President Joe Biden met with UAW President Shawn Fain Wednesday at the White House as the union leader was in Washington to discuss the contract talks now underway with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

Fain also met separately with White House chief of staff Jeff Zients and other key officials.

The meetings, reported on earlier by Politico and Reuters and confirmed to the Free Press by a source familiar with the discussion, highlighted the talks, the electric vehicle transition and concerns about lower wages at battery plants, such as GM's joint venture Ultium Cells LLC in Lordstown, Ohio, where the United Auto Workers union is bargaining a new contract. The union wants to bring battery workers under the master agreements with the companies.

A White House official also confirmed the meeting took place, saying UAW leadership had asked for an opportunity to brief senior Biden administration staff on their position on negotiations with the three automakers. When Biden learned that the meeting was taking place in the West Wing, he asked to speak directly with Fain and they talked briefly, the official said.

A congressional source who was not authorized to speak about the UAW's meetings in Washington on Wednesday also confirmed that union leaders met with the House Labor caucus and senators from states with automakers' plants in them.

The UAW has notably opted not to endorse anyone in the 2024 presidential election, a move seen as a push to secure more commitments from the Biden administration on EVs and other issues. Despite the lack of an endorsement for the Democrat, Fain made clear that the union isn't ready to side with former President Donald Trump, calling the prospect of another Trump presidency a disaster.

The UAW has taken a much more assertive stance to start contract talks than in years past and has not shied away from the prospect of a strike, although it has said the matter is up to the companies and how they address union demands. The union even skipped the ceremonial handshake with company leaders that normally launches talks.

Fain has called out the automakers for not sharing enough in the many billions of dollars in profits they've recorded in the last decade, and he has said the EV transition needs to be a just one. The companies have said they need to remain competitive in the face of the EV transition.

Free Press staff writers Jamie L. LaReau and Todd Spangler contributed to this article.

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden, UAW leader meet at White House with Detroit Three talks under way