WAYNE, Mich. (WXYZ) — According to sources familiar with negotiations, talks between the United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Co. remain "very active."
UAW negotiators spent the day at Ford headquarters, which has seen the most engagement and seriousness among the Big Three.
The talks happened on a day the White House and the UAW called historic. For the first time, a sitting U.S. president stood on the picket line in the midst of a strike, showing support for union workers.
“You deserve what you've earned and you earned a hell of a lot more than what your getting paid right now,” President Joe Biden told the crowd outside General Motor’s Willow Run Redistribution Center in Van Buren Township.
The trip was an invite from UAW President Shawn Fain, who sources say had a good conversation with the president during their drive from the airport to the picket line. Fain met Biden on the tarmac at Detroit metro airport, along with other politicians like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib.
“I shared with him a number of stories I've heard from my residents about understanding the importance of what they’re asking for,” Tlaib said.
According to reporters on the trip, Biden also expressed support for the UAW’s 40% wage increase demand. It’s unclear how much his support would actually sway negotiations.
“The impact is really more on the workers,” Tlaib said. “They know not only a sitting president — and this is the most important person in our country and in the world — said I’m going to take time, fly out to Michigan and stand here with you all.”
This visit comes roughly 24 hours before a visit from former President Donald Trump, who’s expected in Michigan Wednesday. Trump’s campaign says his rally will be for UAW members.
“I find a pathetic irony that the former president is going to hold a rally for union members at a non-union business,” Fain said during an interview with CNN.
During the interview, Fain called out Trump for not joining the GM strike in 2019 during his presidency and says the union has not spoken to Trump’s campaign about the rally and doesn’t intend to.
“I see no point in meeting with him because I don't think the man has any bit of care for what our workers care for, for what the working class stands for,” Fain said. “He serves the billionaire class and that’s what’s wrong with this country.”
Trump is expected to speak at his rally Wednesday in Clinton Township at 8 p.m. His visit also falls on the same night at roughly the same time as the Republican presidential debate.
