Biden Celebrates Growing Economy, Successful Auto Strike

“Wow. What a great week for the economy. The Oct jobs report was as good as it gets,” former John McCain economic adviser Mark Zandi wrote on Twitter on Nov. 3. 150,000 jobs were added, along with 4.7% productivity growth for the third quarter of 2023.

“Resilient, but moderating job growth, and easing wage pressures,” the chief economist at Moody Analytics added. “And with oil prices back down to near $80/barrel, 10-yr T-yields close to 4.5%, and stocks showing lots of green, it’s tough not to think there will be a soft landing,” meaning a decrease in inflation without a jump in unemployment or negative economic growth.

“Today’s report shows that Bidenomics is growing the economy from the middle out and the bottom up—not the top down,” President Biden said. Earlier in the week, he praised the tentative deal between the UAW and the big three automakers. “When they do well, everybody does well,” he said. “It’s a critical piece of worker power. And It’s showing how collective bargaining works by providing workers a seat at the table to honor their contribution to their employer’s success by securing pay and benefits they can raise a family on and retire with dignity and respect.”

Earlier in the strike, in September, Biden became the first president in history to walk the line with striking workers.

In contrast, the next day former president Trump spoke to a group of non-union workers, calling the strike, “useless” because “You’re striking for wages, but your jobs are only going to be here for another two or three years, if you’re lucky.” Trump also attacked UAW President Sean Fain, saying “I think he’s not doing a good job representing the union.”

But the announced agreement says otherwise. Fain and his negotiators won 25% wage increases, and benefits such as cost-of-living adjustments that raise the top wage to more than $42 an hour, including an increase to 70% for starting wages to over $30 an hour, CNBC reported. Under the agreement, temporary workers will be allowed to gain permanent status within 90 days and can rise to the top of the wage scale in just three years. The divisive old two-tier wage system is gone.

Not only that, the UAW strike had an immediate spill-over effect, Biden economic adviser Gene Sperling noted on MSNBC. “Just this week, just a few days after, Toyota raised wages, non-union Toyota raised wages 9% and cut the time you get to the top rate in half. So if you wanted a visceral, clear evidence that when unions do well, they truly build the middle class, you have it,” Sperling said, “And I don’t know what the conservative argument is against the Biden strategy to have an auto future made in America now.”