President Joe Biden on Tuesday joined a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan, supporting their call for a 40% pay raise and saying they deserve a “lot more” than they are getting.

Biden’s appearance, the first visit by a U.S. president to striking workers in modern history, comes a day before Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president, will speak to auto workers in Michigan. The rare back-to-back events highlight the importance of union support in the 2024 presidential election, even though unions represent a tiny fraction of U.S. workers.

Democrat Biden traveled to a Belleville, Michigan, parts distribution center owned by General Motors (GM.N), and joined dozens of picketers outside. “Companies were in trouble, now they’re doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too,” Biden said through a bullhorn. “Stick with it.”

  • SlopppyEngineer@discuss.tchncs.de
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    1 year ago

    Republicans blocked Biden’s previous attempt to raise the minimum wage so not a lot of use to try again unless there is some more pressure.

      • paultimate14@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Because all that would accomplish right now is get some asshole on the Internet to comment “if that’s the case why doesn’t he do something about it?” Or “why doesn’t he do something about Medicare?”

        Does he need to give a 6 hour speech outlining every policy he supports every day to satisfy you?

        He has asked Congress to legislate a higher minimum wage. He issued an executive order requiring federal contractors to raise their minimum wage to qualify for government contracts.

        What are YOU doing to raise the minimum wage of you care so much about it? Are you contacting your representatives? Your state can raise its own minimum wage: are you harassing those officials?

        Or are you just trying to criticize Biden and draw attention away from his strike support on the Internet?