Joe Biden, Walking With The Workers

Joe Biden out on the Front Lines

By Soil the Bridge Bro

Have you heard of the United Auto Workers’ strike? It is very important to the future of auto-worker conditions. To sum it up, thousands of people that work for Ford, Celeantis, and General Motors are going on strike to get better wages, better working hours, and maybe pensions. Well, the UAW is about to get some major help. 

Our favorite people, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are coming to strike with the workers. Joe Biden has openly voiced his support for unions, and is further reinforcing that by striking with them. This is the first time a standing president has joined in a strike publicly. While Biden is going on strike with the workers, the White House has been adamant that the government is not getting involved in this strike. Since this is such a rare occurrence, it raises the question–why?

Why is Biden doing this? Michigan, the state where most of this is happening, has historically been a Democratic vote. Last election however, the state was almost evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. Most of the voters in Michigan are workers, and so the thought is that whoever supports the voters more will get their votes. The other main reason is, as stated before, Biden is very pro-worker and pro-union, so he sees this as reinforcing these values.

Trump is also using this as an opportunity to get more votes for the 2024 election. His joining is followed, however, by some thinly veiled threats. Trump said that car workers were “toast” if they didn’t support him in the next election. Trump is no stranger to threats and also said that Biden’s visit was a  "PR stunt" to "distract and gaslight.” Making threats is not winning hearts nor minds though, and many don’t want either president striking with them.

Why do the workers not want these (former) president(s) striking? This is because they rightfully believe that the president joining the strike will turn it political. They fear that as a result, people will stop caring about the strike itself, and then the issue will not be resolved. One person said, "politics shouldn't be involved" in the issue. He also said, "They come down here and get a picture and say they support us, but really, do they?”

Ultimately, despite political intervention, the UAW auto workers have their work cut out for them.

Credits: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66926060