Biden, Democrats and Others Line Up For Striking Auto Workers
UAW pickets three big carmakers where CEO pay is surging
President Biden, his fellow Democrats and others are standing up for the demands made by US auto industry workers who went on strike Friday.
Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union went to the picket lines Friday, striking against three big automotive manufacturers.
The union is trying a different tactic, calling for what it's calling a “stand up strike,” in which select locals will be called on to “stand up” and walk out on strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.
“No one wants a strike. I’ll say it again, ‘No one wants a strike.’ But I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system. And I understand the workers’ frustration,” Biden said Friday at the White House. “Over generations auto workers sacrifice so much to keep the industry alive and strong, especially through the economic crisis and the pandemic. Workers deserve a fair share of the benefits they helped create for an enterprise.
“I do appreciate that the parties have been working around the clock and when I first called them at the very first day of their negotiation, I said, ‘Please stay at the table as long as you can to try to work this out.’ And they’ve been around the clock and the companies have made some significant offers,” Biden added. “But I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.
“Let me say it again, ‘Record corporate profits — which they have — should be shared by record contracts for the UAW,” he said. “And just as we’re building an economy of the future, we need labor agreements for the future.”
Biden said that dispatched two members of his team to Detroit, acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House Senior Adviser Gene Sperling, to help with negotiations.
Each of the big three car manufacturer CEOs received average 40-percent pay increases, CNN host Jake Tapper noted on-camera.
“So why are the auto workers wanting a raise beyond what’s been asked, why is that so offensive compared to the 40-percent raises they have given themselves?” Tapper asked Ford CEO Tim Farley, who responded that concessions of that level “will put us out of business.”
Supporting the striking workers is important, including to back the transition to electric vehicles, according to Rep Ro Khanna (D-Calif).
“Well, in my personal capacity, I will be standing with the UAW workers and I will be making the case for them. Now, I believe that the president also should get involved in that case and make the case for workers. I mean, he has been a pro-union president, and in this case the workers deserve a fair wage and he can make the case,” the congressman said Thursday before Biden's remarks. “Look, to the big three CEOs, you’re taking a lot of taxpayer money, and if you want the EV revolution to succeed, you’re not going to get that to succeed if you don’t have the workers in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania supporting it.
“I mean, not only do they determine who the president is, they determine the majorities in the House and the Senate. And anyone who cares about the green revolution should care about UAW workers,” Khanna added.
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