By Steve Holland and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said “no one wants a strike” but that car companies have enjoyed record profits in recent years without sharing them fairly with workers, hours after the United Auto Workers began strikes at Detroit’s three biggest automakers.
The UAW strike at three factories owned by General Motors, Ford and Chrysler-owner Stellantis on Friday, kicked off the most ambitious U.S. industrial labor action in decades.
Biden said “record corporate profits” should lead to “record contracts” for the UAW, but that the profits have not been shared fairly with workers.
“No one wants a strike, but I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining” system, Biden said. “I understand their frustration.”
So far in the strike negotiations, “the companies have made some significant offers,” Biden said. “But I believe they should go further to ensure record corporate profits mean record contracts for the UAW.”
Biden said he has been in touch with both sides in the negotiations, and will dispatch two members of his team, Gene Sperling and Labor Secretary Julie Su, to Detroit to ensure the administration’s involvement in the talks and a “win-win agreement.”
Biden, who predicted over the Labor Day weekend that the union would not strike, spoke to union and automaker leaders on Thursday.
The Biden administration is also discussing emergency aid to protect smaller firms that supply U.S. auto manufacturers, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.
During a summer of labor unrest, Biden has touted his pro-labor policies by speaking out for unions, while his administration behind the scenes has tried to smooth the way for deals with employers to avoid costly walkouts, union leaders and administration officials said.
But in a reminder of how hard it is to appease energized workers while tamping down on price hikes that cause inflation, Biden and auto workers’ union UAW – the only major union not to endorse his 2024 presidential run – are not on the same page.
Labor unions like the UAW – which represents 146,000 workers – are key to Biden’s game plan for winning reelection in 2024. He needs their support to win key states like Pennsylvania and Michigan again, which stand to bear the brunt of any major strikes against carmakers.
Biden, 80, is tying his 2024 re-election bid to the health of the economy, highlighting job growth, rising wages and fading recession fears and a prolonged strike could threaten that.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose, Steve Holland, Jarret Renshaw and Susan Heavey; editing by Alison Williams, Jason Neely, Nick Zieminski, Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington)
