The Role of Government
The United Auto Workers strike not only continues, but is expanding. That’s leading to additional plants being shut down due to lack of supplies…and as always, the dominoes continue to fall.
Donald Trump announced he’d be skipping tomorrow night’s GOP candidate debate in California in favor of speaking in Michigan to UAW workers that day. Not to be outdone, President Biden quickly scheduled a trip to Michigan for today.
In a social media post, Biden’s account said, “Tuesday, I’ll go to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they helped create…It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with well-paid UAW jobs.”
The White House press secretary denied that Biden’s trip was in response to Trump’s, but everyone knows better than that.
But not so fast in terms of whether either trip is a good idea.
A poll released by America’s New Majority Project yesterday indicated that 61.5% of those surveyed say elected officials should stay neutral when there is a labor union strike, rather than side with unions or business. Even more–67.5%–say it is the job of elected officials to do what’s best for the entire country, not what’s best for labor unions and members or businesses and shareholders.
Given the ever-smaller number of private union members these days…there may be more backlash than benefit for a Democrat president who claims to be the most pro-union president in history.
But obviously, given how pivotal Michigan will be in the 2024 general election, we’ll all be watching the reaction each man gets because in a tight contest, even the fewer union votes coalescing behind one candidate or the other could make a major difference in that state, and elsewhere.
