Vice President Joe Biden says a concerted war on labor threatens to drastically weaken the bargaining power of American unions.

Biden spoke Wednesday to an annual conference of the United Automobile Workers. He says the Chamber of Commerce and right-to-work committees are leading parts of the American business to wage a concerted war on collective bargaining. He says unions, quote, “are the only guys keeping the barbarians at the gate.”

Biden is pointing to right-to-work legislation that some states have enacted. He says things look dim for unions now but will get better.

The vice president is also praising trial lawyers. He says they’re the only people taking on major corporations. Biden says people call them “bottom-feeders” but that they’re responsible for protections such as product safety standards.

(AP)