FILE - United Auto Workers members hold picket signs near a General Motors Assembly Plant in Delta Township, Mich., Sept. 29, 2023. . That's one of the findings in a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Chris Ross, a mechanical engineer from Oviedo, Florida, said he understands the workers' desire for more money to cope with inflation. However, he thinks they are paid better than similar workers in other industries, and he fears that the union’s demands will drive the carmakers’ costs too high as they face lower-cost rivals including non-union Tesla.
General sympathy for the workers also breaks along party lines. More than half of Democrats say they support the workers over the automakers, while only 22% of Republicans feel that way. A majority of Republicans say they support both equally, or neither. Barbara Tubbs, a retired caregiver from Dallas, said Biden's support for the strikers shows empathy for working-class people struggling to pay their bills.