President Biden enjoyed a hero’s reception at a recently reopened Stellantis factory in Belvidere, Ill., Thursday.
The president was visiting autoworkers to celebrate a hard-fought and historically lucrative contract with the Detroit automaker that included 25% pay gains, cost-of-living increases, salary floors, bonus payments, more paid leave — even access to a car lease program normally available only to management.
“I want this type of contract for all autoworkers,” Biden told the crowd, shortly after taking the stage and swapping his suit coat for a red United Auto Workers T-shirt. “The future of the automobile industry will be made in America by American union workers.”
One of the biggest wins to come from the union’s nearly six-week-long strike against Stellantis was the reopening of the Belvidere assembly plant the company idled earlier this year after nearly six decades, terminating 1,200 jobs. As part of its contract negotiations, the UAW secured a $5 billion investment to reopen the plant as a state-of-the-art battery factory for electric vehicles and parts distribution center.
On Thursday, Biden reiterated what he repeatedly called for during the UAW strike against Stellantis, Ford and General Motors. “When a company transitions to a new technology, they should retool, reboot and rehire in the same factories with the same workers in the same community that existed there before,” he said. “That’s what you made happen in Belvidere. And it should happen all across America.”
In June, just prior to the UAW entering contract negotiations with the Big Three Detroit automakers, Biden said he met with the president of the union chapter that represented the Belvidere workers.
“He told me how critical it was to get that plant up and online again, so I told my team, ‘Make Belvidere a priority.’”
Biden credited Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and Senior Advisor to the President Gene Sperling with helping to support the UAW’s negotiations with the Big Three. He also praised the UAW for “fighting like hell” and Stellantis, Ford and General Motors for negotiating in good faith and rewarding all workers.
When a member of the crowd yelled, “that shirt looks good,” Biden immediately quipped, “I’ve worn this shirt a lot, man. You have no idea. I’ve been involved in UAW longer than you were alive.”
Biden, 80, said the UAW was the first organization to endorse him as a 29-year-old running for U.S. Senate.
Biden’s factory visit was the latest signal of his enduring support for unions, burnishing his reputation as the most pro-labor president in modern history as he seeks re-election. In September, Biden became the first U.S. president to join a picket line when he walked with striking workers at General Motors’ Willow Run parts distribution center in Michigan.
Like Stellantis, GM and Ford have also agreed to record contracts with UAW workers within the last two weeks.
Biden called the UAW deals a “harbinger” that helped usher in the end of the four-month-old Screen Actors Guild strike Wednesday night.
“These deals are game changers, not only for UAW workers, but for all workers in America,” he said of the UAW contracts. “You’re changing the face of the country economically.”