Listen to Sen. Bernie Sanders Visit Striking UAW Members On The Picket Line
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders walked the picket lines in front of General Motors’ Detroit – Hamtramck plant, praising striking United Auto Workers for taking a stand against what he calls “the 1 percent.”
Editor’s note: WDET reporters are members of the Professional and Administrative Union, Local 1979, UAW.
The UAW’s strike against GM is into its second week, as the two sides bargain over wages, health care and the use of temporary workers.
Sanders told dozens of UAW protesters he was appalled that the automaker had cut their health benefits in the midst of the strike.
He says workers deserve a fair share of the profits corporations like GM are earning.
Click on the player above to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders visit the UAW picket line.
“So all over this country working people are looking at you, at what you’re doing” Sanders said. “They’re looking at your courage, they’re proud of you standing up for justice. Because what is going on here is going on all over America.”
Sanders also warned the automaker that its conduct during the work stoppage could cost it far more than just lost production.
“If General Motors thinks that after they treat their workers like crap they’re gonna go to Washington and get huge federal contracts, they’ve got another guess coming. We want companies in this country to be decent corporate citizens, to treat their workers with respect and dignity,” he said.
GM officials countered in a statement that the company already provides UAW workers the highest total compensation of any U.S. automaker.
The ongoing strike has been a magnet for presidential contenders. In recent days Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar hit the picket line at the Hamtramck plant while Joe Biden walked with striking workers in Kansas.
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