US President Joe Biden joined the picket line of United Auto Workers (UAW) strikers on Tuesday as the strike reaches its twelfth day, in a show of support for the unions that is virtually unprecedented in presidential history.
“You deserve the significant pay increase you need”Biden said through a megaphone while wearing a union hat after arriving at a General Motors parts distribution warehouse in a suburb west of Detroit, Michigan.
The head of state walked along the picket line and exchanged greetings with smiling workers.
Biden encouraged them to keep fighting for better wages despite concerns that a prolonged strike could hurt the economy, saying: “Stay strong.”
The Democratic leader answered “yes” when asked if UAW members deserved a 40% raise, one of the union’s demands.
“No deal, no wheels!”workers shouted as Biden arrived. “No payment, no parts!”, they added.
Biden was escorted to the picket line by UAW President Shawn Fain.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for coming to support us in this moment that defines our generation”said Fain, who indicated that the union is engaged in a “kind of war” against “corporate greed.”
“We do the hard work. We do the real work”, Fein said. “Not the CEOs,” he emphasized.
Historians of labor issues say there is no memory of a sitting president joining a sustained strike, even during the tenures of the most pro-union leaders, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman.
Source: DN
