总统乔·拜登周二，他加入了美国汽车工人联合会的纠察线，对反对通用汽车、福特和Stellantis的工会成员表示了最强烈的支持。
戴着UAW棒球帽的拜登用扩音器对在密歇根州贝尔维尔通用汽车公司柳树路再分配中心外罢工的成员发表讲话。
拜登说:“事实是，UAW，你们在2008年及之前拯救了汽车行业。”。“做出了很多牺牲，放弃了很多，公司陷入了困境。但是现在他们做得非常好，你猜怎么着，你也应该做得非常好。”
“伙计们，坚持下去，因为你应该得到你需要的大幅加薪和其他福利，”他继续说道。
2023年9月26日，乔·拜登总统在密歇根州贝尔维尔通用汽车服务零件运营工厂外的纠察线向美国汽车工人联合会(UAW)的罢工成员发表讲话。
吉姆·沃森/法新社通过盖蒂图片
一些专家称拜登的出现是现代政治史上前所未有的举动，白宫也很快对此进行了宣传。
“这是一次历史性的访问，这是一个活跃的纠察线，”白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔在飞往密歇根州的空军一号上对记者说。
拜登此行的前一天，前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)抵达2024年的战场州进行竞选，以代替参加周三晚上的第二场共和党初选辩论。特朗普本月早些时候宣布，他将向现任和前任工会工人发表演讲。特朗普的高级顾问杰森·米勒批评拜登即将进行的访问是“廉价的拍照活动”和对特朗普计划的反应。
白宫周一表示，特朗普的日程安排没有考虑到拜登接受UAW总统肖恩·费恩(Shawn Fain)邀请加入纠察线的决定。
在未能达成合同协议后，UAW于9月15日发起了针对美国“三大”汽车制造商的罢工。最近，正在进行“站起来”罢工的工会扩大了走出去针对Stellantis和GM的38个新位置。
工会的主要要求是在四年内增加36%的工资，每周工作32小时。
白宫一再拒绝透露自称为最亲工会总统的拜登是否支持这些具体要求。
在周一的新闻发布会上，美国广播公司(ABC News)驻白宫高级记者Selina Wang就这一点追问让-皮埃尔时，他说:“我不会进入目前正在谈判的细节，当然也不会与各方谈判。”“我们要说的是，我们支持汽车工人。”
拜登此前表示，他认为工会工人应该得到他们在公司创纪录收入中的“公平份额”，他希望双方能够达成“双赢”协议。
“工会造就了中产阶级，这是事实，”拜登周二对UAW议员表示。“那么我们继续走吧。这是你应得的，你赚的比你现在得到的要多得多。”
在简短的讲话后，一名记者问拜登，工人是否应该获得40%的加薪。他周围的罢工成员立即回应说是，他似乎也说了“是”——这将是拜登在这一具体工会要求上最大的努力。
然而，当拜登竞选连任时，他对纠察线的访问并非没有政治风险。
他最初选择了两位高级官员——代理劳工部长朱莉·苏和高级顾问吉恩·斯珀林——为双方达成协议提供支持。拜登上周五宣布他将加入纠察线，此前几个小时，UAW的费恩公开发出邀请。
费恩和拜登一起站在纠察线上，感谢他“成为这场战斗的一部分”。
“感谢总统先生在我们几代人的决定性时刻与我们站在一起，”费恩说。“我们知道总统会为工人阶级做正确的事情，当我们为工人阶级做正确的事情时，你可以把剩下的事情交给我们，因为我们会处理好这件事。”
美国广播公司“本周”的共同主持人玛莎·拉达茨问交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格，拜登加入纠察线是否是一个“好主意”
“这就是他的立场，”Buttigieg回答。“他是一位支持工人的总统。他是一位毫不道歉的支持工会的总统。而且，你知道，这不仅仅是与特朗普政府的反工会政策形成对比，而是与过去半个世纪以来两党总统的实际情况形成对比。他为自己是他们中最支持工会和工人的人而自豪。顺便说一下，把这件事做好。”
Buttigieg还表示，他相信公司和汽车行业将从这笔交易中“长期受益”。
当被问及拜登最近是否与三家汽车公司谈过话时，让-皮埃尔说，她没有电话向记者宣读。
'Let's keep going': Biden joins striking autoworkers on picket line
PresidentJoe Bidenjoined the United Auto Workers picket line Tuesday in his strongest show of support yet for union members striking against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
Biden, donning a UAW baseball cap, used a bullhorn to address members striking outside General Motors' Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville, Michigan.
"The fact of the matter is that you guys, UAW, you saved the automobile industry back in 2008 and before," Biden said. "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."
"Folks, stick with it because you deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits," he continued.
Biden's appearance is a move some experts are calling apparently unprecedented in modern political history, something the White House has been quick to tout.
"It is a historic visit, and this is an active picket line," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Michigan.
Biden's trip comes one day before former President Donald Trump arrives in the 2024 battleground state to campaign in lieu of participating in the second Republican primary debate Wednesday night. Trump announced earlier this month he would give a speech to current and former union workers. Jason Miller, Trump's senior adviser, criticized Biden's upcoming trip as a "cheap photo op" and reaction to Trump's plans.
The White House said Monday Trump's schedule didn't factor into Biden's decision to accept an invitation from UAW president Shawn Fain to join members on the picket line.
UAW launched its strike against the "Big 3" U.S. automakers on Sept. 15 after failing to reach a contract agreement. The union, which is conducting a "stand-up" strike, recentlyexpanded its walk outswith 38 new locations targeting Stellantis and GM.
Key among the union demands are a 36% pay increase over four years and a 32-hour work week.
The White House has repeatedly declined to say if Biden, who touts himself as the most pro-union president, supported those specific requests.
"I'm not gonna get into the details of what's being negotiated right now on the table with certainly with the parties," Jean-Pierre said when pressed on that point by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang during Monday's briefing. "What we're saying is that we support the autoworkers."
Biden previously said he believes union workers deserve their "fair share" of the record earnings of the companies, and that he hoped both sides could come to a "win-win" agreement.
"Unions built the middle class, that's a fact," Biden told UAW members on Tuesday. "So let's keep going. You deserve what you've earned and you earned a hell of a lot more than you're getting paid now."
After his brief remarks, Biden was asked by a reporter if workers should get a 40% pay increase. Striking members around him immediately responded yes, and he appeared to say "yes" as well -- which would be the furthest Biden has weighed in on that specific union demand.
His visit to the picket line, however, is not without political risk for Biden as he runs for reelection.
He originally tapped two top officials -- acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior adviser Gene Sperling -- to offer their support to both parties in reaching agreement. Biden's announcement last Friday that he would join the picket line came hours after UAW's Fain publicly extended an invitation.
Fain stood with Biden at the picket line and thanked him for "being a part of this fight."
"Thank you Mr. President for coming to stand up with us in our generations-defining moment," Fain said. "And we know the president will do right by the working class and when we do right by the working class, you can leave the rest to us because we are going to take care of this business."
ABC's "This Week" co-host Martha Raddatz asked Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg whether Biden joining the picket line is a "good idea."
"That's where he stands," Buttigieg responded. "He's a pro-worker president. He is an unapologetically pro-union president. And, you know, not just in contrast to the anti-union policies of the Trump administration, but really with respect to presidents of both parties over the last half century. He's proud of the fact that he is the most pro-union and pro-worker among them. And, by the way, getting this right."
Buttigieg also said he believed the companies and auto sector will "benefit in the long run" from the deal.
Asked if Biden had spoken recently with the three auto companies, Jean-Pierre said she had no calls to read out to reporters.
