In interviews with E&E News, striking auto workers have expressed grave concerns about the impact of Biden’s EV mandates on their jobs and the American auto industry as a whole.
Whitney Walch, a 28-year-old worker at Stellantis’ Portland Parts Distribution Center in Oregon, fears that the rise of EVs will render their jobs obsolete: “If we don’t have all those parts, I feel like we don’t have a lot to do.” Similarly, 37-year-old DeJhon Moore, who works at Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant, is skeptical of EVs and prefers traditional gasoline-powered cars. “I don’t trust [EVs] to drive long distances,” Moore said, “I’d rather just do the regular, go get some fuel, and go about my day.”
In Roanoke, Texas, concerns about job security are at the forefront for UAW President Shawn Fain and the workers at GM’s distribution warehouse. The fear of job losses due to the rise of EVs is almost inevitable, according to 49-year-old Cornelius Lincoln. These fears are compounded by the fact that China currently controls a vast majority of the world’s lithium, manganese, cobalt, graphite, and nickel, which are all essential materials for EV production.
Despite Biden’s recent visit to striking auto workers, in which he failed to mention his EV agenda, the workers remain unconvinced. Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, spoke to auto workers in Michigan last month and warned them of the significant impact Biden’s policies will have on their jobs. “You can be loyal to American labor, or you can be loyal to the environmental lunatics, but you can’t really be loyal to both,” Trump declared. “Joe is siding with the left-wing crazies who will destroy automobile manufacturing…I side with the workers of America.”
OUR DEFINING MOMENT.
A new industry is being born. New standards are being set.
It's not just about Lordstown.
Everywhere, our message is the same: Our country deserves good, safe, living-wage union jobs.
It's time to build an EV industry that puts workers first.#UAW pic.twitter.com/cNB6ujxR99
— UAW (@UAW) July 5, 2023
It is clear that Biden’s green agenda, particularly his EV mandates, will have devastating consequences for the American auto industry and its workers. The ongoing strike serves as a stark reminder that these policies put the livelihoods of hard-working Americans at risk. As Trump warned, there is no way to be loyal to both American labor and the environmental agenda. Biden must choose wisely, or risk alienating the very people he promised to protect and support. The future of the American auto industry and its workers depend on it.
What a bunch of. dumb asses. Their union operating with rank and file dues money supports the democrat cabal that is doing in the membership. A serious level of stupid to put it mildly.
Automate More jobs
Go Hi Tech
X train workers
They are getting the results of their vote for the Biden administration. Now they deserve to reap what they so ignorantly sowed.