President Biden, Trump Planning To Visit Detroit Area Amid UAW Strike

DETROIT — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are planning to visit the metro Detroit this week to speak to striking United Auto Workers.

Biden, a Democrat, is expected to speak in support of the union Tuesday, but the specifics on where he will be talking are not yet known. Trump, A Republican, will speak to striking autoworkers at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Drake Enterprises in Clinton Township.

Biden is running for re-election in 2024 and could face Trump, who as of Monday was the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain invited Biden to speak to the workers on its picket lines, but blasted Trump's planned visit to the area.

"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."

The visits come after the United Auto Workers expanded the strike Friday to include 38 parts and distribution factories at General Motors and Stellantis in the U.S. The move came after Fain said the union made "real progress" in its talks with Ford Motor Company.

Fain said the automaker has agreed to several key demands proposed by the union, including pay, cost of living, profit sharing, job security as well as the right to strike over plant closures. No additional Ford facilities were asked to join the strike.

The historic UAW strike against Detroit's Big Three began on Sept. 8 after the union's contract expired without a new one in place. It's the first time ever the union launched a strike against all three automakers at the same time.

Roughly 13,000 UAW workers initially walked off the job at three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri as part of what Fain called the "Stand Up Strike," which is a strategy to target specific plants. As of Monday morning, those workers were still on strike.

The union is calling on the automakers for a 46 percent wage increase and a 32-hour workweek for its members. The union also wants to eliminate the wage tiered system, restore cost of living adjustments, end temporary workers after 90 days and increase multiple retiree benefits.

Ford, General Motors and Stellantis have offered the union multiple proposals that included a 10 percent wage increase from GM, a 14.5 percent increase from Stellantis and Ford's 9 percent increase and a 6 percent lump sum added after. The union rejected all proposals.