Biden's gutsy move in support of striking autoworkers could yield huge dividends in 2024
When President Joe Biden joined striking auto workers on the picket lines in September, he took a gamble by making the strongest pro-union show of solidarity of any sitting U.S. president in history amid a sprawling strike against the country's three biggest automakers.
“The fact of the matter is that you guys, the UAW, you saved the automobile industry back in 2008," Biden told the striking workers, wielding a bullhorn and donning a UAW hat at a GM distribution warehouse in Detroit. "The companies were in trouble. Now they’re doing incredibly well and guess what? You should be doing incredibly well.”
"Stick with it," Biden implored, telling the workers they deserved the raises and benefits they were seeking.
This week that gamble paid off, with all "Big Three" automakers—Ford, Stellantis (which operates Chrysler), and GM—providing contracts to their workers with muscular increases in pay and benefits.