Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized President Biden’s advice to striking UAW autoworkers during his visit to the picket line on Tuesday, when he supported their demands for a 40% pay hike and a shorter work week.
It is a “sure way to drive GM, Ford and Chrysler bankrupt in the fast lane” Musk posted on X. His remarks came on the 12th day of tense discussions between the UAW workers and the three U.S. auto manufacturers.
Biden, in a union baseball cap, told striking autoworkers from a bullhorn in Belleville, Michigan, yesterday to “stick with it” while also saying they deserve a “significant raise and other benefits.”
When asked if UAW members deserved a 40% raise, Biden said, “Yes. I think they should be able to bargain for that.”
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Meanwhile, the White House has said they are “not going to get into negotiations,” while adding Biden is “always going to stand on the side of the workers.”
In addition to pay increases, strikers want workers at Ford, GM and Stellantis to get cost-of-living adjustments, increases in pension benefits for current retirees and restoring pensions for new hires.
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Former President Trump is expected to visit the UAW strikers in Michigan Wednesday despite UAW head Shawn Fain’s advice to stay away.
Speaking on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” Fain denounced this visit and insisted that he sees no point in meeting with a servant of the “billionaire class.”
FOX Business reporters Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.