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DETROIT — Both President Joe Biden and former-president Donald Trump made stops in Detroit last week to address a strike of the United Auto Workers union which began Sept. 15.
The UAW launched the most recent strike in Michigan factories, as well as those in Missouri and Ohio, owned by three American automakers: Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. It is seeking a 40% wage increase over four years as well as increased benefits and job protections.
Biden was first to visit workers, on Sept. 26, when he spoke at a GM distribution center. He threw his support behind the UAW, which endorsed his candidacy during the 2020 presidential election against then-president Trump, saying “You deserve a significant raise.”
In a historic first for a sitting U.S. president, Biden walked the picket line with striking workers and UAW President Shawn Fain in Van Buren Township.
Trump took a different strategy for his visit, which coincided with the second Republican primary debate held in California. Trump instead spoke at a Michigan auto manufacturing plant whose workforce is not represented by the UAW, downplaying the union’s demand for better pay.
He told workers that, “Your current negotiations don’t mean as much as you think” and a move toward electric vehicles was “a transition to hell.”
Nathan Stemple, president of Drake Enterprises, hosted the former president for his speech on Sept. 27. Drake Enterprises manufactures and assembles components for heavy trucks.
Stemple told the Detroit News that electric vehicles were not a top concern of his, and that the biggest struggle for his business was finding the right employees.
“It would definitely affect us if it changed like a light switch,” he told the outlet. “I don’t see that happening.”
Fain said that “the UAW supports and is ready for the transition to a clean auto industry,” in a statement he released in support of $15.5 billion in new federal grants and loans to support a transition to electric vehicles. “This new policy makes clear to employers that the EV transition must include strong union partnerships with the high pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and won.”
Fain has also criticized automakers for closing plants while expanding production of new EV models.
While there has been a marginal increase in the number of Michigan auto workers since Biden took office, the overall total is still below that of pre-pandemic levels.