President Joe Biden on Tuesday joined a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan, supporting their call for a 40% pay raise and saying they deserve a "lot more" than they are getting.

Biden's appearance, the first visit by a U.S. president to striking workers in modern history, comes a day before Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president, will speak to auto workers in Michigan. The rare back-to-back events highlight the importance of union support in the 2024 presidential election, even though unions represent a tiny fraction of U.S. workers.

Democrat Biden traveled to a Belleville, Michigan, parts distribution center owned by General Motors (GM.N), and joined dozens of picketers outside. "Companies were in trouble, now they're doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too," Biden said through a bullhorn. "Stick with it."

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[–] 196 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (28 children)
  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    Our state GOP was totally hijacked by MAGA radicals and now answers to Karamo, who's an utter nut job and die-hard Trump loyalist.

    But they've gone so far a lot of moderate Republicans feel alienated and with our new balanced voting districts Democrats will probably secure victory for the foreseeable future. It still will be a tight race, but I would not be surprised if Biden's margin in 2024 is bigger in Michigan than it was in 2020.

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    [–] 36 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    40% = 8.77% a year during 4 years.

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    [+] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Hopefully he keeps the same message when the executives refuse to make a reasonable offer and "the economy" might suffer again.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't think it's as likely that the Feds break this strike like they did with the railroads. Their argument against the rails was that almost every other industry relies on them to move product, while having fewer new cars will only effect the new and used car markets. With however hundreds of millions of usable vehicles that are already out there, this strike doesn't really have the same opportunity to spill over to the larger economy.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (45 children)

    I think this would mean more if he actually stood up for the railway workers during their strike.

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  • [–] 104 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (13 children)
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  • [–] 28 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    It would, absolutely, but it still means a whole lot.

    It's a recognition by a slick, seasoned, career politician in the highest office in his country that the winds are shifting with respect to the labour movement.

    Don't think of this as Biden expressing any deeply held belief. Don't think of anything he does in those terms. The Democrats in general, and Biden especially, are a mirror that reflects something meaningful about the socio-political environment. Just as Trump and the Republicans are.

    He and his team believe that something in that environment has shifted, and that labour is poised to be ok the winning side of that shift.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago
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