parts for the heavy truck, agricultural, and automotive markets. The UAW is not connected to this event. UAW members, however, have already gone to and taken part in Trump’s events in Michigan.
Trump stokes EV anxieties
A second term for Trump in the White House, according to Fain, would be a “disaster.” However, Trump is garnering support from the working class, as he has in the past. Niko Shinn, a different autoworker who is now on uaw strike at the Mopar plant, stated, “I like Trump.” He’s a terrific businessman and seems to know more about negotiations and other such things than politics.
According to Michigan polling firm EPICMRA, Trump’s support among union members has grown while Biden’s has decreased recently. According to Bernie Porn, head of EPIC-MRA, in an August study of union members, Trump had a 46% to 43% advantage over Biden, up from a 51% to 42% advantage in June.
“With union members, he has been incredibly supportive of pretty much whatever they want. The only thing that worries them is the move toward electric automobiles because of the smaller workforce requirements for their production, according to Porn.
The labor and component costs for electric cars (EVs) are anticipated to be lower than for conventional automobiles with internal combustion engines. They are anticipated to be one of many topics Trump will cover during his rally on Wednesday.
According to Republican strategist Jamie Roe, who is based in Macomb County, Michigan, where Trump’s rally is taking place, “President Trump’s rhetoric in his position stances, in my opinion, stands clearly with the vast majority of the rank-and-file of the UAW who are concerned about their jobs being eliminated by this Biden administration-forced transition to electric vehicles.”
Fain has stated that the union is delaying its endorsement of Biden for reelection until its issues with the auto industry’s shift to all-electric vehicles are resolved. In the UAW strike, UAW might use Biden’s visit as leverage in its ongoing talks with the Detroit automakers as well as an outreach to help secure the union’s eventual endorsement.
“I think the president’s visit, particularly if Shawn Fain is joining [Biden] on a picket line, is another stroke of strategy that increases the pressure and increases the overall strength of the union when it comes to the actual negotiations with the autos,” said Burton.
What is UAW strike?
By leaving 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts-distribution plants in 20 states on Friday, the United Auto Workers union extended its walkout against major automakers.
Also Read: According To Ford, There Are Still “Significant Gaps” In The Negotiations For The UAW Labor Contract
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