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Transcript/ScriptBIDEN-UAW STRIKE (TV)
HEADLINE: In a First for a US President, Biden Joins Auto Worker Picket Line
TEASER: ‘Stick with it,’ Biden encourages striking US auto workers, becoming first known US president to join picket line
PUBLISHED: 9/26/2023 at 7:58 pm
BYLINE: Anita Powell
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER: AP, AFP, Zoom
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Aru Pande, Sharon Shahid, David J (bal),
VIDEO SOURCE (S): AP, AFP, Zoom
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:53
VID APPROVED BY: mia
TYPE:
EDS: Web incoming))
((INTRO:))
[[President Joe Biden on Tuesday became the first known sitting U.S. president to join a labor strike, standing with auto workers in Michigan as they campaign for a 40 percent pay raise and a 32-hour work week. But can the top government employee move the top three American automakers? VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington. ]]
((Wide of UAW picket line AP-4455405))
((NARRATOR))
Unions, President Joe Biden likes to say, built America.
On Tuesday, he became the first sitting U.S. president on a a picket line, joining striking workers in the Detroit suburbs as they entered Week 2 of their walkout seeking higher pay, a shorter workweek and other changes from the nation’s top three automakers.
Biden has been careful to not say which terms he backs, saying instead that he supports workers’ rights.
((U.S. President Joe Biden))
“Folks, stick with it, because you deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits. Let's get back what we lost, OK? We stepped up for them. Now it’s time they stepped up for us."
((NARRATOR))
The president of the powerful United Auto Workers union — which endorsed Biden’s presidential run in 2020 but hasn’t yet done the same for his 2024 bid — thanked him.
((Voice of Shawn Fain, United Auto Workers President))
“Thank you, Mr. President, for coming ... to stand up with us in our generation's defining moment. ...Thank you for being part of this fight. “
((NARRATOR))
The union claims more than 400,000 members. Many point to the sharp rise in company profits and CEO pay, but also the much smaller rise in worker pay.
At a march last week, one worker said this strike is about much more than terms. It’s about how Americans think about work and corporate compensation.
((Yolanda Downs, UAW Member))
“I want the levels to be balanced. I want everyone to make a good living and a fair living. If I’m working on one side of the line and I’m making $30, and the person across from me is making $15 an hour, how is that fair?”
((NARRATOR))
General Motors, the largest of the Big Three automakers, avoided any direct comment on Biden’s appearance but issued a statement saying, “Our focus is not on politics but continues to be on bargaining in good faith with the UAW leadership to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Political science professor Susan Kang says Biden’s decision to stand with workers is significant. But can he tip the balance of negotiations?
((Susan Kang, John Jay College of Criminal Justice)) ((Mandatory courtesy: Zoom))
“Probably not, because there's a lot of things going on in the specifics of the negotiations. But he can shift the political support. We already have an overwhelming amount of support from the public for the strike. And I think this is going to further legitimize the position of the striking workers.”
((NARRATOR))
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump plans to rally at a non-union plant near Detroit on Wednesday, instead of participating in the second presidential primary debate that day.
In a statement, he dismissed Biden’s Detroit trip as a “PR stunt.”
Kang says many older politicians may be missing a broader movement among millennial workers.
((Susan Kang, John Jay College of Criminal Justice)) ((Mandatory courtesy: Zoom))
“I think that there's a wave, a tide, towards greater intolerance of deep socioeconomic inequality that really has sort of characterized my lifetime.”
((NARRATOR))
But as Biden and Trump know, the pictures often tell a story of their own. Here is the top U.S. government worker saying, without needing to say a word, that something needs to change.
((Anita Powell, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Washington D. C.
Embargo DateSeptember 26, 2023 19:25 EDT
BylineAnita Powell, VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
