President Joe Biden is joining members of the United Auto Workers on the picket line in Michigan on Tuesday. That’s a big deal, and it says at least as much about the rising influence of organized labor as it does about the president.
The union has been carrying out work stoppages against automakers Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis since Sept. 15. It’s demanding, among other things, a big jump in wages, protections to ensure that wages remain tied to the rising cost of living, a shorter workweek and the right to strike as the industry’s transition to manufacturing electric vehicles is likely to result in job losses.
It shouldn’t go without notice, however, that the trip was announced after Biden came under pressure on multiple fronts.
Part of what’s motivating the union’s aggressive tactics is that while profits at these automakers have increased 90% over the last decade or so and their CEOs’ pay is soaring, workers haven’t seen a corresponding increase in pay. The average hourly wage for autoworkers on the production line has declined 30% since 2003 when adjusted for inflation, according to Bloomberg News. Now the union is pursuing a strategy of rotating and expanding work stoppages at factories to pressure the companies to meet its demands.
Biden’s decision to show solidarity with the workers is a powerful symbolic gesture. Politico says Biden’s decision to join striking UAW members on the picket line is “likely the most visible step any president has taken on behalf of striking workers.” It could give the workers more leverage in negotiations, and it’s an act that’s only appropriate for a president who claims to be the most “pro-union president in American history.”
It shouldn’t go without notice, however, that the trip was announced after Biden came under pressure on multiple fronts.
Last week, former President Donald Trump announced that he was heading to Detroit to speak with current and former union members on Wednesday. His event is scheduled to coincide with the second Republican presidential primary debate — a pointed attempt to make him look like he's a man of the people, despite his anti-labor record and friendliness to corporate interests.
The UAW has said it won’t support Trump, and UAW President Shawn Fain slammed Trump in a statement after the trip was announced. But Trump has some sway among unionized workers in battleground states like Michigan, in part because some unionized workers are politically conservative, and in part because of his criticism of free trade. When Trump’s trip was announced, some Democrats fretted that it would allow him to disingenuously claim a pro-worker mantle. “Trump scooped us. Now if we announce we’re going, it looks like we’re just going because of Trump,” one Democratic strategist told Politico this month before Biden announced his trip. Indeed, we don’t know whether Biden would have acted differently had Trump not taken this step.
Another factor seems to be the UAW’s success at whipping up attention for itself as independent and bold. In addition to the work stoppages, the union pushed back against the Biden administration’s initial attempt to send high-level officials to Detroit to help workers and the companies come to an agreement, as it has done in other recent high-profile labor disputes. That trip was awkwardly canceled. Then, on Friday, Fain announced that the union would welcome Biden to join workers on the picket line. Hours later, the White House announced Biden’s trip.
Biden’s intervention allows him to support the strikers, which is the right thing to do — and he could in turn benefit politically. A sizable majority of Americans support the strike, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, and Biden’s appearance provides an opportunity for him to showcase his pro-worker credentials, such as his progressive and influential appointees to the National Labor Relations Board. Unlike some other major labor unions, the UAW hasn’t endorsed Biden yet; this appearance could change its calculus and make it more likely that the union participates in efforts to drive turnout for him.
The president is making the right decision to stand with organized labor, in response to pressure from his right and his left. His decision is a testament to the surge in organized labor’s popularity and salience in American life — and the urgent need to call out and box out the false populists of the right who have little to offer workers beyond lip service.
