Biden Becomes First US President In History To Join Strike

The politician supported the workers' demand for a wage increase.

On Tuesday, September 26, US President Joe Biden joined the strike of auto workers taking place in Michigan. He became the first sitting president to join the picket.

This is reported by the Financial Times.

United Auto Workers union head Sean Fain, who invited Biden to join the striking workers, thanked him for coming "to stand with us at a crucial time for our generation."

"It wasn't Wall Street that built this country, it was the middle class that built this country. And unions built the middle class... You deserve what you have earned, and you have earned far more than you are being paid now," Biden said.

When asked by a reporter if workers deserve a 40 per cent pay raise, Biden replied, "Yes."

Donald Trump plans to meet with the strikers on Wednesday, September 27.

The visit to the picket by Biden comes just over a year before the US presidential election, in which Michigan and Ohio will be crucial battleground states. Donald Trump won Ohio in 2016 and 2020, while Michigan voted for the former president in 2016 and chose Biden four years later.

Last week, the UAW strike spread to 20 states. Auto workers are worried about the wide switching of the industry to electric vehicles, needing fewer workplaces, and they demand a 40 per cent wage increase and a range of benefits.