According to “THE UAW STRIKE IS AN ACTUAL TEST OF BIDEN’S ECONOMIC AGENDA,” White House advisers, the resolution of the conflict between the auto industry and its employees will support many of the president’s policy stances.
It’s unusual for so many facets of a president’s political persona to come together in one area.
The United Auto Workers’ strike on Friday is a real-time test of President Biden’s economic agenda, which includes his call for higher wages for the middle class, his unwavering support for unions, and his push to reimagine an electric vehicle future for automakers – centered in Michigan, a state he must win in 2024 to keep his position as president.
- The targeted strike by a portion of the 150,000-member union is intended to disrupt one of America’s oldest industries at a time when Mr. Biden is highlighting the differences between what opponents and allies refer to as “Bidenomics” and a Republican plan that the president warns is a more sinister version of trickle-down economics that primarily benefits the wealthy.
- Just hours before the union voted to strike, Mr. Biden declared on Thursday that “their plan”— MAGAnomics—was “more extreme than anything America has ever seen.”
- The president’s arguments about the need to reduce income inequality, the advantages of giving employees more power, and the surge in profits for businesses like the automakers that allows them to afford higher salaries will be strengthened, according to Mr. Biden’s aides at the White House.
- Eddie Vale, a longtime Democratic strategist who previously worked for the AFL-CIO, said, “You’ve got to rebuild the middle class and build things again here.” You have jobs, green technologies, and energy. You have states that are significant for the election. As a result, everything is jumbled up here in a whirl.
- There are political and policy dangers, Mr. Vale acknowledged, but he added: “Biden will be able to play a role as an honest broker here in the end.”
These dangers were starting to become obvious Friday morning. The president of the US Chamber of Commerce blamed Mr. Biden for the strike in a stinging statement.
According to Suzanne P. Clark, president of the largest corporate lobbying organization in the country, “the U.A.W. strike and in fact the’summer of strikes’ is the natural result of the Biden administration’s ‘whole of government’ approach to promoting unionization at all costs.”
- The strike, according to her prediction, will have “far-reaching negative consequences for our economy.”
- The outcome of Mr. Biden’s maneuvering might have a big impact on his chances of winning re-election. In a CNN poll conducted earlier this month, only 39% of respondents gave the president a positive review of his performance in office, and 58% thought his policies have worsened rather than improved the country’s economic situation.
- Another important factor is the strike’s Michigan-based focal point. With little more than 50% of the vote, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump to win the state. Mr. Biden would not have defeated his opponent without the state’s 16 electoral votes.
- The president’s stance on legislation regarding unions and the environment remains steadfast, though. Mr. Biden reiterated both his vision for a “transition to an electric vehicle future made in America”—which he claimed will protect jobs—and his steadfast support for unions—during a Labor Day speech in Philadelphia.
There are many politicians in this nation who, he remarked, “don’t know how to say the word ‘union’.” They mention labor, but they never use the word “union.” It’s “union.” I’m delighted to declare that I’m a member of the union. Being the president who is the most pro-union makes me proud.
