The Presidential Politics of the Autoworkers’ Strike

from New York Times I'm Michael Bavaro. this is a daily. [Music]. yesterday on the show we explained how a. major strike against Hollywood Studios. has finally been resolved but another. major strike against U.S automakers is. expanding and is now becoming a. Flashpoint in the presidential race. former president Donald Trump will skip. the second Republican primary debate.

according to the New York Times the. former president plans to travel to. Detroit where he will give a speech to. over 500 current and former members of. the United Auto Workers Union President. Biden today inserted himself in a labor. dispute in a way no other modern. president has joining striking Auto. Workers on the picket line outside of GM. plant near Detroit. today my colleague Jonathan Weissman on. why President Biden and former president. Trump see the workers involved in this.

strike as so essential to winning the. White House and the profoundly different. strategies that they're relying on to. win them over sir. important to get paid now. [Applause]. yesterday Joe Biden came to Michigan to. pose for photos at the picket line. but it's his policies that send Michigan. Auto Workers to the unemployment line.

it's Thursday September 28th. Jonathan it is very rare for a labor. strike to attract both a sitting. President Joe Biden and his leading. rival for the presidency in this case. former president Donald Trump. to the place where they are holding the. strike yet here we are so how do you.

think about that. we're at such an unprecedented moment. first of all the United Auto Workers are. on strike against all three of the big. three that is Ford General Motors and. stellantis which we used to call. Chrysler this is the broadest strike. we've seen in decades right now there. are picket lines at around 40 different. plants and distribution centers and the. United Auto Workers are seeking really.

remarkable gains they want raises of. about 40 percent they want more time off. right and they want the gains that they. feel they lost after the Great Recession. and it's happening during a presidential. election in which the two main Front. Runners Joe Biden and Donald Trump see. their path to the White House through. Union America and specifically through.

the state of Michigan the historic. center of the Auto industry which Donald. Trump won in 2016 very narrowly right. and Joe Biden won in 2020 a little less. narrowly and they are going to Michigan. to appeal to workers who if not actually. on strike are certainly supporting the. strikers and one of the most interesting. things about this is that both of these. candidates are saying to the workers I'm.

your guy but they have very very. different messages well Jonathan let's. talk through those very different. messages and what this strike means to. both Biden and Trump in this campaign. season and I want to start with. President Biden yeah Joe Biden this is a. guy who has made his brand unions. [Music]. hello. organize labor he emerged as Scranton.

Joe from northeast Pennsylvania my dad. used to have an expression I swear to. God he said Joey at jobs about a lot. more than a paycheck for real the son of. the working class because Roger dignity. it's about respect. and he has made Union organizing and. being pro-labor really his brand I am a.

union man. he ran for president saying he was going. to help unions organize and expand I. intend to be the most pro-union. president leading the most pro-union. Administration in American history that. unions made the middle class and he is. going to help unions re-emerge as the. center of American middle income power. [Music].

right and despite the fact that for many. years and we learned this lesson When. Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. that Democrats have lost a lot of. support in that world of unionized. working-class Voters Biden did pretty. darn well with them that's right he. showed real gains especially in the. Upper Midwest we're talking about what. we used to call the blue wall. Pennsylvania Michigan and Wisconsin the. gains that he made among the working.

class especially the white working class. really were decisive in the election of. 2020. right so heading into this UAW. strike that is the reservoir of Goodwill. that Biden has to call upon that's right. but there was a conflicting piece of his. message because as he was appealing to. the working class with his messages. about Labor and unions he was also. appealing to more liberal voters who.

wanted to see the government take action. against climate change I will do. everything in my power. clean our air and water protect our. People's Health to win the Clean Energy. Future. he was also going to be the president. that finally started moving the United. States away from fossil fuels a future. of the automobile industry that is. electric. battery electric plug-in hybrid electric. fuel cell Electric.

