President Joe Biden made history on Sept. 26 when he became the first sitting president to walk a union picket line, traveling to Detroit in an unequivocal show of support for striking United Auto Workers members. Donning a union ball cap and speaking through a bullhorn, Biden encouraged the striking UAW members to “stick with it, because you deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits.” The president said UAW members had “made a lot of sacrifices to save the automobile industry” back in 2008 when the companies were in trouble during the Great Recession and the workers deserved to get back what they lost now that the automakers are doing “incredibly well.”
And after UAW President Shawn Fain spoke, Biden concluded his remarks by saying: “Wall Street didn’t build the country. The middle class built the country, and unions built the middle class. And that’s a fact.”
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