On Tuesday, United States President Joe Biden went to Belleville, Michigan, to stand in solidarity with a group of workers who are members of the United Auto Workers (UAW), a historic union in the auto sector, who have been staging strikes for several days in order to demand the negotiation of a new collective agreement. This was the first time in modern United States history that a president joined a union picket line on strike. Belleville is home to a General Motors plant, which is among the major American auto companies (along with Ford and Stellantis) where thousands of workers have been on strike since September 15. The strike initially involved workers in only three factories, but in the following days it expanded to thirty-eight other factories.
Biden spoke briefly to the workers gathered in front of the factory: “The truth is, you saved the auto industry in 2008. You made a lot of sacrifices, you made a lot of sacrifices when companies were in trouble. Now companies are doing very well, and guess what, you should be doing very well too. “Keep going, you deserve a big raise and other benefits.”
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