it's electric and and there's no turning. back the question is whether we'll lead. or fall behind in the race for the. future but the challenge is doing both. things at once creating union jobs and. green jobs a lot of my friends and. organized labor know. when I think climate I think jobs. I think union jobs not a joke. not a joke because when it comes to the. Auto industry electric vehicles. fundamentally take fewer workers to. build than the old internal combustion.

engine cars did. well say a little bit more about that. this tension for Biden between. supporting Auto Workers in the union and. his climate agenda at the same time. yeah I mean the fact is that electric. cars are simpler than traditional cars. things like Drive trains and catalytic. converters disappear when the engine is. really being operated by a battery and. at the moment they're generally not. built by union workers you know people. love their Teslas but those Teslas are.

not being built by organized labor those. are non-union shops other companies are. coming in from abroad like Hyundai and. they are setting up their big Auto. plants in the South where there aren't. unions and where the state governments. are very hostile to unions and that's. where Also the battery companies are. coming in those battery makers are the. ones that are replacing the workers that. now are building transmissions and.

catalytic converters and if they're not. unionized the movement is away from the. unions not toward unions and so Joe. Biden has this problem he needs to be. able to say that the electric vehicle. future is bright for American workers. and at the same time he understands that. for now electric vehicle labor is not. unionized so Jonathan how does President. Biden reconcile these two sides of his. political identity in this moment amid.

this strike the Green Revolution Joe and. the union Joe so he's throwing his. weight entirely behind the UAW and when. the UAW president Sean Fein invited him. to come to Michigan. he overrode the opposition of some of. his aides and said I'm going I'm getting. on that plane and he showed up. at a UAW picket which is unprecedented. for a president.

so then we see President Biden wearing a. UAW hat. on the picket line holding a sign he. makes a few quick remarks on a makeshift. stage. 1973 but I tell you what I think the. first time I've ever done a suppression. and broadcast his support for the. Union's position against Detroit. management.

rise of the UAW you saved the automobile. industry back in. 2014. made a lot of sacrifices gave up a. lot and the companies were in trouble. but now they're doing incredibly well. and guess what you should be doing. incredibly well too. so what he's doing here going to the UAW. picket lines is trying to throw. presidential weight behind the UAW to. get as good a contract as he can for the.

union so that the union can then take. that contract from The Big Three. automakers to these new battery plants. or to these foreign electric vehicle. makers and extend Union organizing where. it isn't now. hmm it's a little bit complicated but. what Biden's hoping for is that. a winning UAW contract translates into. an ability by the UAW to.

unionize the rest of the electric. vehicle Market in places where they're. not yet unionized thereby solving that. problem you mentioned earlier of this. vast EV Market that relies on. non-unionized labor correct his pitch is. green energy jobs are good union jobs he. just has to make that a reality and if. Biden can't actually deliver that he'll. have to own that people will blame him. for ushering in a Green Revolution that.

happens in non-union plants. and how does the UAW see this Vision. that's pretty complicated Vision that. Biden is outlining they understand. rhetorically that Biden is with them but. they want to see real concrete. legislation and regulations that benefit. them which is why the union with its. very aggressive new leadership under the. president Sean Fein has withheld the.

endorsement for Biden's re-election. because they feel like he could and. should have done more for them as their. industry moves toward electric vehicles. and Biden has tried in the inflation. reduction Act of 2022 which included all. sorts of incentives to move the country. toward electric vehicles he got a few. Provisions that help the unions for. instance tax credits for the hiring of. Union apprentices but the big one which.

was a bonus tax credit for the hiring of. of unionized workers that was stripped. out at the last minute by Senator Joe. manchin of West Virginia so there are. limits to what Biden can do for the. unions so the uaw's message to Biden is. basically. do better work harder and show us that. you understand just how existential a. thread the electric vehicle is to our. workers.

and that's why Joe Biden was on the. picket lines on Tuesday with the UAW to. basically say not only do I hear you but. I am pausing my busy schedule as. president of the United States to. literally be here with you as you strike. the first president that we know to ever. walk the picket lines of a strike it's a. remarkable moment. now just because the UAW has withheld. its endorsement of Joe Biden doesn't.

