Joe Biden went this Tuesday, September 26 to a picket line of auto workers in the key state of Michigan to show his support. A first.
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This is a unique image. The White House even describes it as “ historical “. By joining auto workers in front of the gates of a Wayne factory this Tuesday, Joe Biden became the first sitting American president to go on a strike picket. He thus wanted to show his support for the unprecedented social movement which is shaking the sector. Speaking with a megaphone to members of the auto workers union (UAW), the organization’s cap screwed on their heads, the head of state recalled the “sacrifices” made by the latter in order to “save industry” during the 2008 crisis. They now deserve a “significant increase” in salary, he said.
Such presidential support in a social conflict, which pits the union organization against the three giants of the sector – General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – is a reminder of the closeness that the American president has cultivated during his career with the workers’ unions. It also underlines the importance that Michigan represents while the Democrat, campaigning for his re-election in 2024, could once again find himself facing his predecessor Donald Trump.
Donald Trump overtaken
By going there on Tuesday, Joe Biden steals the limelight from his Republican rival, who plans to go to the same state on Wednesday to court blue-collar workers, on whom he intends to base his reconquest of the White House. Enough to make this already historic strike a subject of political battle. Donald Trump, who announced his trip before that of Joe Biden, also accused the Democratic president of copying him. And his adviser Jason Miller called Joe Biden’s visit “ nothing more than a poor photo shoot “.
For Joe Biden, the challenge is to prove that he is, on the contrary, the president of the working classes, defender of the unions and architect of the industrial renewal of the United States. But the octogenarian, struggling in the polls and now gauged at each trip on his physical condition, is walking on eggshells: the current social conflict could prove very damaging for the American economy.
And the strike spread to the automobile manufacturers General Motors and Stellantis, due to lack of progress in union negotiations, unlike Ford where “ real progress ” have been done. Joe Biden has several times publicly estimated that manufacturers should pass on their “record profits” to employees. Asked whether the president was taking sides in the social conflict, the White House spokesperson preferred to skirt the questions, insisting that Joe Biden wanted above all a “win-win” agreement. “ We do not get involved in negotiations “, she added.
(With AFP)