Biden met with auto union president ahead of potential strike, White House official says
President Joe Biden met briefly with a top auto union chief Wednesday, a White House official tells CNN, as talks between the United Auto Workers and the Big Three US automakers continue ahead of a potentially damaging strike.
UAW leadership was at the White House for a meeting to brief senior staff on their positions Wednesday in the West Wing. Biden got wind of the meeting and asked to meet directly with the union’s president, Shawn Fain, who has previously called out the administration on its support for electric vehicles.
The three contracts between the UAW and General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis are due to expire September 14, and a strike could have massive economic – and political – consequences. But all three automakers have separate contracts and it isn’t necessarily likely that all three would face a strike at the same time. Typically, the union strikes only one or at most two automakers during each contract round, if any at all.
It comes as the Teamsters union has asked the White House not to get involved in its negotiations with UPS ahead of a looming strike deadline later this month. Taken together, the strikes pose a new threat to the economy as Biden seeks to highlight job growth, rising wages and easing fears of a recession.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-met-auto-union-president-132735256.html