Joe Biden to join picket line with striking auto workers in Michigan
Joe Biden to join picket line with striking auto workers in Michigan
President Joe Biden is set to join the UAW picket line in Michigan one day before former President Donald Trump visits the Detroit area.
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As a Democrat who voted for Biden because he didn't want to see fascism, but was very sore about doing so because Biden is a milquetoast moderate at best...
This is sick. Props.
He's been a lot more progressive in his policies than I think people thought he'd be. He's not flashy about it though, so people tend to only hear the complaining that comes from much louder people
Just remember, this isn't Biden having a change of mind necessarily, this is more about Biden answering to pressure. The reason why Biden behaves like this is mostly because the UAW has witheld their endorsment for him, saying that "Biden has to pick a side, either the working class, or the billionaires", that "he has to earn his endorsment" and that "they expect actions, not just words".
Although also to be fair, there's a long line of democratic politicians NOT bowing to progressive pressure (presumably over their donors). So this is a massive improvement.
This is a first step. No one should be satisfied with this alone.
No one ever said anything about "satisfied" Jesus Christ you people are exhausting.
1. You will never get everything you want immediately. It will take a series of steps over time. Probably lifetimes.
2. If you don't reward politicians for each step they take, THEY WILL STOP TAKING STEPS AND YOU WILL GET NOTHING.
Sorry. Forgot we needed to grovel and worship every time someone does the sort of nothing centrists like. Characterizing a photo op as a massive improvement is hogwash.
Do you ever get tired of being a cynic?
Announcing everything as a huge improvement when it obviously isn't breeds cynicism, especially when you expect everyone to accept the announcement itself as the improvement. That's not progress; it's a bill of goods.
If he's willing to concede that very reasonable point and fight for the UAW, I think he'll earn it.
Did we get buttery emailed with misinformation?
Nah, we just got Hunter Biden dick pics on the House floor.
Ditto
He sold out the rail unions not even a year ago
He ended up getting them what they wanted just a couple months later. Check out the top comment threads here
He got them some sick days. A far cry from having their demands met. Particularly in the aspects concerning safety
Copying my response to the other guy here too:
Safety is absolutely a serious concern, but can you show me some sources where safety was a sticking point leading up to the strike vote? The union literature from the time is very focused on sick leave
No he didn't, one of their largest complaints was safety. Democrats downplayed their strike as 'sick days' so it sounded like their demands were trivial.
Safety is absolutely a serious concern, but can you show me some sources where safety was a sticking point leading up to the strike vote? The union literature from the time is very focused on sick leave
As per usual, crickets.
the fact dumbasses here are splitting hairs around sick leave, safety, and insane schedules is absurd. All are serious problems that shouldn't exist.
and it was viscerally demonstrated with multiple train crashes occurring during the period the unions were threatening to strike.
When someone says that sick days weren't a major strike demand and falsely claim without any evidence that safety was the biggest issue, it isn't splitting hairs to ask for proof. If the distinctions don't matter, then makes no sense to complain about safety vs sick leave.
Which train crashes are you referring to?
No, their largest complaints were sick days and a brutal scheduling policy. That's what I remember from looking into this at the time, and what I'm finding looking into it now too.
Can you show me where getting 7 sick days per year was what the unions were looking for?
The railroad guys got dealt a realllllllllly shitty hand with that one.
Nope, he got them their sick days. He kept the pressure on even after imposing the contract. Directly from the IBEW union:
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
Yeah...
Biden isn't pro union. He's pro-re-election.
I'm glad he's going out there to support the workers. But let's not look past the fact that Biden forced the rail union to get fucked in the ass.
I'm totally OK with pro-re-election as long as he sees the direction the winds are blowing. They aren't blowing towards conservatism or neo-liberal economic policy, even if that's where he stands. Meanwhile most of the republican candidates in the primary are saying how greedy the workers are... I'll take Biden. He's not my first choice, and I don't even like his political position on almost anything, but he is doing far better than I expected.
The day after the general election the direction of those winds will change, they always do
I doubt it. Biden is nothing if not a party man. I'm certain he wants his legacy to be that he brought the democratic party into new strength. He'll accomplish that by pushing for more progressive policy that actually helps people. Will he fully go against corporate interest over people? Of course not. He won't be as bad as you're implying though.
He's doing the same thing Obama did in his third year, sounding progressive as hell with lots of populous talk, gets reelected and turns full on corporate owned neolib.
Biden was pushing for unions before the current pro-union zeitgeist bubbled up, which I think started with the first Starbucks successfully unionizing at the end of 2022. The CHIPS act and IRA both required recipients to employ unionized labor.
First Starbucks unionization in that movement was Dec 2021, not end of 2022.
I might actually vote for him if he does this
Otherwise what, you're voting for Trump?
Nah not voting for Biden. It doesn't matter anyway. Blue state and all that
Vote anyways, dude. If you're in a blue state, it's probably super easy, barely an inconvenience.
What about the down ballot races? And honestly, your choice is trump or no trump. Not voting for Biden is pretty close to accepting fascism because you didn't get your perfect candidate.
Lol. I consider Biden the accelerationist choice.
That would be trump
Interesting I hadn't considered that