Re: This week in stupid old man Bidenomics: The risks of picketing

[Union Welfare]

Rafael Eduardo Cruz <now...@protonmail.com> wrote in
news:u393u8$3h6ga$1...@dont-email.me:

> Put this old bastard in a home and lock the door.

At first it was historic.

Then, meh.

When Joe Biden visited striking auto workers in Michigan on Sept. 26, he
was the first US president ever to walk a picket line. He spoke for just
one minute through a bullhorn, and stayed for about 15, before flying to a
campaign fundraiser in California. But he did something unprecedented by
siding with striking workers against their corporate bosses, which
presidents normally don’t do.

Biden probably went to Michigan because Donald Trump said he was going.
The former president announced his visit first, as counter-programming to
the Sept. 27 Republican debate, which Trump skipped. Biden arrived a day
before Trump, however, which took some of the novelty away from Trump’s
Michigan appearance.

It’s no secret why the two most likely 2024 general election candidates
are wooing blue-collar workers in Michigan. As in 2020, Michigan and
nearby Wisconsin are likely to be crucial swing states in 2024—and union
workers could be the swing voters who tip each state blue or red. Biden
flipped both states in 2020, winning Michigan by 2.8 percentage points and
Wisconsin by a scant 0.6 points. But since Trump won both states in 2016,
they’re both considered up for grabs in 2024.

In 2016, Trump did better with unions than Republicans normally do,
winning 43% of the vote from households with a union member. Hillary
Clinton got 51%. Biden improved on Clinton, pulling 56% of the union vote
in 2020. Trump dropped back to 40%, the same as Mitt Romney in 2012.
Drawing some union voters back from Trump was an important factor in
Biden’s 2020 win.

Biden obviously wants to keep it that way, which explains his break with
establishment norms and his appearance at a picket line outside a General
Motors plant. Trump may have done himself no favors by visiting Michigan.
Instead of addressing striking workers, he gave a speech at a non-union
shop, trashing the leadership of the United Auto Workers and predicting
doom for the whole industry if Biden gets reelected. Trump’s main reason
for showing up was the usual—to complain. The UAW endorsed Biden in 2020,
and of course Trump is sore about it. One thing Trump didn’t do in
Michigan: Side with the striking workers.

Biden took some new risks, however. By backing the striking workers’
demands, he put himself in a win or lose position, based on the outcome of
the strike. If the workers get more or less what they want—a 46% pay
raise, better status for younger workers and more unionized jobs at green-
energy plants—it will be a win for Biden as well.

But there are two losing scenarios for Biden: One is that the workers
don’t get a satisfying deal, which would make him look like an insincere
cheerleader who didn’t use his political muscle to actually help workers.
The other is a strike that lasts for months, causing shortages of cars and
higher prices just as the car market is stabilizing after deep COVID-era
disruptions.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/this-week-in-bidenomics-the-risks-of-
picketing-180147432.html