The United Auto Workers are striking all three of America’s major automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — simultaneously for the first time in history. The UAW boasts the sympathies of three-quarters of the U.S. public and can mobilize tens of thousands of voters in pivotal Electoral College battlegrounds.
This represents both a challenge and opportunity for the Republican Party. On the one hand, the UAW’s discontent could sap its support for the incumbent president. On the other hand, the conservative movement exists to help corporate managers quash challenges from below.
Some prominent Republicans have proven unable to suppress their contempt for organized labor long enough to stoke autoworkers’ skepticism of Biden. Asked about his views on the UAW strike, South Carolina senator (and doomed presidential candidate) Tim Scott replied, “I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike … He said, ‘You strike, you’re fired.’ Simple concept to me. To the extent that we can use that once again, absolutely.”
Of course, the president does not have the authority to fire striking private-sector workers. So unless Scott is calling on Biden to nationalize the Big Three, his remarks are a bit of non sequitur, conveying nothing save his solidarity with miserly corporate executives.
But other Republicans have navigated the issue with a bit more finesse. A wide array of GOP lawmakers have expressed sympathy for the UAW...
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