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AFL-CIO
Biden for President
AFL-CIO
May 26, 2020
ICYMI: AFL-CIO Endorses Joe Biden
Today, AFL-CIO, made up of 55 affiliated unions and 12.5 million members, announced their endorsement of Joe Biden for President of the United States. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka cited Joe Biden as a lifelong supporter of workers and has fought his entire career for living wages, health care, retirement security and civil rights.”“I'm honored and humbled to have earned the endorsement of the national AFL-CIO and their 12.5 million members in this 2020 fight,” said Vice President Joe Biden. “Everything that defines a middle class life is because of workers who organized unions and fought for worker protections. And, in the face of COVID-19 we’re seeing without any doubt how important unions are to this country — fighting for their workers to have personal protective equipment, for paid leave, and for safer workplaces. I'm running to be the best president for workers in American history. As we come out of this crisis, there is an incredible need and opportunity to create good-paying, union jobs across the country and ensure the United States owns the 21st Century. I look forward to working with AFL-CIO as President to rebuild a stronger, more inclusive, and resilient middle class that works for workers and their families.”
AFL-CIO issued the following press release and video:
AFL-CIO Endorses
Joe
Biden
for
President
Watch AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s Endorsement Video Here
(Washington, D.C., May 26, 2020)—The General Board of the 12.5
million-member, 55 union AFL-CIO voted today to endorse Joe
Biden for president of the United States. Over the past year, working
people have engaged in a comprehensive process to ensure our voices are
heard and we play a prominent role in shaping the change in direction
our country needs.Watch AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s Endorsement Video Here
“Joe Biden is a lifelong supporter of workers and has fought his entire career for living wages, health care, retirement security and civil rights,” said Trumka. “Our members know Joe has done everything he could to create a fairer process for forming and joining a union, and he is ready to fight with us to restore faith in America and improve the lives of all working people.”
Over the next five months, the labor movement will draw a clear contrast between Biden and President Donald Trump. Trump’s record of slashing rules designed to protect us on the job, cutting workplace health and safety inspectors to their lowest level in history, and taking away overtime pay from millions of workers are just a few ways working people have been hurt by the current administration. Worse yet, America’s working families and communities are suffering because of Trump’s delinquent, delayed, disorganized and deadly response to the coronavirus.
“Working people have responded to COVID-19 with passion and dedication, even as our federal government falls down on the job,” Trumka said. “Just imagine what we can accomplish with an ally in the White House.”
The labor movement is mobilizing across the country, in every city, state and community to ensure our message is heard loud and clear. While the methods may look a little different in the face of COVID-19, our program will continue its massive reach through virtual phone banks, peer-to-peer texting, digital actions and, as always, union member-to-union member conversations.
“The path to the presidency runs through the labor movement,” Trumka concluded. “And with the full force and unmatched reach of our political program, we are ready to pave that road for our friend Joe Biden.”
###
National unions representing a range of other workers and professions have also endorsed Biden, including the United Steelworkers Union (USW), Transport Workers Union (TWU), International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), International Association of Firefighters (IAFF), United Auto Workers (UAW), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), National Education Association (NEA), International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers (IW), Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA), and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA).
###
Below is a transcript
of AFL-CIO
President
Richard
Trumka's video message, following
the federation's endorsement of Joe Biden for President of the United
States:
I’m Rich Trumka, and on behalf of the 12.5 million members and 55 unions of the AFL-CIO, we are proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States.
We know Joe. And Joe knows us.
He’s been to our union halls. He’s marched on our picket lines. He is a champion in every sense of the word.
As our unions voted to endorse Joe, I couldn’t help but think back to when I was 12 years old, sitting on my grandfather’s porch in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania.
I made a promise to him that night to use my career to help people.
About 300 miles northeast in Scranton, Joe was embarking on a similar journey that would eventually take him to our nation’s capital.
But D.C. didn’t change him. He changed D.C.
As a senator and later, as vice president, Joe used his voice and his vote to advance the cause of working people.
He fought for living wages, health care, retirement security and civil rights.
He did everything he could to create a fairer process for forming and joining a union.
And he never lost his core goodness. Joe’s greatest asset is his character.
When he gives us his word, we can take it to the bank.
When he tells us he cares, we know it’s true.
Joe has overcome unspeakable tragedy in his life. He has buried children. He lost a spouse. And all the while, he has kept going. He has kept serving. And he has never lost faith.
Joe Biden is writing a comeback story. And all across America, working people are doing the same.
We’ve been knocked down. We’ve been counted out. We’ve been told our time is up.
But in the face of corporate greed and political sabotage, we’ve not only survived. We’ve risen. The labor movement has overcome the sustained and vicious attacks of state legislatures, the Supreme Court, the United States Senate and yes, the White House.
Gallup puts our approval at 64 percent, a nearly 50-year high. 60 million workers would vote to join a union today if given the chance.
