1 year ago
President Joe Biden and United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain are scheduled to meet in Illinois on Thursday, the White House said, the latest show of unity between the president and the union, though it has so far held off endorsing his reelection.
The White House said Tuesday that the meeting will take place in Belvidere, where Stellantis agreed to reopen a stalled plant and add additional jobs as part of the tentative contract deal between the UAW and the company late last month.
The UAW also has tentative deals with General Motors and Ford.
Biden showed historic support for the UAW and its demands during the union’s six-week strike, which ended last week pending ratification of the contract offers by autoworkers. Still, the UAW has yet to endorse Biden, making it something of an outlier among the biggest labor unions.
In Illinois, Biden will deliver remarks touting gains in the deals the UAW won, as well as his economic and pro-union policies, according to the White House. He will also meet with other UAW members and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the White House said.
A spokesperson for Stellantis declined to comment on the White House’s announcement.
Biden made history as the first sitting president to join workers at the picket line, when he stood alongside striking UAW members and Fain in September. Biden took a particular interest in the shuttering of the Belvidere plant, and in June met with the head of Illinois-based UAW Local 1268, which represents the plant, POLITICO previously reported.
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