US auto workers strike: Biden says record corporate profits should mean record contracts for UAW

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke briefly from the White House after about 13,000 U.S. auto workers stopped making vehicles and went on strike Friday when their leaders couldn’t bridge a giant gap between union demands in contract talks and what Detroit’s three automakers are willing to pay.

"No one wants a strike. But I respect workers' rights to use their options in the collective bargaining system," the president said on Friday. "They deserve a contract that sustains them in the middle class," he added.

The president said he believes record corporate profits should translate into record contracts for the UAW and hoped the two parties would return the the negotiating table.

Members of the United Auto Workers union began picketing at a General Motors assembly plant in Wentzville, Missouri; a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, near Detroit; and a Stellantis Jeep plant in Toledo, Ohio.

It was the first time in the union’s 88-year history that it walked out on all three companies simultaneously as four-year contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/9963063/uaw-strike/
Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews #UAWstirke #UAW