Contrasting Approaches
Four years ago, when United Auto Workers went on strike against General Motors, Joe Biden and Donald Trump took very different approaches.
Presidential Stances on Auto Union
Trump, the incumbent Republican president who was in conflict with unions over his labor policies, told reporters at the time that he had good relations with his auto workers and hoped both sides would reach an agreement soon. Biden, one of the multiple Democratic presidential candidates who met with striking workers, criticized the UAW for failing to distribute benefits and job gains equitably.
“We didn’t bail out GM; the UAW bailed out GM,” Biden, wearing a red UAW shirt, told striking workers in September 2019, referencing the auto bailout of 2009. “You took the brunt of it. That’s why the GM is back.”
2024 UAW Endorsement Battle
UAW ultimately endorsed Biden in April 2020. Now, UAW is looking to retain that endorsement, as both he and Trump – the front-runner for the GOP in 2024 – court workers this week at the center of the UAW strike, facing different challenges in their current and potential roles.
While Biden has worked to navigate tensions between his administration’s green energy policies, automakers’ profit positions, and union demands, Trump has sought to simplify the debate by positioning himself as the savior of workers from job losses. Both labor factions will present their narratives to rank-and-file members in crucial battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, all of which backed both Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020.
UAW’s latest strike began in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio, targeting factories owned by three major American automakers: General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, which sell vehicles under brands like Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler. The union has been demanding a 40% increase in wages over four years, a four-day workweek, and enhancements to benefits and job protections. On Friday, the union expanded the strike to 38 plants and distribution centers owned by GM and Stellantis in 20 states.
Trump and Biden Clash in Michigan
Trump’s use of the strike appears to signal that he sees himself as a front-runner in the GOP primary, leaving aside the second Republican debate happening on Wednesday and seeking to create a moment in a manufacturing plant near Detroit with members of various unions. His campaign has also launched a radio ad in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio, featuring a narrator saying Trump calls auto workers “great Americans” and “always has their back.”
A few days after Trump’s announcement, and in response to a public appeal from Michigan Democrats, Biden announced on Monday that he would visit Michigan on Tuesday to “express solidarity” with UAW members in Michigan. Biden’s campaign framed the announcement as a response to the strike, and his campaign organized the visit as a direct response to Trump’s announcement.
Democrats praised Biden’s historic infrastructure bill, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed back against the notion that Biden is trying to create discord with Trump. Buttigieg emphasized on “State of the Union” last Sunday that President Biden consistently aligns with American workers, staying true to his long standing commitment. These auto companies can prosper in the kind of agreement the president has called for, which is that record profits should translate into record wages and record benefits for the workers who are creating all that value.
Moving from TPP to the Electric Vehicle Shift
However, current presidential politics are inevitable.Â
“On the Republican side, there’s a big opportunity, and on the Democratic side, there’s a significant threat,” said Saul Anuzis, former head of the Michigan GOP and committee member of the Republican National Committee. He pointed out that while Democrats need to figure out how to balance the interests of car manufacturers, union leadership, and rank-and-file union members, Republicans can appeal to workers without accepting union policies or supporting union leaders.
Anuzis added, “On the Republican side, there are many paths – things they can do, things they can’t do, or things they should do to be supportive.”
Michigan’s Crucial Union Voters
The White House potentially passes through states like Michigan, where appealing to union voters can make a difference in a close race. Union households traditionally lean towards Democrats, and 2016 was no different: Hillary Clinton garnered 42% of union households compared to Trump’s 51%. However, this margin was narrower compared to President Barack Obama’s 18-point union household lead over Mitt Romney in 2012.
Trump positioned himself as a voice for workers who felt forgotten by the Washington establishment and voiced opposition to trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiated by the Obama administration.
While Clinton, serving as Secretary of State, had praised the TPP as the “gold standard” in trade deals, she later opposed it during her presidential campaign. Trump won in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Ohio – all union stronghold states that had gone for Obama in 2012. Biden initiated his 2020 campaign with this  backdrop in mind.
In an April 2019 rally in Pittsburgh, he said, “I don’t ask for any forgiveness; I’m a union guy.” Biden managed to secure the union’s best support among third-party candidates, winning back the votes of union households and defeating Trump by 56% to 40% nationally. He also flipped Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania at the national level.
Whichever Republican nominee emerges will have to navigate the delicate balance of comparing their performance to Trump’s record with union voters in the general election.
GOP Confronts Unions and Biden’s programs
GOP campaigners are taking a combative stand against union leaders, bus workers, and United Auto Workers( UAW) by emphasizing traditional GOP messaging, censuring UAW President Rory Gamble, and abusing Biden’s administration for its high affectation and addressing climate change through his proffers.
Their pragmatic centerpieces include attempts to downplay concerns among auto workers about electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing, shedding light on the administration’s efforts to address the concerns of auto workers, and dismissing UAW’s demands for higher wages, a shorter workweek, and better benefits – unless they are seen as unreasonable.
Senator Tim Scott vs. UAW
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott has been among the most oral critics of the UAW leadership. In the days following the strike, Scott argued that the union’s four- day workweek and demands for advanced stipend were” unreasonable” and suggested that bus workers who shared in the strike should be let go, akin to President Ronald Reagan’s blasting of civil air business regulators during their strike. UAW has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, asserting that Scott’s” strike, you are out” comment threatens the union’s fairly defended right to strike.
They seek to dangle me by the noose of termination, yet fear does not take root within me,” Scott declared in a statement issued on Friday. I’m devoted to being a stalwart advocate for American workers and job openings, conserving the natural worth of labor, and mollifying the over pluses of the Biden administration that are impacting the distinct line of our nation.”
Electric Cars and Workforce Strain
In a recent interview with ‘Meet the Press,’ Trump criticized union leaders while simultaneously urging support for them, almost in the same breath. The former president claimed, ‘Auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should support Trump.’ He went on to suggest that Fin, the head of the union, may not last much longer. ‘All the jobs are going to be gone because they’re all being made in China.’
Trump, EV Transition, and Union Concerns
Fin, who insists that the union’s endorsement ‘should be earned through actions, not words,’ has labeled Trump a member of the ‘billionaire class’ against which the union is fighting, predicting that Trump’s second presidency would be ‘catastrophic.’
However, Republicans continue to downplay concerns about EV transition and aiding China.
“The allegation that Biden’s administration is responsible for job outsourcing due to cooperation on clean energy transition is entirely false,” said Jobs to Move America’s executive director, Madeline Janis, a pro-labor advocacy group focusing on workforce issues. “It’s a different question, ‘Does this transition benefit the American public on a large scale?’ And in my opinion, that answer isn’t clear.”
Keeping assembly lines for electric vehicle engines requires a workforce, and automakers are relocating most of this work to non-union factories in the South, where labor laws are weaker and employees may receive lower wages.
UAW’s EV Worries and Biden’s Visit
UAW leaders maintain that they’re not against more electric vehicles being made but insist that the transition should happen in a way that safeguards jobs. An incentive in the 2021 spending package and a fundamental framework law for car manufacturers incentivize further production of electric cars.
 Fin has pressed the administration to work harder to ensure that jobs in electric vehicle manufacturing are not ‘bottom-of-the-barrel’ and has said that EV transition will be discussed when, or if, they decide to endorse it.
Democrats hope Biden’s UAW picket line return on Tuesday will serve as a catalyst in their favor. “President Biden coming to the picket line on Tuesday is a historic, historic event,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic representative, said during a  Sunday appearance on CBS’s ‘Face the Nation.’
May You Like: Eric Johnson’s Surprising Move
