President Joe Biden on Tuesday joined a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan, supporting their call for a 40% pay raise and saying they deserve a “lot more” than they are getting.
Biden’s appearance, the first visit by a U.S. president to striking workers in modern history, comes a day before Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president, will speak to auto workers in Michigan. The rare back-to-back events highlight the importance of union support in the 2024 presidential election, even though unions represent a tiny fraction of U.S. workers.
Democrat Biden traveled to a Belleville, Michigan, parts distribution center owned by General Motors (GM.N), and joined dozens of picketers outside. “Companies were in trouble, now they’re doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too,” Biden said through a bullhorn. “Stick with it.”
Biden: “You should get paid more.”
Trump: indicted for 91 crimes and found liable for decades of tax fraud
Michigan Republicans: ¯\(ツ)/¯
“Both sides are the same!”
They are when it comes to wages.
The federal minimum wage has been 7 bucks for fifteen years. Both sides have had a total majority with the presidency in that time frame.
Literally the same.
I’m sorry guaranteeing healthcare for tens of millions of Americans with the 2 years they had government control wasn’t enough for you.
Both parties would’ve removed Roe as well, right?
Remind me: which party assaulted the Capitol and tried to overturn our election?
You’re right both are the same. Because of this one issue which republicans would never vote for and thus it’s dead on arrival, clearly both parties are the same. You’re so right.
I may as well vote trump this election since it’s all the same. Thanks for the encouragement and perspective I needed.
I’m sorry guaranteeing healthcare for tens of millions of Americans with the 2 years they had government control wasn’t enough for you.
… is it enough for you?
Whew, good thing we are able to make such broad sweeping generalized comparisons based on a single issue.
Democrats had it for 2 years in the past 20+ years…not the fuckin same. Republicans had it for 14 years. Anything Barack tried to do was shit on for 6 years of his presidency by Congress and his first two years he had he got a lot done, not to mention that he did actually raise the minimum wage for federal workers in 2014 by executive order because that’s the only way anything could get changed when the dumb ass party had control. https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/news/economy/obama-executive-order-minimum-wage/index.html
Biden had a majority for two years and did jack shit on pay.
Can’t really blame them for being angry.
You can’t pass a minimum wage increase with a 50-50 senate. It’s literally not possible.
I guess that should have been the only focus. All I remember is that before he took office we couldn't leave our houses and people were dying from COVID like crazy. It's not Biden's fault that wages haven't increased with inflation since before I was born. Sure he could probably do more but I don't see anyone else jumping up to help in any meaningful way either. No one will even primary him and his major opponent is just litigating things from 3 years ago to save his ego and or freedom. I don't see anyone else stepping up from a position of power.
A 50-50 split Senate is not a majority, jackass.
I think this would mean more if he actually stood up for the railway workers during their strike.
Far less than they asked for, and did nothing towards meeting their other major demands such as Precision Scheduled Railroading.
If Biden was incapable or unwilling to force the rail companies to give better terms, he should have stayed out of it.
Then perhaps they shouldn’t have accepted it and striked as planned? The fact that it wasn’t “enough” for the workers isn’t on the POTUS and doesn’t negate his actions.
They kind of kick-started this years huge labor push. Sure, it was bubbling up for a while before the rail unions decided to take action but they were the first “big” players to threaten a strike in a while. It’s easy to say that from the sidelines after the fact but they were being vilified by national media 24/7 for weeks, getting a bunch of pressure from Congress and being threatened to have the book thrown at them if they decided to strike. They were early to the party and didn’t have all of it’s completely understandable.
It’s also completely valid to criticize Biden for not doing enough when it really mattered, he could’ve put more pressure on Congress, he could’ve visited the workers and given his approval. He’s clearly capable of these things when it suits his interests, why didn’t he do any of that for the rail unions? Surely they could’ve used the help. Why was “working in the background” good enough for them but all of a sudden it’s insufficient for the UAW?
The labor movement is a positive feedback loop of direct action. I'm still contending with the fact that I'm a major player in the labor movement within tech, but I can trace the labor action of the last few months directly to CODE-CWA forming to help organize Google workers in 2020. Labor action fuels labor action. The ABK Workers Alliance were inspired by Paizo, who inspired Vodeo Workers United, who inspired ABKWA members to unionize at Raven into GWA, who inspired more tech unions to form, who inspired SBWU to perform militant labor actions, who inspired WGA and SAG-AFTRA (they work in the games industry).
Edit: I feel like downvotes are coming from my claim about being a major player in the labor movement. Without revealing who I am or where I work, my workplace will be the largest union in tech when we file, beating ZWU by approximately 160 people. I'm the lead organizer of this campaign, and we have approximately 40% card saturation (the campaign started very abnormally). There is almost 0% chance anyone has seen my name outside of my home town, except my labor actions have placed me on an obscure games media podcast talking about GDC, in a picture of a CWA newsletter, and I was quoted on an article from WSJ regarding my activism.
Launching an illegal strike is far different from launching a legally protected strike. They'd have to accept the possibility that everyone loses their jobs and some people might even get taken to court. Things just aren't that bad yet.
