Amid Increased Labor Strife, Are Democrats the 'Union Party?'

President Joe Biden may have tried to paint himself as the most pro-union Oval Office occupant in history when he joined a picket line during the ongoing automobile workers strike— an unprecedented move for a sitting president – but political experts say that in the current landscape, neither party can truly claim the mantle of union champion.

Democrats have long promoted their party as the chief defender and supporter of unions. And since the New Deal, organized labor has played a key role in delivering critical electoral victories for the left. And amid a string of major strikes affecting a multitude of industries – with workers primarily demanding higher wages to combat soaring inflation – the political power of unions is again in the spotlight.