On September 15, 2023, the United Auto Workers from Louisville, Kentucky, held a rally in support of striking UAW members in Detroit, Michigan.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
DETROIT – UAW strike against General Motors, Ford and star Getting the presidential treatment in Michigan this week. In fact, twice.
President Joe Biden is expected to travel to the Great Lakes state on Tuesday to visit picket lines after UAW President Sean Fein made an open invitation Friday. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner in the 2024 presidential race, is scheduled to hold a rally Wednesday night at an auto supplier in Clinton Township, Michigan.
More than a year away from the election, Biden and Trump are effectively neck and neck in the polls. Each 2024 presidential candidate has tried to win over blue-collar voters, such as Darius Collier, one of about 18,300 auto workers currently on strike, who has been “indifferent” to the candidates themselves.
“It would be great if they could actually provide us with the support we need to get through this,” Collier said. Collier’s Mopar plant in Centraline, Miss., was among Stellantis’ most recent contract proposals. One of 10 parts and distribution centers likely to close. to integrate facilities.
Michigan voters helped Biden and Trump win the White House in the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections respectively. They both have union support, but in different ways.
Biden endorsement canceled
While the UAW has historically supported Democrats, including Biden in 2020, Fein Rejecting unions’ re-endorsement of a president who calls himself “the most pro-union president in American history.” Trump won the support of many rank-and-file union members.
“Presidents Trump and Biden both understand the importance of Michigan’s election and recognize that it may be very close, so they want to be seen often, and the UAW strike is an excellent, high-profile moment to deploy them. said Mark Burton, a partner at the law firm Honigan and former chief strategist to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.
UAW members Niko Shinn (front) and Darius Collier (back) take to the picket line outside the Mopar plant owned by Centerline automaker Stellantis on September 25, 2023. Michigan.
Michael Weiland/CNBC
Michigan Democrats including Whitmer and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell have been attending UAW rallies since the UAW strike began on September 15. However, Fein’s politician of choice is Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running against Biden in 2020.
Fein has appeared in Washington, D.C., with an independent senator from Vermont and attended a recent UAW rally in Detroit. He also echoed Sanders’ message about fighting “corporate greed” and framed the UAW’s collective bargaining with Detroit automakers as a “war” between billionaires and blue-collar workers.
Fein invited Biden to join the UAW picket line, days after Trump announced he would skip the second Republican debate to hold a rally in Macomb County, Miss., home to a large population of blue-collar auto workers.
“We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket lines, from our friends and family all the way up to the President of the United States,” Fein said Friday during a Facebook Live broadcast.
Fein has not expressed much support for Biden, saying repeatedly that he needs to better prove his claim that he is “the most pro-union president.” However, Fein made his stance on Trump clear.
“Every fiber of our union is invested in fighting against the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers,” Fein said in a statement last week. “We cannot continue to elect billionaires and millionaires who have no idea what life is like on a paycheck and are struggling to get by, and cannot be expected to solve the problems of the working class.”
The UAW released a keynote Tuesday General press release Ahead of Biden’s visit, he said it would “mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has joined striking workers on the picket lines,” and was followed by several paragraphs about union strikes, but Fein made no statement.
The UAW has no ties to Trump’s Wednesday rally at Drake Enterprises, which It is said Non-union supplier of engines, transmissions and other parts to the heavy truck, agricultural and automotive markets. However, UAW members have previously attended and participated in Trump’s events in Michigan.
Trump sparks anxiety about electric vehicles
Fein has previously said that Trump’s second term in the White House would be a “disaster.” Yet Trump is winning over blue-collar support as he has in the past.
“I like Trump,” said Niko Shinn, another autoworker currently on strike at the Mopar plant. “He is an excellent businessman, and it seems that he knows more about things like negotiation than politics.”
Michigan polling firm data shows Trump’s support among union members has increased as Biden has fallen in recent months Epic·MRA. EPIC·MRA President Bernie Porn said that in an August survey, Trump led Biden 46% to 43% among union members, while Biden led 51% to 42% in June. Leading the way from Trump.
“For union members, he’s been very supportive of almost everything union members want. One of the things they’re worried about is the push for electric vehicles because they’re worried about the number of workers needed to build them. Electric vehicles. ,” Erotic said.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are expected to require less labor and parts than conventional vehicles with internal combustion engines. They are expected to be one of several topics Trump discusses at Wednesday’s rally.
“I think President Trump’s comments in his position are consistent with the views of the vast majority of rank-and-file members of the United Auto Workers union who are concerned about the Biden administration forcing a pivot to Electric vehicles will take away their jobs.” is a Republican strategist in Macomb County, Michigan, where Trump’s rally is held.
Fein said the union will withhold support for Biden’s reelection until its concerns about the auto industry’s transition to all-electric vehicles are addressed.
Biden’s visit could be an olive branch to help the United Auto Workers finally gain support and provide the union with potential leverage in ongoing negotiations with the Detroit automakers.
“I think the president’s visit, especially if Sean Fein joins (Biden’s) picket lines, I think is another strategic move that increases pressure and strengthens the union overall when it comes to actual negotiations with the president of the United States. Strength. Cars,” Burton said.
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