Rep. Debbie Dingell criticizes Biden for getting involved in UAW strike

A leading Democratic player in the United Auto Workers strike negotiations criticized President Joe Biden for joining the picket line.

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), whose constituency includes many striking UAW workers, has been vocal about how she believes the Biden administration should handle the strike. The president’s move to join the picket line was not on her list of recommendations, as she made clear in an interview with Politico.

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“I do not believe he belongs at the bargaining table. I don’t think the strike is one that the government has a role to play in intervening,” she said.

However, she clarified that the president has generally been “very strong” in “showing he’s standing with the worker.”

One of the dangers of Biden showing up to the picket line, she continued, was taking attention away from the workers and the strike itself and shifting it to the 2024 election.

“But what I fear is in the last week … that this isn’t the presidential election between Biden and Trump … the focus needs to be on the worker and the companies and the auto industry,” Dingell said. “And that this is about the future of the domestic auto industry in this country, that competitiveness, and the worker that’s the backbone and the key to the success of this industry, and we should focus on the issues at the bargaining table, not this distraction of two presidential candidates.”

Instead of explicitly taking the side of one party in the strike, as Biden did, the government should instead be seeking to facilitate cooperation and understanding between the two, Dingell said.

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“We need to understand policy. Are they listening to each other? What kind of policies do you need for the transition? Yes, we can help make sure people are hearing what’s been said to each other,” she added.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Dingell for further comment.