A Raise for Auto Workers May Imperil Biden’s Electric Vehicle Ambitions

Published

2 years ago

October 4, 2023

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On September 25, Joe Biden made history as the first sitting president to walk a picket line when he joined striking members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) in Van Buren Township, Michigan.

Standing with UAW President Shawn Fain, Biden told the strikers through a bullhorn, “You deserve the significant raise you need and other benefits.” But a big raise for the UAW could very well come at the expense of one of Biden’s core campaign promises.

The strike began on September 15 when talks broke down between the UAW and the Big Three automakers (Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis). Among its demands, the union wants a 36-percent raise over four years, a 32-hour work week, and the reinstatement of pension and cost-of-living benefits that it gave up during the 2008 recession.

It also seeks protections as the industry transitions to a greater focus on electric vehicles (E.V.s), a central priority of Biden’s presidency. This year the Environmental Protection Administration adopted rules that would require 67 percent of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be electric. “The UAW supports and is ready for the transition to a clean auto industry,” Fain noted in August. “But the EV transition must be a just transition that ensures auto workers have a place in the new economy.” Tied to that transition, the UAW’s demands include the right to strike over plant closures and additional job protections in the event that plants shut down.

Autoworkers are right to be worried: According to a 2019 report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), traditional vehicles “have as many as 2,000 components in their powertrains,” and “of the nearly 590,000 U.S. employees engaged in motor vehicle parts manufacturing, about one-quarternearly 150,000make components for internal combustion powertrains.”

On the other hand, “an electric vehicle powertrain has only a few” components. “For example, Tesla has said its drivetrain has 17 moving parts, including two in the motor.” As a result, E.V.s require significantly fewer parts and therefore fewer man-hours to build: “Electric vehicle powertrains, if built domestically and not imported, would generate production employment,” the report noted, “but fewer employees may be needed than at present because vehicle battery packs have relatively few components and are less complicated to assemble than internal combustion engine powertrains.”

A July 2023 report from the America First Policy Institute, a think tank founded by former members of Donald Trump’s presidential administration, estimated that the Biden administration’s E.V. mandate would cost 117,000 auto industry jobs, nearly half of them from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana.

But the union’s demands may not be feasible at the industry’s current trajectory. The union is asking for more money and fewer hours as the industry transitions to E.V.s, but established companies are hemorrhaging money on the transition. After previously predicting that it may lose $3 billion this year on its E.V. division, Ford now anticipates a loss of as much as $4.5 billion. Last year, General Motors CEO Mary Barra told investors that the company didn’t expect to make a profit on E.V.s until 2025.

Notably, the companies are struggling even after receiving billions of dollars in government subsidies. Most recently, at the end of August, the Biden administration authorized an additional $12 billion in grants and loans for companies to upgrade and retrofit their facilities.

Ford CEO Jim Farley said the UAW’s proposals could send the automaker into bankruptcy, while Barra said they were not “realistic.” Dan Ives, research analyst for Wedbush Securities, said in a note to investors that the UAW’s demands, if fully accepted, could cause automakers “to pass these costs onto the consumer” by increasing E.V. prices by as much as $5,000 each.

By visiting an active picket line, Biden made his preference clear in the fight between unions and management. But depending on how the negotiations go, he may not be able to have it both ways: Either UAW members can get a big raise, or automakers can push forward in the transition to electric vehicles.

Politics

‘I wish I’d never met him’: Peter Mandelson ‘regrets’ association with Jeffrey Epstein

Published

5 mins ago

May 27, 2025

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'I wish I'd never met him': Peter Mandelson 'regrets' association with Jeffrey Epstein

Peter Mandelson, the UK ambassador to the United States, has told Sky News he “regrets” his association with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Lord Mandelson‘s links to the late billionaire were exposed in a 2019 report by JP Morgan bank, filed in a New York court.

Epstein killed himself in August of that year while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors.

He had previously served an 18-month sentence after pleading guilty to procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution.