We’ve organized and mobilized and gone on strike to win better contracts, better policies and better lives.
And we’ve responded to the coronavirus with passion and dedication, even as our federal government falls down on the job.
Just imagine what working people can accomplish with an ally in the White House.
This endorsement is about working people’s hopes and aspirations. It is an expression of support for Joe Biden.
But it is also a clear rejection of our current trajectory.
Donald Trump campaigned as a friend of workers, talking about a new direction and a new day after decades of policies that left us poorer and weaker.
Some working people, desperate for a rapid departure from business as usual, took a chance on Trump. Look, I get it.
And then, over the past four years, the president showed his true colors.
He slashed rules designed to protect us on the job and cut workplace health and safety inspectors to their lowest level in history.
He took away overtime pay from millions of workers.
At every turn, he has actively undermined collective bargaining and the freedom to form a union.
And his response to COVID-19 has been delinquent, delayed, disorganized and deadly.
Worse yet, Donald Trump has used the highest office in the land to divide America, scapegoating immigrants, degrading women and playing on people’s worst fears.
That’s our choice this year. Between Donald Trump’s pettiness and negativity, and Joe Biden, who is the embodiment of goodness and decency.
This is a moment, and an election, for our better angels.
Working people have overcome the politics of inaction and hostility.
We have confronted our fiercest bullies and made it through to the other side.
Joe Biden has done the same.
Now is the perfect time to join forces on behalf of the country we love.
The path to the presidency runs through the labor movement.
And with the full force and unmatched reach of our political program, we are ready to pave that road for our friend Joe Biden.
Thank you.
I’m Rich Trumka, and on behalf of the 12.5 million members and 55 unions of the AFL-CIO, we are proud to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States.
We know Joe. And Joe knows us.
He’s been to our union halls. He’s marched on our picket lines. He is a champion in every sense of the word.
As our unions voted to endorse Joe, I couldn’t help but think back to when I was 12 years old, sitting on my grandfather’s porch in Nemacolin, Pennsylvania.
I made a promise to him that night to use my career to help people.
About 300 miles northeast in Scranton, Joe was embarking on a similar journey that would eventually take him to our nation’s capital.
But D.C. didn’t change him. He changed D.C.
As a senator and later, as vice president, Joe used his voice and his vote to advance the cause of working people.
He fought for living wages, health care, retirement security and civil rights.
He did everything he could to create a fairer process for forming and joining a union.
And he never lost his core goodness. Joe’s greatest asset is his character.
When he gives us his word, we can take it to the bank.
When he tells us he cares, we know it’s true.
Joe has overcome unspeakable tragedy in his life. He has buried children. He lost a spouse. And all the while, he has kept going. He has kept serving. And he has never lost faith.
Joe Biden is writing a comeback story. And all across America, working people are doing the same.
We’ve been knocked down. We’ve been counted out. We’ve been told our time is up.
But in the face of corporate greed and political sabotage, we’ve not only survived. We’ve risen. The labor movement has overcome the sustained and vicious attacks of state legislatures, the Supreme Court, the United States Senate and yes, the White House.
Gallup puts our approval at 64 percent, a nearly 50-year high. 60 million workers would vote to join a union today if given the chance.
We’ve organized and mobilized and gone on strike to win better contracts, better policies and better lives.
And we’ve responded to the coronavirus with passion and dedication, even as our federal government falls down on the job.
Just imagine what working people can accomplish with an ally in the White House.
This endorsement is about working people’s hopes and aspirations. It is an expression of support for Joe Biden.
But it is also a clear rejection of our current trajectory.
Donald Trump campaigned as a friend of workers, talking about a new direction and a new day after decades of policies that left us poorer and weaker.
Some working people, desperate for a rapid departure from business as usual, took a chance on Trump. Look, I get it.
And then, over the past four years, the president showed his true colors.
He slashed rules designed to protect us on the job and cut workplace health and safety inspectors to their lowest level in history.
He took away overtime pay from millions of workers.
At every turn, he has actively undermined collective bargaining and the freedom to form a union.
And his response to COVID-19 has been delinquent, delayed, disorganized and deadly.
Worse yet, Donald Trump has used the highest office in the land to divide America, scapegoating immigrants, degrading women and playing on people’s worst fears.
That’s our choice this year. Between Donald Trump’s pettiness and negativity, and Joe Biden, who is the embodiment of goodness and decency.
This is a moment, and an election, for our better angels.
Working people have overcome the politics of inaction and hostility.
We have confronted our fiercest bullies and made it through to the other side.
Joe Biden has done the same.
Now is the perfect time to join forces on behalf of the country we love.
The path to the presidency runs through the labor movement.
And with the full force and unmatched reach of our political program, we are ready to pave that road for our friend Joe Biden.
Thank you.
Copyright © 2020 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in
Action.
All rights reserved.