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National

The Canadian autoworkers union Unifor said its members ratified a new agreement with Ford on Sunday, which covers more than 5,600 workers.

Why it matters: Unifor national president Lana Payne had made clear that workers were prepared for scenarios including strike action should a deal not be reached, as the "Detroit Three" automakers face the UAW's historic, coordinated strike across the border in the U.S.

A tweet by Canadian autoworkers union Unifor, saying: "Priorities met! Pattern set.  Congratulations. The ballots have been counted and Unifor members at  @FordCanada  have ratified a 3-year agreement that will see tremendous gains for autoworkers."

Driving the news: Unifor said in a statement that its members voted 54% in favor of the tentative agreement reached last week amid ongoing negotiations with the UAW.

Ford offered Unifor members wage increases of up to 25% in the new contract and improvements to all pension plans, according to the union.

"General wage increases in each year of the agreement with 10% in year one, 2% in year two and 3% in year three," Unifor said.

Representatives for Ford did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Of note: The United Auto Workers union expanded its strike against General Motors and Stellantis on Friday, but not additional Ford factories because UAW president Shawn Fain said the union had made "serious" progress in negotiations with the automaker.

UAW strike scrambles political allegiances

These vehicles are most affected by the UAW strike

Canadian autoworkers ratify new labor deal with Ford

Canadian union announces pay rises, pension plan improvements in new deal as automakers continue talks with UAW in U.S.

Lana Payne speaks to the delegates after being elected the new president of UNIFOR, Canada's largest private sector union, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on August 10, 2022. 

Unifor national president Lana Payne during a 2022 event in Toronto, Canada. Photo: Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images

Ford Motor Company

Transportation

Top stories & latest news on the Federal Reserve, real-time data, plus the biggest shifts happening in the U.S. and global economy.

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After a record economic expansion, the coronavirus pandemic sent the U.S. economy into a recession as unemployment soared to staggering heights. The country now faces urgent questions about how much stimulus is needed for reeling consumers and businesses, and what a recovery might look like.

Economy & Business

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

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World

Former President Jimmy Carter and ex-first lady Rosalynn Carter made a rare public appearance over the weekend in their Georgia hometown for the Plains Peanut Festival.

Driving the news: "Beautiful day for President & Mrs. Carter to enjoy a ride through the Plains Peanut Festival! And just a week before he turns 99," the Carter Center wrote in a Sunday repost of a spectator's video of the longest-married first couple traveling by SUV at the event a day earlier.

"We're betting peanut butter ice cream is on the menu for lunch!" added the post about the longest-living president in U.S. history, who was born on Oct. 1, 1924 and grew up on a peanut farm.

The big picture: Jimmy Carter had not been seen in public for months and has been receiving hospice care since February.

Rosalynn Carter was diagnosed with dementia in May, but the couple still lives together at their Plains home.

Go deeper: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in "different era" of lives, grandson says

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in "different era" of lives, grandson says

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Former President Jimmy Carter makes rare public appearance ahead of birthday

"Beautiful day for President & Mrs. Carter to enjoy a ride through the Plains Peanut Festival! And just a week before he turns 99."

Former President Jimmy Carter in Plains, Georgia, in  2019. Photo: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Jimmy Carter

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) faces growing calls to resign after being indicted on bribery charges this past week. 

Driving the news: Menendez, who was indicted alongside his wife, Nadine Menendez, has refused to resign and said he is "not going anywhere." 

Catch up quick: Prosecutors are accusing Menendez and his wife of accepting "hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes" in cash, gold, lavish gifts and other expenses in exchange for using his power to benefit a trio of New Jersey businessmen, Axios' Andrew Solender reports. 

The New Jersey senator, who was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before he stepped down on Friday, has faced corruption-related charges before.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday that Menendez stepping down as committee chair is temporary, "until the matter has been resolved."

What they're saying: "I think ... the situation is quite unfortunate, but I do believe that it is in the best interest for Senator Menendez to resign in this moment," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. 

Ocasio-Cortez said it "shouldn't matter whether it's a Republican or a Democrat," and that "the details in this indictment are extremely serious."  

Ocasio-Cortez also responded to Menendez's statement that the indictment had to do with him being Latino, saying that while there is systemic bias, "I think what is here in this indictment is quite clear." 

She added that Menendez resigning from the Senate is "in the best interest to maintain the integrity of the seat," but added that everyone should be given the "presumption of innocence until proven guilty."

State of play: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is also part of the mounting list of political leaders calling on Menendez to step down.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, along with nearly all of New Jersey's Democratic House delegation, has called on Menendez to resign. 

Murphy, a Democrat, said the allegations in the indictment are "deeply disturbing," per a statement Friday, adding that the "alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state." 

Worth noting: Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said Saturday he will run against Menendez in 2024. 

Kim said this was "[n]ot something I expected to do," but added that the state "deserves better," per a statement Saturday on X, the social media network formerly known as Twitter. 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ruled out running for Menendez's seat on Sunday in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." 

Christie said he had a chance to appoint himself to the Senate in 2013, but  "if I didn't appoint myself to the United States Senate, the easiest way to get there, I sure as heck am not going to run for it."

Go deeper: Menendez resists Democrats' mounting calls to resign

Menendez resists Democrats' mounting calls to resign

Pressure grows on Bob Menendez to resign from Senate after indictment

Menendez has refused to resign and said Friday he is "not going anywhere."

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) attends a forum earlier this month in Italy. Photo: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

New Jersey

The United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three domestic automakers comes at a volatile time in American politics, with blue-collar union workers set to be a pivotal constituency for both parties in next year's election.

Why it matters: Democrats have historically been the party of labor unions, while Republicans have maintained close ties to big business. But as Democrats have become increasingly reliant on college-educated voters, their close alliance with blue-collar unions has frayed.

