Experts in presidential and U.S. labor history say they cannot recall an instance where a sitting president has joined an ongoing strike.
President Joe Biden's decision to stand alongside United Auto Workers picketers Tuesday on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers underscores an allegiance to labor unions that appears to be unparalleled in presidential history.
But sitting presidents, who have to balance the rights of workers with disruptions to the economy, supply chains and other facets of everyday life, have long wanted to stay out of the strike fray — until President Biden. "I think the UAW gave up an incredible amount back when the automobile industry was going under. They gave everything from their pensions on, and they saved the automobile industry," President Biden said Monday from the White House. He stressed that the workers should benefit from the carmakers' riches"now that the industry is roaring back."
"If it wasn't for President Trump, Joe Biden would be giving autoworkers the East Palestine treatment and saying that his schedule was too busy," said Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller, referring to the small Ohio town that is still grappling with the aftermath of a February train derailment. President Biden said he would visit the community but so far has not.
Yet the UAW strike, which expanded into 20 states last week, remains a dilemma for the Biden administration since a part of the workers' grievances include concerns about a broader transition to electric vehicles. The shift away from gas-powered vehicles has worried some autoworkers because electric versions require fewer people to manufacture and there is no guarantee that factories that produce them will be unionized.
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