ROMULUS, Mich. (NEWSnet/AP) — President Joe Biden decided to stand alongside United Auto Workers pickets Tuesday in Michigan, showing support amid the workers' strike against the Detroit Three carmakers.

UAW President Shawn Fain was the first to greet Biden after he arrived in Michigan on Air Force One, and he joined him in the presidential limousine for a ride to the picket line. Others greeting him at the airport included Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II; Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13); Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-06); and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12).

 

According to the White House press pool, spectators along the motorcade route filmed videos with their cell phones as the motorcade passed by.

Their destination was the Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville, near Detroit Metropolitan Airport where the president flew in. This is one of the General Motors parts distribution sites that has been targeted in the strike.

Biden, wearing a dark blue sweatshirt and a black UAW ball cap, stood alongside autoworkers in their union’s red shirts and jackets as he spoke into a bullhorn.

“No deal, no wheels!” workers chanted. “No pay, no parts!”

“Stick with it,” Biden told the workers. “You deserve a significant raise … we saved them, it’s about time they step up for us.”

Fain said as a follow up, “Today belongs to the auto workers in the working class. Thank you, Mr. President, for coming. We know the President will do right by the working class.”

After the remarks, Biden shook hands with workers and posed for photos.

Labor historians say they cannot recall an instance when a sitting president has joined an ongoing strike, even during the tenures of the more ardent pro-union presidents such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

Biden’s arrival happens one day before former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, goes to the Detroit area to hold his own event in an attempt to woo auto workers even though union leaders say he's no ally.

Lawmakers often appear at strikes to show solidarity with unions, and Biden joined picket lines with casino workers in Las Vegas and auto workers in Kansas City while seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

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 normally stay out of the strike lines — until today’s circumstances.

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