UAW president Shawn Fain has withheld an endorsement for President Biden — even as Biden has positioned himself as the most pro-union president in U.S. history.

Meanwhile, as more blue-collar voters migrate toward the GOP (typically over cultural issues), the party has faced pressure to accommodate their more populist views on the economy.

Driving the news: Biden announced last week he would be joining the picket line Tuesday, days after former President Trump made plans to meet with striking autoworkers.

One Democratic strategist said Biden's lockstep alliance with the UAW is risky if there's a protracted strike and the economy takes a downturn. "If this situation goes south, it sends a real blow to his economic narrative," the operative told Axios.

Trump, meanwhile, is scheduled to give a prime-time speech in Detroit on Wednesday in a room filled with autoworkers, plumbers and electricians — counterprogramming the GOP presidential debate — and separately meet with striking autoworkers.

It's a sign of how the Republican Party has changed under Trump. Making a direct appeal to striking workers would have been unthinkable for Republicans in the Bush era. (In 2008, now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) wrote a New York Times op-ed headlined: "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.")

Zoom in: Trump-friendly senators J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) have expressed support for the striking autoworkers.

But several leading GOP presidential candidates — like Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — have criticized union influence, a reflection of the predominant Republican view.

What they're saying: Republicans "can't just be on the side of the companies anymore," said Republican strategist Mike Shields, a former RNC chief of staff. "You can be on the side of industry against the government, but you can't just automatically be against the unions."

"It's not a surprise to anyone in the blue-collar labor world that there's a lot of union voters that are getting more challenging for Democrats to get," said Democratic strategist Dan Sena.

Between the lines: The one labor-related issue in which UAW leaders hew closer to Republicans is their skepticism over the government-directed push toward electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles require less labor to produce, and the jobs are predominantly non-union. Ford is already expected to lose billions in their EV business this year. Cox Automotive reported in July that EV inventory swelled to 103 days of supply in the U.S., about double that of gas-powered cars.

"The backdrop of this strike is over electric vehicles," Republican strategist Brad Todd said. "Republican voters and Republican business owners are not on the side of car company managers teaming up with government for electric vehicle mandates and regulations."

By the numbers: Trump only lost union households by eight points (51%-43%) in 2016, a result that helped him tip traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin into the GOP column.

But Biden reclaimed those states in 2020 while winning union households by 16 points (56%-40%), according to exit polling.

A near majority (43%) of Americans want unions to "have more influence than they have today" — the highest share recorded in at least a quarter-century, according to an August Gallup survey.

What to watch: Several of the biggest Senate races are taking place in states with a robust blue-collar union presence — including Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Democratic senators representing states with a sizable manufacturing presence have underscored their pro-union bona fides since the UAW strike began. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) joined the UAW picket line on the day of the strike, and has a long record of labor advocacy.

Many of the GOP's Senate challengers hail from the business world. Some are more traditionally conservative candidates without a history of populist rhetoric — like former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick, who just announced his Senate candidacy in Pennsylvania.

The bottom line: For both parties, the political incentives going forward run against their instincts.

It's in Biden's interest, for example, to urge his UAW allies to reach a compromise with management to prevent any economic slowdown that could result from a prolonged strike.

Meanwhile, Republicans are confident they can more closely sympathize with the strikers without suffering any political consequences, given that Biden is president.

Biden has positioned himself as the most pro-union president in U.S. history.

Then-candidate Biden delivers remarks outside the UAW Region 1 offices on Sept. 9, 2020, in Warren, Mich. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

United Automobile Workers

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2024 GOP presidential hopeful, expressed confidence Sunday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will withstand the multiple challenges threatening his speakership. 

Why it matters: The pressure on McCarthy is building as the clock ticks closer to a potential government shutdown, and multiple GOP House lawmakers have signaled possible efforts to remove him. 

What he's saying: "I think Kevin McCarthy will continue to be speaker through the 2024 election," Christie said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday.

"And then if he's speaker in January of 2025, I look forward to working with him as [p]resident to try to solve some of the problems that Joe Biden has created, and solve some of the problems that Donald Trump didn't solve even though he promised he would," he said. 

Christie said he thinks McCarthy is "managing a very difficult caucus under very difficult circumstances, and doing the very best he can."

Christie added that Congress should do what it can to avoid a government shutdown, saying it will be "bad for the economy" and "bad for the American people."

Catch up quick: Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass appropriations bills to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. 

But McCarthy remains in a deadlock as some GOP House lawmakers have threatened to oust him if he were to put a bill on the floor to avert a shutdown that doesn't include significant spending cuts and other demands. 

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said such a move would be an "automatic trigger" for a motion to vacate. 

Just one member is required to call for a motion to vacate, which would trigger a vote to potentially oust McCarthy as speaker. The motion can be made by a member of either party and needs only a simple majority to pass.

Zoom out: As the government spending fight continues, earlier this month the House canceled a vote on an appropriations bill advancing funding for the Pentagon and entirely scrapped an appropriations bill for agriculture funding. 

Christie says McCarthy "doing the very best he can" as House speaker

Christie said he thinks McCarthy is "managing a very difficult caucus under very difficult circumstances."

Axios

Sunday's top stories

Canadian autoworkers ratify new labor deal with Ford

Former President Jimmy Carter makes rare public appearance ahead of birthday

Pressure grows on Bob Menendez to resign from Senate after indictment

UAW strike scrambles political allegiances

Christie says McCarthy "doing the very best he can" as House speaker

Biden approval rating flashes warnings in two new polls

NASA returns its largest asteroid sample to Earth

Inside the longevity industrial complex

America embraces prenups: 50% of adults open to signing

The history of government shutdowns and how long they last