Within a matter of months, or even weeks, Joe Biden could find himself dealing with multiple major workers’ strikes that threaten to rock the economy ahead of the presidential election.
Francis Chung/POLITICO

But the U.S. battery industry is just now developing, in large part due to the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law. Unionization efforts have barely gotten off the ground at companies that are putting down roots here.

“This agenda is just getting started,” said Joelle Gamble, deputy director of the National Economic Council. “I think it is far too soon just to comment on a nascent industry where we’re still seeing shovels put in the ground, where production hasn’t started in many cases.”

Jayapal’s sentiments echo UAW’s leadership, which in June chastised the Biden administration over a $9 billion Energy Department loan to Ford for facilities in the right-to-work states of Kentucky and Tennessee. In October, the first $2.8 billion round of grants for battery makers from the bipartisan infrastructure law went to 20 companies that were almost entirely non-union.

Some Democrats in key battlegrounds have sided with UAW on their complaints, placing additional pressure on Biden. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said the Biden administration should steer federal grants and loans for building the next wave of electric cars to more union-friendly locations.

“It’s a matter of targeting in the places where we have historically good jobs working in the auto industry,” he said. “If you come to Michigan, for example, is a different question than going to a place that does not have a history of labor rights.”

Gamble said that “it’s important that we have investments in communities all across America” but argued that the administration is doing what it can to use federal incentives to boost labor standards. She cautioned that federal awards are in their early stages.

“There’s been lots of grant dollars that are going to a variety of companies across the United States, including grants going to unionized firms,” she said. “I wouldn’t draw too much of a conclusion from the first tranche.”

One thing that could alleviate some of the tension, Democrats concede, is a better relationship at the top.

When Fain made a trip to Washington this week to meet with Biden’s top staff and congressional members, Biden learned of the gathering and asked if he could talk privately with the UAW head, a White House official said. During their conversation, Fain pushed Biden to use his “bully pulpit” and demand that companies that receive federal grants and loans under the Inflation Reduction Act meet stronger labor standards, according to a UAW aide.

“It’s a new leadership team at the UAW. These relationships have to be built and they are being built. Sometimes that’s more difficult when there’s a lot of pressure,” Kildee said.