President Joe Biden on Tuesday joined a picket line with striking autoworkers in Michigan, supporting their call for a 40% pay raise and saying they deserve a “lot more” than they are getting.

Biden’s appearance, the first visit by a U.S. president to striking workers in modern history, comes a day before Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for president, will speak to auto workers in Michigan. The rare back-to-back events highlight the importance of union support in the 2024 presidential election, even though unions represent a tiny fraction of U.S. workers.

Democrat Biden traveled to a Belleville, Michigan, parts distribution center owned by General Motors (GM.N), and joined dozens of picketers outside. “Companies were in trouble, now they’re doing incredibly well. And guess what? You should be doing incredibly well, too,” Biden said through a bullhorn. “Stick with it.”

      • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        They are when it comes to wages.

        The federal minimum wage has been 7 bucks for fifteen years. Both sides have had a total majority with the presidency in that time frame.

        Literally the same.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            2 years ago

            I’m sorry guaranteeing healthcare for tens of millions of Americans with the 2 years they had government control wasn’t enough for you.

            … is it enough for you?

            • guacupado@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              You’re moving the goalpost. Is it enough? No. But there’s one party where it happened and another party that literally did everything they could against it. Both parties are definitely not the same.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                2 years ago

                I don’t think both parties are the same. I think they’re both bad and we’re fucked no matter who wins, but I can admit America will collapse slower under Democrats. I guess that’s preferable.

                I’m still voting for Cornell West. Nyaa nyaa~

        • youguys@lemmynsfw.com
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          2 years ago

          Democrats had it for 2 years in the past 20+ years…not the fuckin same. Republicans had it for 14 years. Anything Barack tried to do was shit on for 6 years of his presidency by Congress and his first two years he had he got a lot done, not to mention that he did actually raise the minimum wage for federal workers in 2014 by executive order because that’s the only way anything could get changed when the dumb ass party had control. https://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/news/economy/obama-executive-order-minimum-wage/index.html

        • Fraylor@lemm.ee
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          2 years ago

          Whew, good thing we are able to make such broad sweeping generalized comparisons based on a single issue.

    • Roboticide@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Our state GOP was totally hijacked by MAGA radicals and now answers to Karamo, who’s an utter nut job and die-hard Trump loyalist.

      But they’ve gone so far a lot of moderate Republicans feel alienated and with our new balanced voting districts Democrats will probably secure victory for the foreseeable future. It still will be a tight race, but I would not be surprised if Biden’s margin in 2024 is bigger in Michigan than it was in 2020.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      Biden had a majority for two years and did jack shit on pay.

      Can’t really blame them for being angry.

      • BolexForSoup@kbin.social
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        2 years ago

        You can’t pass a minimum wage increase with a 50-50 senate. It’s literally not possible.

          • BolexForSoup@kbin.social
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            2 years ago

            You can’t do it without 60 votes in the senate. There’s nothing to try. Hence why the last time was ‘09 when democrats had a super majority in the senate. 0 republicans will vote for it, right now he’d need 9.

            Democrats have seen far more success raising the minimum wage at state and municipal levels. I would rather federal as well, but ultimately as long as people are getting a higher minimum wage, it’s the same effect.

          • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            Do you guys not get any civil education on how bills get passed? Why are you commenting on political threads without a foundational understanding of how legislation works?