mean they're even flirting with the idea. of endorsing Donald Trump they know. Trump is anti-organized labor and you. know Sean Fain the president of the UAW. really hates Trump is very outspoken and. he's very popular. but Trump thinks that he can appeal to. the rank and file of UAW members with a. much simpler message. thank you.

foreign. walk us through Donald Trump's strategy. for winning over the rank and file of. the United Auto Workers given the. reality that the Union's leadership as. you just told us is pretty wary of trump. Donald Trump has shown a remarkable. ability to tear Union voters away from.

their leaders and the marching orders. that Union organizers have given their. voters he can go around the union. leadership and go straight to the union. voters and say I'm your guy you know in. 2016 he had vanishingly few union. leaders actually behind him and yet his. appeal to union workers helped him break. the blue wall in the Upper Midwest and.

win the presidency by winning Michigan. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and he's done. this not just with Auto Workers we will. lift the restrictions on American Energy. including Shale oil natural gas and. clean beautiful coal. put our miners back to work he's done. this with coal miners he can reopen the. coal mines we're going to bring steel. back.

to Pennsylvania. like it used to be he can bring steel. back to the United States we are not. going to allow our jobs to be taken from. our states anymore. he has this way of telling voters he can. turn back time right make America great. again has always contained a promise to. reverse a lot of.

the changes that have been made to the. working class American economy it's an. appeal to Nostalgia and it has really. worked and we're seeing that Playbook. all over again with electric vehicles. electric cars will kill more than half. of U.S auto jobs and it's going to. decimate more than anybody else. the state of Michigan it's going to be. decimation it's going to be Auto Workers. are not going to have any jobs when you. come right down to it because if you. take a look at what they're doing with.

electric cars electric cars are going to. be made in China. Trump's fundamental pitch is we don't. need to move to electric vehicles. climate change is a hoax we can stick. with internal combustion engine electric. vehicles are all made in China and. electric vehicles are the threat not the. future so Trump's basic message to the. UAW in this labor conflict is that their. problems could be solved if they would. just take the electric vehicle out of.

the equation that's right Biden is a. catastrophe for Michigan and his. environmental extremism is heartless and. disloyal and horrible for the American. worker and you're starting to see it if. you want to have an auto industry you. need to defeat Joe Biden he's a corrupt. president and real elect President. Donald Trump and he wants electric. vehicles to beat Joe Biden's problem and. he wants to be the guy who can liberate. them from economic change and bring them.

back to some Halcyon Days when internal. combustion engines were flowing out of. Detroit like water. foreign. to be back with the workers UAW members. and proud Patriots of the great state of. Michigan great state and when Trump held. a rally in Michigan Wednesday night.

instead of going to the Republican. debate he hit that message really hard. you can be loyal to American labor or. you can be loyal to the environmental. lunatics but you can't really be loyal. to both it's one of the other. hmm But. it does make sense to remember that. Trump's previous. stabs at economic Nostalgia to use your. word back in 2016 didn't play out the.

way he promised they would he like you. said claimed he could turn back time on. coal and coal mining and he was wrong. and now he's saying that you can turn. back time on EVS which seems pretty. complicated they have become such an. essential part of the big three. automakers future so why would a. unionized auto worker believe Trump's. claim here well you're right Michael I. mean when Donald Trump was pitching the. coal miners that he was going to keep. those Minds open.

that didn't pan out but if you think. about the mindset of the miners they had. nothing to lose their minds were going. away they could put their hopes in this. man and if it didn't work out they. didn't lose anything that they weren't. going to lose anyway in this case. Trump's got a much harder pitch here. he's going to electric vehicle workers. and saying stop the electric vehicle. transition these electric vehicle. workers are going to look at each other.