Whilst serving that sentence, the JP Morgan report suggests that Mr Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s Manhattan flat.

Epstein wrote to his private banker on 17 June 2009: “Peter will be staying at 71st over weekend…”

At the time, Lord Mandelson was the Business Secretary in the UK government under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He was appointed UK ambassador to the United States in December 2024.

Sky News asked him if he did, indeed, stay at Epstein’s flat while the disgraced financier was in jail.

He replied: “I’m not answering any questions about him. My knowledge of him is something I regret, I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

Asked why he had an association with Epstein whilst he was in jail, Lord Mandelson replied: “Why did many people meet him? He was a prolific networker. And I wish I’d never met him in the first place.”

As US ambassador, Lord Mandelson represents Britain’s interests in Washington and has vowed to treat Donald Trump‘s administration with “respect, seriousness and understanding of where they are coming from politically”.

This comes after Lord Mandelson described the US president as a “danger to the world”, for which he apologised earlier this year.

He told the Alain Elkann Interviews podcast in 2019: “What Donald Trump represents and believes is an anathema to mainstream British opinion.”

Mr Mandelson added: “Even those who have a sneaking admiration for Donald Trump because of his personality, nonetheless regard him as reckless, and a danger to the world.”

But in January this year, Lord Mandelson said he now considered his remarks “as ill-judged and wrong”.

World

Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns – as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Published

5 mins ago

May 27, 2025

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Palestinians flock to Gaza aid centres despite concerns - as lawyers call for sanctions on Israel

Thousands of Palestinians have flocked to aid distribution sites in Gaza with desperation for food overcoming concerns over Israeli-enforced checks at the centres.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, said on Tuesday it had distributed around 8,000 food boxes, equivalent to about 462,000 meals – just a fraction of what is needed, aid agencies say.

The centres have opened as hundreds of legal professionals in the UK, including lawyers and former judges, accused Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes”.

Crowds including women and children could be seen at one centre in Rafah, southern Gaza, where people received packages including rice, flour, canned beans, pasta, olive oil, biscuits and sugar.

Witnesses in Rafah said Israeli gunfire was heard after desperate people broke fences to reach supplies.

The Israeli military said its forces did not direct aerial gunfire towards the centre, but rather fired warning shots in an area outside the hub.

In a statement, it said control over the situation had been established, with aid distribution to continue as planned.

Many Palestinians stayed away amid fears over Israel’s plan to use biometric screening procedures on those receiving vital food packages.

Israeli officials said one advantage of the new aid system is the chance to screen recipients to exclude anyone they say is connected with Hamas.

Humanitarian groups briefed on the plans say anyone receiving aid will have to submit to facial recognition technology – which many Palestinians fear will end up in Israeli hands to track and possibly target them.

Father-of-seven Abu Ahmed said: “As much as I want to go because I am hungry and my children are hungry, I am afraid.”

He continued: “I am so scared because they said the company [GHF] belongs to Israel and is a mercenary, and also because the resistance [Hamas] said not to go.”

UN boycotts aid foundation

Israel previously said its forces would not be involved in the distribution points but its endorsement of the plan, which resembles Israeli schemes floated previously, has led to many questioning the neutrality of GHF.

The United Nations and major international aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF – accusing it of undermining the principle that aid should be distributed based on need.

“Humanitarian assistance must not be politicised or militarised,” said Christian Cardon, chief spokesperson of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Ex-judges call for sanctions on Israel

Over 800 legal professionals – including former Supreme Court judges – have published an open letter calling for the UK to impose sanctions on Israel.

The letter says “genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide”. It continues: “War crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of international humanitarian law are being committed.”

Israel has consistently denied these accusations.

As a small flow of aid has arrived in Gaza after Israel’s months-long blockade, Israeli forces have kept up attacks on various targets in the territory.

Some 3,901 Palestinians have been killed since a ceasefire collapsed in mid-March, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

As the GHF centres opened on Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 36 people in a school-turned-shelter that was hit as people slept, according to local health officials.

Israel said it targeted militants operating from the school.

US