UAW strike: Joe Biden, Donald Trump plan visits to Michigan this week
DETROIT (FOX 2) - As UAW workers continue striking this week, both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are planning visits to Michigan.
The president will be in Michigan on Tuesday to speak in support of the union, though the specifics of his visit haven't been released.
Trump will meet with about 500 workers when he visits Drake Enterprises, an auto supplier in Clinton Township, on Wednesday. The former president said he is skipping the second GOP debate for it.
Striking UAW members fight man outside Stellantis plant claiming he yelled racial slurs
The incident - caught on video as SkyFOX helicopter cameras were rolling - unfolded with the man stopping his SUV and getting into a verbal confrontation with a group of UAW members.
UAW President Shawn Fain has condemned Trump's visit.
"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain said. "We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class."
Right now, about 13% of UAW's membership is picketing after the union called on 38 additional plants to join the three facilities that have been striking since Sept. 15.
Workers at all GM and Stellantis parts distribution facilities were called to join the strike Friday after Fain said the automakers rejected union proposals and offered deficient cost of living adjustments.
'Unnecessary': GM, Stellantis slam UAW decision to expand strike to 38 more plants
General Motors and Stellantis slammed the UAW's decision to strike against more plants Friday, calling it unnecessary and refuting what the union said about the automakers' offers.
The union initially was asking for a 46% pay raise, a 32-hour work week with 40 hours of pay, the tier system removed, and restoration of traditional pensions for new hires, among other demands. However, the union said it is now willing to accept a pay raise percentage in the mid-30s.
No additional Ford workers were told to join the picket line because Fain said the company had made sufficient progress in negotiations.
Ford isn't there yet, though. Fain said there are still "significant gaps to close" before a deal is agreed upon by the union.