The head of the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union likened major U.S. automakers to the Axis powers, during a rally with President Biden in attendance Tuesday.
UAW President Shawn Fain noted during the speech that autoworkers played a role in the American and allied effort to defeat Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan in World War II. Fain added that, while the enemy was a foreign power in the 1940s, the enemy is now "corporate greed" in reference to the ongoing labor strike his union has pursued against Ford Motor Company, General Motors and Stellantis.
"Today, 80 years later, we find ourselves here again with the arsenal of democracy. It's a different kind of arsenal of democracy, and it's a different kind of war we are fighting," Fain remarked. "Today, the enemy isn't some foreign country miles away — it's right here in our own area. It's corporate greed."
"And the weapon we produce to fight that enemy is the liberators, the true liberators, it's the working class people — all of you working your butts off on the line to deliver great products for our companies," he continued. "That's how we are going to defeat these people, that's how we are going to defeat corporate greed. By standing together."
Fain delivered his remarks from the site of the former Willow Run manufacturing facility in Wayne County, Michigan, where Ford Motor Company built the B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft used during World War II.
Biden attended the UAW rally and picket line to show his support for the union's ongoing strike against the major automakers. During his brief remarks, the president said unions were the backbone of the U.S. economy.
"Wall Street didn't build the country. The middle class built the country. Unions built the middle class," Biden told the striking autoworkers. "I marched a lot of UAW picket lines when I was a senator since 1973. But I tell you what — first time I’ve ever done it in person."
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Earlier this month, the UAW unleashed its first-ever simultaneous strike against all three of the largest U.S. automakers over wages, a modified work week and pension benefits. The strike, which has since expanded to more factories, has already cost the economy roughly $1.6 billion, according to an analysis published by Anderson Economic Group.
Meanwhile, Biden's visit to the union workers Tuesday comes one day ahead of former President Donald Trump's expected visit to UAW picket line. Trump has argued that electric vehicle mandates should be scrapped and that they would cause economic devastation, job losses and decreases in wages.
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"I strongly urge the U.A.W. to make the complete and total repeal of Joe Biden’s insane Electric Vehicle mandate their top, non-negotiable demand in any strike," Trump said after UAW initiated the strike. "If that disastrous Biden policy is allowed to stand, the U.S. auto industry will cease to exist, and all your jobs will be sent to China."
"That’s why there’s no such thing as a ‘fair transition’ to all electric cars. For the American Autoworker, that’s a transition to Hell. Nothing is more important than terminating this job-crushing mandate."
The UAW and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Fox News Digital production assistant Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
