Previous post
Joe Biden said he wouldn’t get involved with the negotiations between labors leaders from the UAW (United Auto Workers) union and lawyers for carmakers. And, he didn’t. Well, besides proclaiming himself the most pro-union President EVAH. Then Donald Trump announced that he would address UAW members instead of attending the Republican Debate on Wednesday and, suddenly, Joe took a notion to go to Detroit and transform into Picket Line Joe.
As our Nina told you a couple weeks ago, the “Green New Deal crap embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act is one of the major culprits for the auto workers strike.” Read her post here. You can’t have those good paying Union jobs that Picket Line Joe always promises if it takes way less workers to make an Electric Vehicle and the parts are made overseas anyways. AND, the EVs are not a product Americans want or can afford. Sounds like a lose-lose proposition for the workers and the corporate owners.
Still Joe said that he wouldn’t be involved in contract negotiations, but that he would send two human drones from his administration to help with the contract. When told of this offer, UAW CEO said, essentially, hard pass.
When MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire asked Fain on Monday’s edition of “Morning Joe” whether Biden’s aides − senior White House adviser Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su − would be key to brokering an agreement, Fain quickly countered, “Not at all.”
“This is our battle … Our negotiating teams are working hard. Our members are out there manning the picket lines and our allies are out there with us,” Fain continued. “This battle is not about the president, it’s not about the former president or any other person prior to that.”
It was the third time in two days of media interviews in which Fain had made such a remark: On CBS’ “Face the Nation,” on Sunday, he said, “People are talking about them trying to inject themselves into our negotiations” without mentioning who; also on Sunday, when asked by MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart, if he welcomed the involvement of the White House team, Fain said, “That’s a mischaracterization. They’re not involved in negotiations.”
Like I said… hard pass. Still, Joe found out about Trump’s planned trip to Detroit to schmooze with the striking autoworkers and started singing “Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better”. Picket Line Joe sang, “Any grift you can do I can do better. I can grift anything better than you.” Trump is going to Detroit on Wednesday. Joe went on Tuesday. Here is what this man of the people said:
Wearing a UAW cap and holding a bullhorn President Joe Biden on Tuesday told striking autoworkers they have every right to demand more of automakers, marking what was believed to be the first time that a sitting American president joined workers on a picket line.
It came during a brief, 10-minute-long event at General Motors’ Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville, where the automaker stores and distributes parts. But it still marked a bit of history as the president − who has always been quick to voice his support for unions − walked the line and stood beside UAW President Shawn Fain.Reminding workers that they helped save the auto industry with their sacrifices more than a decade ago, Biden said workers should ask for more now. “They (the automakers) are doing incredibly well and, guess what, you should be doing incredibly well, too,” he said.
“Wall Street didn’t build the country. The middle class built the country. And unions built the middle class, that’s a fact,” said Biden in a comment he has made many times before. Autoworkers took reductions in 2009 when the federal government intervened to help save General Motors and Chrysler, now part of Stellantis.
Oh, naff off, Picket Line Joe. Who do you think provides the capital to build new factories or the financing for new equipment. Can’t we hold both worker and financier in high regard.
Well, Ford Motor Company IS doing well, if you count losing $3.1 billion doing well. And, that Green New Deal crap is gonna cost those good union jobs:
I find it ironic that Joe Biden will join the picket line with striking UAW workers when his EV mandates have put workers out of a job.
— Daniel Turner (@DanielTurnerPTF) September 26, 2023
I will be watching the Trump speech to the UAW tomorrow night. We shall see the difference, won’t we.
Featured Image: Clyde Robinson/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons/Matt Johnson/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons
Leave a Reply