CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) if Biden should have done more before the UAW strike, and Sen. Sanders turned the tables.
Tapper asked Sanders if Biden should have done more before the strike, and he answered:
Well, President Biden gave a speech a couple of days ago in which he made the absolutely correct point, corporate profits for the automakers are storing and that they have got to use those profits to benefit their employees. And he has made the point many, many times that a strong labor movement benefits all of us. So I think, you know, the president has, has made it clear which side he is on in the struggle.
But I think, Jake to tell you the truth that all of us in this country have got to stand with the UAW now. They’re not just fighting the decent wages and benefits for automobile workers. They’re really standing up to the kind of corporate greed that is impacting tens and tens of millions of Americans and what they are really saying, they’re saying this to the big three. But I think that message has gotta go out all over corporate America. You people on top, you’ve never had it so good, more income and wealth inequality today than ever in the history of America. Richest people are becoming phenomenally richer, but 60% of American workers are living paycheck to paycheck. So UAW is standing up against corporate greed and I applaud them for what they are doing.
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Sen. Sanders was correct. This isn’t the time for the media’s blame Biden games. The UAW strike is about greed. Auto workers took a pay cut when the industry needed it most during the Great Recession. In the time since then, corporate profits have soared, executive wages have skyrocketed, and employees have been left behind.
Sanders pointed out that the starting wage for auto workers is now $17/hour. Some workers have been placed on permanent temp status and earn even less.
The strike is about workers being fairly compensated for their work, and the media blame Biden games for missing the point about what is really happening.