and say what's he talking about he wants. to stop the electric vehicle transition. we're working for electric vehicle. makers now our question isn't whether. our jobs are going to exist our question. is whether our pay is going to get. better or our benefits are going to get. better under a Union contract we're not. disappearing we are the industry of the. future. so because this threat of the EV is not. as existential as the previous economic.

threats that Trump identified and. campaigned against. Trump himself faces somewhat of a tricky. sales job here you're saying that's. right so as both Trump and Biden make. these two very different pitches to Auto. Workers Jonathan I'm curious based on. your reporting which of their messages. is most resonating with the UAW. membership you know I was at a UIW plant. last week and he talked to a lot of.

workers they really do understand. electric vehicles are the future they. see the Teslas on the road they spend. eighty dollars filling up the gas tank. on their Ford F-150s they understand. there is a great appeal to an electric. vehicle future and they hear Trump they. know that Trump's idea that you can just. stop the movement toward EVS is probably. not right but they like him they like.

the way he talks they like the sense. that Trump gets them and cares about. them that's the big challenge that Joe. Biden faces can he also come across as. really caring about them. Jonathan what you're saying suggests. that even if President Biden can deliver. this complicated economic trick of. delivering good paying union jobs and. the EV Revolution at the same time. Trump's comparatively simpler message. could still win the day for many.

unionized workers not just in the UAW. but across the country watching this and. that will remind us of a lesson we've. learned many times in many elections. which is that economic policy and. economic interest. and elections can get pretty well. divorced from political loyalties that. when it comes to voting The Head and the. Heart can go separate ways. as we've seen time and time again voters. do not necessarily vote in their own. economic interests they vote with their.

heart they vote by emotion the fight. that we're seeing now developing is a. fight for the hearts and minds of white. working-class voters Donald Trump as. difficult the job as Biden here Trump. has to reassemble that Patchwork. Coalition that delivered the White House. to him in 2016 and that abandoned him in. 2020 but Joe Biden has the more. difficult message which is look I've. done everything I can for you the fact.

of the matter is the electric vehicle. Revolution is coming whether you want it. or not would you like to have somebody. who guides it in favor of the unions or. would you like to have that other guy. who's living in his fantasy world of. coal mines and steel mills and couldn't. care less about electric vehicles I'm. the guy for you it's time you come back. to the party that recognizes the. contribute Solutions of organized labor.

so who wins these Union voters support. that really could determine who sits in. the White House in 2025. [Music]. well Jonathan thank you very much thanks. for having me Michael. [Music]. we'll be right back.

here's what else you need to know today. I want to look at that camera right now. and tell you Donald I know you're. watching you can't help yourself I know. you're watching okay and you're not here. tonight because you're afraid of being. on the stage and Defending Your record. you're ducking these things and let me. tell you what's going to happen you keep. doing that no one up here is going to. call you Donald Trump anymore we're. going to call you Donald Duck in the. second Republican presidential debate. Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.

mocked and taunted Donald Trump for. skipping the event saying that he owes. voters an explanation for what they said. was his role in Rising inflation and a. ballooning national debt Donald Trump is. missing in action he should be on this. stage tonight he owes it to you to. defend his record where they added 7.8. trillion to the debt that set the stage. for the inflation that we have now I can.

tell you this is governor with Trump off. the stage the candidates once again. focused much of their fire on political. newcomer Vivek ramaswamy who has surged. in the polls. overshadowing long-time elected. officials like former South Carolina. Governor Nikki Haley who pointedly. dismissed ramaswamy as a lightweight. what you've got I honestly every time I. hear you I feel a little bit Dumber for. what you say because I can't believe. [Music].

episode was produced by Ricky novetsky. Olivia in that Eric krupke and Rob zipko. with help from Luke vanderbloug it was. edited by John Ketchum and Paige Cowan. contains original music by Miriam Lozano. ruining misto and Diane Wong and was. engineered by Chris Wood our theme music. is by Jim brunberg and Ben Landsberg of. Wonderland thank you.

okay. [Music]. that's it for the daily I'm Michael. Barbaro. see you tomorrow. [Music].