CNN –
President Joe Biden will travel to Michigan on Tuesday and walk the picket line with members of the United Auto Workers union, he announced Friday, a trip that comes after the president faced political pressure to increase his public support for the union members .
“On Tuesday I am heading to Michigan to join the picket line and stand in solidarity with the men and women of the UAW as they fight for a fair share of the value they have created. “It’s time for a win-win agreement that keeps American auto manufacturing thriving with good-paying UAW jobs,” Biden said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Biden’s trip and the president’s historic appearance on a picket line underscore the political opportunity as the strike against the country’s three largest automakers – General Motors, Ford and Stellantis – enters its second week. It comes a day before former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican presidential race, is scheduled to give a prime-time speech in Detroit to an audience of current and former union members, including from the UAW. Earlier this week, Trump’s team confirmed that he would skip the second Republican primary debate because of the speech in Michigan.
The Former President’s election campaign criticized Biden’s visit as a “cheap photo op” and Trump adviser Jason Miller claimed Biden was only going to Michigan because Trump announced his own trip.
While Biden has repeatedly touted his status as the most pro-worker president, the UAW has not yet endorsed his reelection as he faces low poll numbers on his handling of economic issues.
Union members, once a reliable Democratic voting bloc, have gradually gravitated toward Republican candidates, according to CNN polls and the AFL-CIO. However, UAW President Shawn Fain publicly condemned Trump’s trip earlier this week.
Biden’s trip on Tuesday was first reported by The Washington Post.
Fain previously invited Biden to join the picket lines after he announced an escalation of the union strike.
“We invite and encourage everyone who supports our cause to join us on the strike line – from our friends and family to the President of the United States,” Fain said at a news conference Friday. “We invite you to join us in our fight. You can help by building our movement and showing companies that the public has our back.”
Biden’s visit to a picket line is likely a first for any president.
Jeremi Suri, a presidential historian and professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said he doesn’t believe a president has ever visited a picket line during a strike.
Presidents, including Biden, have so far declined to get involved in union disputes to avoid appearing to be taking sides on issues where bargaining parties are often embroiled in litigation. The National Labor Relations Board, whose members are appointed by the president but are expected to function as an independent entity, is currently pending nearly 30 cases filed by the United Auto Workers.
Earlier this year, Fain was vocal in his criticism of Biden, particularly over his administration’s financial support for the auto industry’s transition from traditional gasoline-powered cars to electric vehicles, which the UAW sees as a threat to its members’ jobs.
When the administration approved a $9.2 billion federal loan in June so Ford and South Korean battery maker SK could build three electric vehicle battery factories, Fain attacked Biden directly.
“Why is Joe Biden’s administration encouraging this corporate greed with taxpayer money?” Fain said at the time.
After Fain and Biden met in person at the White House in July, the union boss was far less critical of the president in public comments. And Biden has taken up many of the union’s talking points during ongoing negotiations with automakers.
On Sept. 15, the day the strike began, Biden said automakers “should go further to ensure that record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.”
Some Democratic politicians have called on Biden to do more. California Rep. Ro Khanna told CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich on Monday that Biden and other Democrats should join him on the strike line.
“I would like to see the president out here,” he said, arguing that the Democratic Party needs to show that it is “the party of the working class.”
This headline and article have been updated with additional reporting.