Biden to Take Victory Lap on Ports Deal as UAW Strike Looms

President Joe Biden will celebrate a labor deal for port workers at the White House on Wednesday, a bid to showcase his support for unions even as another contract dispute involving the auto industry threatens to rattle the US economy and upend supply chains.

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden will celebrate a labor deal for port workers at the White House on Wednesday, a bid to showcase his support for unions even as another contract dispute involving the auto industry threatens to rattle the US economy and upend supply chains.

Biden will welcome the leaders of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association to congratulate them on the successful negotiations that led to a six-year labor contract that covers cargo handling operations at 29 ports up and down the US West Coast, according to a White House official.

Biden intends to use the event to underscore the administration’s efforts to empower American workers and strengthen US supply chains, citing it as an example of his economic agenda, known as Bidenomics, at work.

It’s the latest effort from the White House to repair Biden’s ties with organized labor’s rank-and-file, a bloc of voters that will be crucial to his reelection hopes, but who are on edge because of high inflation and a softening job market.

The dispute between the ILWU, which covers around 20,000 dockworkers, and the PMA, which represents ocean carriers and terminal operators, dragged on for months and saw West Coast ports lose market share during the negotiations as shippers turned to East Coast and Gulf hubs to avoid potential disruptions.

The two sides announced they had reached a tentative contract in June after the intervention of acting Labor Secretary Julie Su. The union last week certified the results of an ILWU vote approving the contract.

Earlier: West Coast Dockworkers Ratify Labor Contract at Major US Ports

Biden regularly calls himself the most pro-union president in American history, touting his support for organized labor and policies he says are creating jobs and bringing workers higher wages.

While that’s won him the support of many labor leaders, and the endorsement of the AFL-CIO federation and other unions, the president has struggled to win over rank-and-file union workers. More broadly, his messaging blitz on the economy and a spate of positive data in recent months has failed to reverse the poor marks voters give him for his handling of the issue.

The ports agreement is one of a number of labor deals that have seen Biden avoid the potential for economically crippling work stoppages, including for freight-rail workers and an agreement between United Parcel Service Inc. and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Talks involving the United Auto Workers and Detroit’s legacy automakers are proving to be the most contentious yet. The UAW’s 150,000 members are threatening a strike against General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV, which makes the Jeep and Chrysler brands, if a deal is not reached by a Sept. 14 deadline.

Earlier: What’s at Stake as US Auto Workers Threaten to Strike: QuickTake

Biden’s signature effort to transition the US to electric vehicles is also a factor in the negotiations, with the wages and benefits of workers in EV battery plants and whether the UAW can represent them a major obstacle.

The UAW endorsed Biden in 2020 but has yet to support his reelection campaign, with union President Shawn Fain saying Democrats need to do more to support autoworkers

A halt in production from a UAW strike threatens to put pressure on vehicle inventories already low because of pandemic-related parts shortages and drive up car prices. A strike by hourly workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis would cause an economic loss of more than $5 billion after just 10 days, according to a study by Anderson Economic Group.

Biden on Monday traveled to Philadelphia for Labor Day, delivering a speech at a union hall where he contrasted his policies with those of former President Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner.

Trump has urged the UAW to endorse him, saying Biden’s EV agenda will cost American jobs and saddle consumers with higher prices.

Biden told reporters Monday he did not think the UAW’s threatened strike would happen. Asked about those remarks on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was merely expressing optimism that a deal would be reached.

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