Big news today:
President Joe Biden plans to visit Michigan on Tuesday to show support for the United Auto Workers as they continue their strike against the Detroit Three car companies.
Biden's visit was confirmed Friday by three sources familiar with the president's plans.
The UAW is on the 8th day of its strike against Ford Motor Co., Stellantis NV and Ford Motor Co. as it pushes for higher wages and benefits amid record profits. The union announced Friday it would be adding 38 General Motors and Stellantis parts distribution centers across the country to its strike, which first hit three assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri last week.
Pressure has been building on Biden, the self-described most "pro-union president in American history," to visit the striking workers. UAW President Shawn Fain himself urged Biden to come earlier Friday.
“We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the picket line," he said during a Facebook Live announcing the new strike targets. "From our friends and families all the way up to the President of the United States, we invite you to join us in our fight.”
Also, this is a shitty move:
General Motors has asked for volunteers among its salaried, nonunion employees to cross a picket line and work at its parts distribution centers in the event there is a strike at them, the Detroit Free Press has learned.
That strike came at noon Friday. UAW President Shawn Fain had warned GM, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co. earlier in the week that if substantial progress in contract negotiations was not made, he would expand the strike from the first three plants the union struck one week ago.
Some 5,600 employees at GM and Stellantis parts distribution centers — 38 of them across the country — walked off the job and joined the picket line Friday. Ford Motor Co. was spared the expansion of the strike because Fain said it was making progress in negotiations and had offered up some wins for the union on issues like reinstatement of the cost-of-living adjustment to wages.
In an internal email, which the Free Press obtained, GM asked team leaders whether they had any volunteers to help at the facilities to pack and ship parts in the event of a work stoppage.
The email said GM sought a temporary commitment, but noted it would be dependent on the length of the strike. The date of the email is unclear.
Other Democrats have been visiting UAW workers and showed their support for the strike:
Let’s be sure to let Rep. Slotkin and Senator Brown know we have their backs for standing up for workers. Click below to donate and get involved with their Senate campaigns:
Elissa Slotkin
Sherrod Brown