On August 14th, President Biden finally came back to some sort of his senses and realized that we need to keep American jobs. Especially as he attempts to force electric vehicles upon the American populous. Bumbling through a statement about the situation, he pleaded with automakers and workers’ unions to find ways to keep plants open as electric vehicles begin to make up more of the production.
A large part of this endorsement comes as he has yet to receive the endorsement for the 146,000-member United Auto Workers (UAW), but other labor unions have already signed on. Comprised of Ford, General Motors, and Stellanis, they are most commonly known as “The Big Three.” As it sits now, their contract will expire at 2359 on September 14th.
Reaching a bit beyond his due, he is demanding “good jobs that can support a family” as well as “transitions are fair and look to retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and communities at comparable wages while giving existing workers the first shot to fill those jobs.” He followed up by talking about how the UAW created the blueprint for the middle class in modern America, and that persists today in his eyes.
Negotiation-wise, they could not be further apart. GM stated they were working with UAW for “a contract that provides job security and supports good wages and benefits for our team members while enabling companies to compete successfully domestically and globally.” In response, Shawn Fain from UAW says the workers want the end of wage tiers among workers, double-digit pay raises, cost of living to make a return, clearer pension benefits for all workers, bringing back retiree health care, and a change to a 32 hour standard work week, and eliminating the current 40.