Chamber of Commerce Observes Impact of Biden Policies on Economy

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce blamed the Biden administration for the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike on Friday, saying its pro-union policies caused nearly 13,000 workers to walk off the job at midnight.

Suzanne Clark, president and CEO of the chamber, said in a statement that the UAW’s decision to strike “will have far-reaching negative consequences for our economy, for the American workers directly employed by the Detroit Three” and for “their suppliers and dealers,” as well as thousands of small businesses and families whose livelihoods will be threatened.

“The UAW strike and indeed the ‘summer of strikes’ is the natural result of the Biden administration’s ‘whole of government’ approach to promoting unionization at all costs,” Clark said. “For the 94% of American private sector workers not in a union, the costs are starting to stack up — from increasing consumer costs — now for new cars — to sudden loss in business for those in related industries like auto suppliers, restaurants and caterers whose customers are now on strike.”

“As we have seen in new and proposed rules, it is no wonder unions feel emboldened when they see the Biden administration declaring that unions don’t actually have to win an election to be recognized, that those in management should be muzzled if they oppose unionization, and that preference for government grants and tax credits will go to shops that are unionized,” she added.

The UAW launched simultaneous strikes at three factories owned by Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent company Stellantis at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday after contract negotiations broke down. The union’s demands include increased pay and benefits, as well as stronger job security.

President Joe Biden has promoted himself as the most pro-union president in history, telling union workers at a Philadelphia campaign rally in June that they would be at “the center” of a “transformation” that has “the power to transform this country for the next five decades.”

“In 10 years, America’s going to look around and say, ‘My God, look what we did. Look at the nation’s roads, bridges, airports and all the investments,’ ” Biden said at the time.

While the president is aggressively pushing electric vehicles, and pouring billions into federal subsidies to increase sales, the shift could jeopardize combustion powertrain jobs and the UAW has reportedly not endorsed his reelection campaign.

On Friday, Biden’s likely opponent and the current GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, panned the shift to electric vehicles, calling it a job-killer for the UAW.

Biden will address the strike later on Friday, the White House said.