There have been few political costs to the Democratic Party’s addiction to throwing money at the green-energy sector, but an autoworkers’ strike might finally impose some.
President Joe Biden spent his Labor Day doing his best to appropriate the holiday for his party.
In a speech in Philadelphia on Monday, Biden touted Democrats’ efforts to bolster workers’ protections while simultaneously pummeling (and, thereby, elevating) the Republican presidential candidate whom Democrats hope to face next November:
“We’re turning things around because of you,” Biden said. “When the last guy was here, you were shipping jobs to China. Now we’re bringing jobs home from China. When the last guy was here . . . your pensions were at risk. We helped save millions of pensions with your help. When the last guy was here, he looked at the world from Park Avenue. I look at it from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I look at it from Claymont, Delaware.”
Later, he called Trump a “a great real estate builder, the last guy — who really didn’t build a damn thing.”
“President Biden promised to be the most pro-worker and pro-union President in American history, and he has kept that promise,” the White House insists. Indeed, “Bidenomics is a blue-collar blueprint for America,” the president claims. But the president’s image-makers may struggle to advance the notion that Biden is the best friend a unionized worker could have if one of the nation’s largest unions goes on strike later this month.
United Auto Workers has threatened a work stoppage if its demands are not met by September 14. The union is seeking more-generous pension benefits, 40 hours of pay per week for 32 hours of work, and a 46 percent wage increase. A strike would “send already-inflated vehicle prices higher,” the Associated Press reported. Of course, caving to the union’s demands would also compel car manufacturers to pass their new labor costs on to consumers.
“No, I’m not worried about a strike until it happens,” Biden told reporters on Monday. “I don’t think it’s going to happen.” That confidence is not shared by industry experts who describe a strike as “highly likely.” Nor are Biden’s allies particularly supportive of this threatened action or the demands that will precipitate it. “You have a very, very activist new UAW leader,” said Obama-administration “car czar” Steve Rattner of UAW president Shawn Fain. Rattner criticized Fain’s penchant for saying “very, very inflammatory things.”
The hostility appears to be mutual. The UAW made headlines in May when it sent a letter to members announcing its intention to withhold its endorsement of Joe Biden’s second term in office. “The federal government is pouring billions into the electric vehicle transition, with no strings attached and no commitment to workers,” the letter read. “We want to see national leadership have our back on this before we make any commitments.” If the Biden White House is forced to choose between the demands of autoworkers and the highly subsidized greening of the American economy, it will choose the latter.
There have been few political costs associated with the Democratic Party’s addiction to throwing money at the green-energy sector, but the prospect of a UAW strike might finally impose some. An ugly intra-coalition dispute would highlight traditional blue-collar labor’s secondary role in a party dominated by highly educated, well-heeled, culturally progressive Americans. Of course, given the UAW’s presumptuous demands, Republicans would be wise to avoid the temptation to sidle alongside the organization. For now, at least, the GOP can afford to sit back and watch the fireworks from a safe remove.