WASHINGTON — United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said his union’s support must be “earned” by President Joe Biden as the auto industry workers’ union continues to strike to resolve a dispute contract and a series of demands, including an increase in wages and a reduction in work. week.
About 13,000 UAW members in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri went on strike last week after their contracts expired. The strike targets specific plants at Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis.
Biden, who has often described himself as the most pro-union president in American history, has defended workers’ right to strike and urged businesses to share profits with workers.
“The bottom line is that auto workers helped create the American middle class,” Biden said in a speech last week. “They deserve a contract that supports them and the middle class.”
But Fain said the UAW expects “action, not words” as negotiations continue between union leaders and automakers.
“Our support is going to be deserved, we’ve been very clear about that,” Fain said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We expect actions, not words.”
“Who the current president is, who the former president was or the presidents before him will not win this fight. This fight is about one thing: for workers to get their fair share of economic justice instead of being left behind as they have been in recent decades,” added Fain .
This historic strike could have a considerable impact depending on its duration. Ten states would bear the brunt of any economic impact, including job losses, according to a report from University of Michigan economists.
Nine have assembly plants run by all three automakers, according to the report. The states listed in descending order of production are: Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, and Tennessee. New York has no assembly plants, but it is home to a Ford stamping plant, two GM component plants, and a GM engine plant.
Presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday sought to place blame for the strike on Biden.
The strike is a demonstration of the “failed reality of bidenomics,” Pence said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” referring to the political slogan the White House has adopted to tout Biden’s economic agenda.
But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., praised Biden for publicly calling on automakers to share profits with workers and said he had “made clear whose side he is on in the fight.”
“Auto companies’ profits are skyrocketing, and they need to use those profits to benefit their employees,” the Vermont progressive said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “(Biden) has repeatedly emphasized that a strong labor movement benefits all of us.”
Contributor: Susan Tompor, USA TODAY
USA Today
