President Biden meets with strikers on UAW picket line

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — President Joe Biden is standing alongside United Auto Worker picketers Tuesday on the 12th day of their strike against the Big Three automakers.

“You deserve the significant raise you need,” Biden said through a bullhorn while wearing a union baseball cap after arriving at the GM Willow Run Redistribution Center in Belleville.

Biden’s visit comes one day before presidential candidate Donald Trump comes to Michigan. Trump’s visit will be much different because UAW union leaders said he was not welcome on any of their picket lines.

He walked along the picket line, exchanging fist bumps with grinning workers.

He encouraged them to continue fighting for better wages despite concerns that a prolonged strike could damage the economy, saying “stick with it.”

He said “yes” when asked if UAW members deserved a 40% raise, one of the demands that the union has made.

He was joined by UAW President Shawn Fain, who rode with him in the presidential limousine to the picket line.

“Thank you, Mr. President, for coming to stand up with us in our generation-defining moment,” said Fain, who described the union as engaged in a “kind of war” against “corporate greed.”

“We do the heavy lifting. We do the real work,” Fein said. “Not the CEOs.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.