Fair point! Thanks.
Gotta give the president props for that, as well as democrats. Didn’t realize they got that through. I’d like them to keep pushing for a least 12 national sick days for all mid to major companies.
Would love to see some universal protections.
Didn’t realize they got that through.
As always, Democrats are the WORST at PR.
He did. Stop listening to hannity.
Did he though? His Congress pushed through a bill with a smaller compensation package, 1(one) day of sick time, no removal of advance notice for sick time, none of the OT protections, and no acknowledgement of safety concerns.
Hih
I mean, just because they’re cool with a shitty deal doesn’t mean it wasn’t a shitty deal.
It’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they’ve been fooled, after all.
asdfasfsaf
No, but just because they’re cool with a shitty deal doesn’t mean it wasn’t a shitty deal.
It’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they’ve been fooled, after all.
sadfasfsadf
- Fuck you for assuming I’m any kind of liberal. Especially fuck you for insinuating I’m a Republican.
- Regardless of the RLA holding a gun to their Union’s head, they did vote to approve the Senate’s contract. I’m personally very dissatisfied with the agreement, but ultimately, their union voted to ratify the agreement. As NPR notes, the deal falls significantly short of the goals rail workers were fighting for. They decided to accept it, in the face of a repeat of PATCO.
Fuck you for assuming I’m any kind of liberal. Especially fuck you for insinuating I’m a Republican.
I didn’t say anything about your personal politics - I have far too little to go off to make that kind of claim. I said your comments are reflecting conservative talking points. Ease off the throttle man.
Rarely does a strike end in the exact goals from the outset. It’s about which goals are most important. Paid sick leave was clearly important, and whether it came in that contract or months later - thanks to the Biden admin - is immaterial. That was a cornerstone demand and they are getting it. So your initial assessment is wrong. The union is clearly happy with how things shook out. Who cares if it took a few extra months? Obviously it was worth it.
Despite the hostile tone I’m happy to honor my promise. I’ll be giving to my local SPCA - do you need a screenshot?
I got a bit upset about you saying I was fueling right-wing talking points, so my bad. I’ll always fight on the side of labor, even if the Republican party is trying to make them the ball in political games.
Personally I think it would have turned out much better for their union after even a day on strike, but I guess we’ll never know. My point is not “they didn’t get what they wanted but got something good”, it’s that the deal was forcibly imposed on them without any other options. I was not aware of the aftermath of the deal so I appreciate you highlighting it, but it still falls short in my eyes. Were I in their union, I’d be a minority opposed to the outcome. But that’s the thing, I’m just a guy on the Internet, not a member of IBEW, SMART-MD, or IBT (CWA guy in the tech industry, actually).
I trust you to do the right thing, I don’t need a screen shot. Thank you for putting up.
I realize how my initial comment came off and I apologize as well. I also come off a bit self-righteous. Thanks for cooling the discussion off a bit and have a good one man.
I didn’t say anything about your personal politics - I have far too little to go off to make that kind of claim.
You accused them of listening to Hannity, so uh
Ooof
You’ll never get satisfaction from who you’re responding to, but good on you for doing it.
asdfasf
As long as you were. Carry on friend!
It would, absolutely, but it still means a whole lot.
It’s a recognition by a slick, seasoned, career politician in the highest office in his country that the winds are shifting with respect to the labour movement.
Don’t think of this as Biden expressing any deeply held belief. Don’t think of anything he does in those terms. The Democrats in general, and Biden especially, are a mirror that reflects something meaningful about the socio-political environment. Just as Trump and the Republicans are.
He and his team believe that something in that environment has shifted, and that labour is poised to be ok the winning side of that shift.
40% = 8.77% a year during 4 years.
Why isn't he championing a massive raise in minimum wage? Everyone other than the rich are struggling. Is he just trying to make cars even more expensive than they already have gotten here? I'm in my 40s and my first house cost less than an average new car today. Help all the people, man.
Republicans blocked Biden's previous attempt to raise the minimum wage so not a lot of use to try again unless there is some more pressure.
I didn't say I expect him to get it done right now. He doesn't even talk about it anymore.
The problem is that owners are profiting off of labor while not doing any real work themselves.
The rich need to make less profit so ‘everyone other than the rich’ can have more. It’s that simple, not sure why it needs to be spelled out for you.
This should not be paid for by raising prices. It should be paid for by people wealthier than you making less profit while still being wealthier than you can ever hope to be.
I’m in my 40s and my first house cost less than an average new car today.
That’s because people like you don’t understand how basic economics work, so you’re routinely taken advantage of by people who do.
I wonder where the Big 3 will send their campaign cash for the 2024 election?
Same as always.
Hookers and blow.
Bobo is fighting a tough challenger so every dollar to her fund will help
They were gonna do that shit anyways. The wealthy joined a side already vs back when they played both sides. Democrats lose nothing anymore by shunning the upper class entirely.
Wonder no more: https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=T2100
Good
Hopefully he keeps the same message when the executives refuse to make a reasonable offer and “the economy” might suffer again.
The 4-Day Workweek is more important.
