WENTZVILLE, Mo.—One day after a high-profile visit by Democratic party lawmakers to the United Auto Workers strike lines outside General Motors’ Wentzville Assembly plant, Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley made the trip to St. Charles County to do the same.

Hawley, seeking re-election next November, delivered water and spoke to striking workers. 

The strike began in Wentzville and two other Big 3 plants in Michigan and Ohio on Sept. 14. The UAW expanded the stand up strike on Friday to more than 30 other locations around the country.

“Stay strong, I support you,” Hawley said as he made the rounds. 

Hawley echoed some of the same themes heard Sunday from Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, who also criticized the automakers for executive compensation and large profit margins. 

“We appreciate their bold stand, we appreciate their courage and my message to them is that I’m with them 100 %. They should be paid what they deserve, they should get the pay increases they’re asking for,” Hawley said.

The UAW is looking to recover wage and pension concessions made in 2008 at a time when the auto industry was in peril. Companies have said they can’t afford higher labor costs at a time when they’re still building combustion-engine vehicles while preparing for a future focused on electric vehicles.

Hawley said the manufacturers should be choosing to invest in their workforce.

Some of Hawley’s would-be Democratic opponents have already made the trip to Wentzville, including St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell and former Marine Lucas Kunce. 

Republicans have traditionally not been seen as a party supportive of organized labor. In 2018, Hawley supported a GOP "Right To Work" ballot initiative that would have banned compulsory union dues for public and private sector union employees. Voters rejected it. Asked about that Monday, Hawley said he doesn't support it at the federal level. "At the state level we voted on it and we voted no, so I think that's the right decision. It's the decision the peoople of Missouri made and I won't countermand that at all."

Hawley says he sees the UAW strike as a test for the party.

“To Republicans in general, listen we should be for working people and you can talk all you want about being pro worker, unless you’re willing to come and to stand with folks when they actually need the help these folks who need the helpt to get the wages they deserve, this is a test case,” he said.

Wentzville Mayor Nick Guccione said it's important for political leaders to come out and hear firsthand why workers are on strike. He's supportive of their cause, but is also concerned about what a prolonged strike could mean, given that GM is the city's largest employer and is tied to several suppliers in the area. 

"A lot of these members live here. They work here, shop here, spend money, they play here so it could be a signficant impact," he said when addressing the potential impact on city sales tax revenue.

"They're energized," he said of the workers. "They're not going to go back until they get what they feel they deserve."