Joe Biden on Tuesday joined a United Auto Workers picket line outside a General Motors factory in Michigan, making a visible show of support for striking workers in a historic moment for a modern president.
Mr Biden, wearing a UAW hat and sweatshirt and speaking through a bullhorn, said he’d joined union picket lines while a senator and as vice president, but never before as America’s chief executive.
He told the workers that they deserved credit for helping save the American auto industry by agreeing to concessions during the 2008 financial crisis, and that the automakers’ record profits since then should be used to reward the workers who helped earn those profits.
“The fact of the matter is is that you guys – the UAW – saved the automobile industry back in 2008 ... you gave up a lot and the companies were in trouble, but now they’re doing incredibly well,” he said. “And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too”.
Mr Biden said the workers should “stick with it” because they “deserve a significant raise and other benefits,” and to “get back what [they] lost” during the crisis.
“You saved them, now it’s time that they step up for us,” he added.
The show of support comes ahead of the 2024 election. The auto industry and its workers are key to labour movement deeply intertwined with politics and elections in Michigan and other midwestern US states.
Donald Trump, the front-runner to be the Republican 2024 presidential candidate, will address hundreds of workers at a gathering at an auto supplier in a Detroit suburb on Wednesday, though not at a union event.
Mr Biden’s trip to Michigan comes as US labour unions have been flexing their muscles in recent months. Earlier this week, the union representing Hollywood and television screenwriters ended a monthslong strike after producers and studios agreed to pay hikes and concessions in a new contract.
The president has long been a staunch supporter of organised labour, and has described himself as the most pro-union US president in American history.
The White House said he was joining the UAW picket line “in solidarity with the men and women of the United Auto Workers union as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create”.
Though multiple labour unions have endorsed Mr Biden’s bid for re-election, the UAW has thus far refrained from expressing a preference in next year’s presidential contest.
But as he arrived in Michigan earlier on Tuesday, the president told reporters he was “not worried” about earning the auto union’s endorsement, just after he was greeted on the tarmac by UAW president Shawn Fain.
Mr Fain told the workers that the president’s trip to their picket line was “a historic moment” both for the UAW and for organised labour.
“Today, I just want to take a moment to stand with all of you with our president and say thank you to the President. Thank you, Mr President for coming to stand up in our generations defining moments, And we know the president will do right by the working class. And when we do right by the working class, you can leave the rest of us because we’re going to take care of this,” he said.
Turning to the president, he thanked him for being a part of their strike.
Taking the bullhorn back, Mr Biden closed by repeating his oft-used phrase about unions – rather than Wall Street – having “built the middle class” which had in turn “built this country”.
He also told the workers that they “deserved a hell of a lot more” than they were currently getting from the automakers.
Asked by a reporter whether the workers deserved the 40 per cent raise they are demanding, Mr Biden simply replied: “Yes”.
