Biden officials no longer traveling to Detroit this week to help resolve UAW strike

WASHINGTON - A White House team that President Joe Biden previously said he was "dispatching" to Detroit to provide assistance in negotiations between the United Auto Workers and the nation's three major automakers will no longer travel there this week, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House adviser Gene Sperling will instead remain in Washington and meet with the parties virtually as UAW begins its sixth day of strikes at Ford, General Motors and Stellantis plants, according to a White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The White House did not rule out a future trip but said it is "most productive" for Sperling and Su to continue their discussions from Washington and "allow talks to move forward."

"We’ll continue to assess travel timing based on the active state of negotiations. The President stands with UAW workers, and believes that record corporate profits must mean record contracts for the UAW," the official said.

Biden has given an emphatic endorsement of the demands for higher pay sought by UAW workers, but for now is staying out of negotiations.

The White House has made clear that it is not serving as a mediator in the dispute in contrast to the facilitating role Biden played during last year's standoff between rail workers and companies.

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After UAW walked out of three plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri, Biden last Friday said he was dispatching Sperling and Su to "offer their full support for the parties in reaching a contract." The White House team was tentatively set to travel to Detroit this week.

The move to scrap those plans come as former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner to secure the 2024 GOP nomination, intends to visit Michigan next Wednesday to meet with autoworker strikers. Biden has given no indication he plans to join UAW at the picket line.

UAW President Shawn Fain signaled that his union doesn't want White House officials at the negotiating table in a statement last week.

"We don’t agree when he says negotiations have broken down," Fain said of Biden, adding that UAW negotiators are "hard at work" at the bargaining table and UAW members are "standing strong" at the picket lines. "Anyone who wants to stand with us can grab a sign and hold the line."

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.