President Joe Biden joined workers on the United Auto Workers picket line in September, the first time in living memory a sitting president has done so. | Evan Vucci/APThe pieces are lining up for President Joe Biden to lay claim to a victory for his pro-union stance as the second of Detroit’s Big Three car companies reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers on Saturday, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Details of the Stellantis-UAW deal weren’t immediately available, but they are expected to closely follow Ford’s, given the union’s past practice of using its first agreement as a pattern for the other companies. Ford agreed to a 25 percent wage increase for workers across the course of the contract, along with other salary concessions.
Biden is now closer than ever to turning the page on a major concern as he begins navigating shared governance with new House Speaker, just ahead of another deadline to fund the government. It eases the danger that unrest in the sprawling auto industry will be an economic drag as he makes his pitch for reelection.