From establishment types to progressives, Democrats are coming out in droves to support UAW workers after the country’s largest auto union began a historic strike.

About 13,000 UAW auto workers at factories in Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio began striking on Friday after contract negotiations reached a stalemate. The union, which represents some 150,000 workers with General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the company that took over Chrysler’s operations, marks the first work stoppage involving all three automakers.

UAW ANNOUNCES HISTORIC AUTO STRIKE AFTER NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUTOMAKERS FALTER

“It’s time to decide what side you’re on,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), a staunch progressive, said in a statement on the strike. “Are you on the side of the ‘Big Three’ CEOs who made a combined $74 million last year, and are now claiming they can’t afford to pay their workers? Or are you on the side of the UAW workers who bust their ass every day, the people who build the American cars and trucks we Pennsylvanians drive?

“I know which side I’m on,” he added. “As long as these brave workers continue to walk the picket line, my entire team and I will have their backs. We will support them any way we can until they reach a fair deal.”

It wasn’t just progressives like Fetterman and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who spoke out in defense of the striking workers. Leaders in the party establishment ranging from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) defended the union and called on the automakers to reach an agreement that is fair to workers.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Fetterman’s home-state colleague who is up for reelection next year, also issued a wholehearted defense of the striking workers. Casey noted in a Friday statement that, “When the auto industry was struggling, UAW members voluntarily reduced their benefits to help these companies survive, and when the industry collapsed during the financial crisis, taxpayers bailed them out.

“Now as business is booming, profits are sky-high, and CEOs are being rewarded with double-digit raises — suddenly the Big 3 are claiming that the well has dried up,” he continued. “Striking is always a last resort for workers, who risk losing their health care and may never make up the wages lost. I stand in solidarity with the United Auto Workers as they fight for their fair share. I urge the Big 3 to come to the table with offers that reflect what these workers deserve.”

Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) were among the Democrats who took a more personal tone, sharing stories of family members’ experiences on assembly lines while promoting their solidarity.

Some House and Senate lawmakers were on the picket lines outside factories across the country on Friday.

Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) were both on hand in Wayne, Michigan, while Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who is also up for reelection, was spotted with picketers outside a factory in Toledo, Ohio. Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, took part in a Friday afternoon rally alongside UAW President Shawn Fain in Detroit, Michigan, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) stopped by a picket line at a factory in her home state.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is running for the retiring Stabenow’s seat, was also on the picket lines in Wayne on Friday, as were Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Haley Stevens (D-MI), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

Jeremy Wadsworth/AP

The broad party support is not entirely surprising given Democrats’ decades-long union ties.

Even President Joe Biden, a longtime union advocate, urged automakers to recognize that their “record profits” in recent years came “because of the extraordinary skill and sacrifices the UAW workers” while addressing the strike on Friday.

“Let’s be clear: No one wants a strike. Say it again: No one wants a strike,” he said, trying to convey a balanced message. “But I respect the workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system, and I understand the workers’ frustration.”

The last time UAW went on strike, a six-week stoppage against General Motors in 2019, it cost the auto giant some $3.6 billion, and Michigan, home to many GM workers, experienced a recession during that quarter.

But this time is a bit different.

This strike is the first work stoppage to involve all three Detroit automakers. Fain also said the stoppages would be strategic, targeting one major plant each of GM, Ford, and Stellantis. That means that it could drag on longer than other strikes and gives the union leverage to keep adding pressure by shutting down additional factories.

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Even if workers were to grow wary of the economic consequences, Democrats appear ready to stay in their corner for as long as necessary.

“Solidarity forever,” as Fetterman put it.

Zachary Halaschak contributed to this report.