President Biden announced that he will “join the picket line” with members of the United Auto Workers union next week in solidarity with their demands for higher wages and shorter work weeks from Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers.
“Tuesday, I’m going to Michigan to join the picket lines and stand in solidarity with the men and women of the UAW as they fight for their fair share of the value they help create,” Biden, 80, tweeted on Friday.
“It’s time for a win-win deal that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with good-paying UAW jobs.”
The president’s announcement came after UAW President Shawn Fain extended an invitation to the commander-in-chief to join striking workers on the picket line.
“We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket line, from our friends and family to the president of the United States. We invite you to join us in our fight,” Fain said in a live streamed statement on Friday.
The union, which has withheld its support for Biden over concerns about his support for electric vehicles, also revealed that it expanded its strike on Friday to include 38 Stellantis and General Motors facilities in 38 locations and 28 states.
Biden’s trip to Michigan will come a day before Trump’s visit to the Great Lake State.AP
Fain said the union has made progress in negotiations with Ford and will not ask the company’s workers to walk off the job at any of its facilities at this time.
Biden’s Michigan trip will come a day before former President Donald Trump’s previously announced Detroit visit, where the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner will host a rally featuring 500 auto workers and other dealers.
Trump’s event will take place on the same day as the second GOP primary debate in Simi Valley, California, which the 77-year-old will not attend.
The UAW is demanding higher wages and shorter work weeks for auto workers.Getty Images
“Joe Biden’s trip to Michigan is nothing more than a cheap photo op as he finds himself between a rock and a hard place politically,” Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller tweeted.
“The only reason Biden went to Michigan on Tuesday was because President Trump announced he was going on Wednesday. If President Trump says nothing, Biden will give UAW workers in Michigan the ‘Eastern Palestine treatment,’” Miller said, referring to the site of a toxic Ohio train derailment in February that the president refused to visit.
“Biden is still determined to destroy all the auto jobs he claims to care about. His visit on Tuesday means absolutely nothing unless he withdraws the Insane EV Mandate and rebukes his Green New Deal, which Biden will never do because he is tied to the Radical Left Eco-Loons in California,” he added.
The union has withheld its endorsement of Biden.AP
Former Biden White House adviser Michael LaRosa questioned the trip, expressing concern that it would be perceived as “fake.”
“Ugh no, please don’t do this to her,” LaRosa tweeted. “These engineering performances are ALWAYS seen as awkward, over-rehearsed & fake, especially through visual mediums like TV. Great performances happen organically, naturally & unplanned (Think Reagan, Clinton, Pete, Trump).”
Nearly 13,000 UAW members who work for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis went on strike last Friday, demanding a 46% pay increase, a 32-hour work week and benefits for office workers.
The additional strike announced Friday will add about 5,600 workers to the picket line.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
