“(The Republican candidates) view you, the working men and women of this country, as the problem,” Biden said. “We view you, and know you, to be the solution in America. We know who built this country and we know who’s going to rebuild it.”

Biden showed support for a proposal slated for the November ballot in Michigan, which would legally protect collective bargaining in the state.

Prior to his speech, hundreds of union members and their families held signs bearing the slogan “Protect Our Jobs” and marched in a parade through downtown Detroit to show their support of the same issues.

Ashley Zacharski, a political science senior and a student member in Obama’s campaign, was the first person in line to see Biden’s speech, after leaving East Lansing at 6 a.m. with a fellow MSU volunteer.

“(Obama and Biden) have an interest in a larger group of people, they’re fighting for a majority of Americans,” Zacharski said. “Many things in my life ride on this election and the outcome.”

In his 15-minute speech, the vice president discussed his plans to combat outsourcing for domestic jobs if re-elected, saying Ryan’s policies support overseas outsourcing.

“People like Ryan are fighting for tax breaks for companies who want to unbolt machinery from the plant floors here in the United States of America and continue to give them a tax break for the cost of moving those facilities overseas,” Biden said. “Let’s give any company a tax break that unbolts machinery in Vietnam and sends it to Detroit.”

Biden also claimed Romney’s interest in the middle class that was voiced at the Republican National Convention was one that “came up on them in the night.”

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow spoke before the vice president, also addressing the theme of collective bargaining rights and the importance of keeping the working class strong in Michigan.

“(The issue of collective bargaining is about) whether or not we’re going to have a middle class in this country, whether or not we’re going to have opportunities to work hard for people to get to the middle class, or whether this will somehow be a country where it only matters if you are a multimillionaire,” Stabenow said.