In 'Unprecedented Show of Solidarity,' Major Labor Unions Endorse Biden for 2024https://www.commondreams.org/news/unions-endorse-biden-2024Group of 17 unions endorses Biden for 2024https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/group-of-17-unions-endorses-biden-for-2024AFL-CIO Votes to Endorse President Biden for Re-ElectionEarliest Presidential Endorsement in AFL-CIO History Triggers Massive Campaign in Support of Biden–Harris
The General Board of the AFL-CIO—representing 60 unions and more than 12.5 million workers—voted today to endorse President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for re-election in 2024. The endorsement vote marks the earliest the AFL-CIO has ever voted to endorse in a presidential election, triggering an unprecedented mobilization that will engage millions of working people over the course of nearly 17 months on the Biden–Harris record of transforming the economy to one that works for all.
“There’s absolutely no question that Joe Biden is the most pro-union president in our lifetimes,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “From bringing manufacturing jobs home to America to protecting our pensions and making historic investments in infrastructure, clean energy and education, we’ve never seen a president work so tirelessly to rebuild our economy from the bottom up and middle out. We’ve never seen a president more forcefully advocate for workers’ fundamental right to join a union. Now, it’s time to finish the job. The largest labor mobilization in history begins today, supercharged by the excitement and enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands of union volunteers who will work tirelessly to re-elect a president they know has our backs and will always fight for us.”
There’s never been an election more critical to the future of working people. Worker organizing is happening at a pace not seen in decades, from coffee shops to tech to higher education to the manufacturing shop floor. The transition to a clean energy economy and historic federal investments in good jobs creates the opportunity to transform the economy for generations to come. But this promise will only be realized if President Biden and Vice President Harris are re-elected to another four years.
“Before Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in, the pandemic was raging and the economy was in free fall,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “Our country is in far better shape today because of their leadership. This election is between a president who respects and protects working people and political extremists hellbent on reversing our progress and destroying our fundamental freedoms.”
“The Biden–Harris administration has consistently advanced policies that empower workers, created opportunities for everyday people, and promoted the well-being of working families,” Electrical Workers (IBEW) International President Kenneth Cooper said. “As a direct result of these efforts, the Biden–Harris administration has overseen robust economic growth, increased worker wages and achieved the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.”
“Made in America isn’t just a slogan to this president, it’s a demand for a brighter future in which no worker is left behind,” said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Fred Redmond. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are building an American economy that respects and values all of us, no matter our race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or where we’re from. He’s rebuilding America, brick by brick, through good jobs and opportunity for all. That’s the future we want for our kids and that’s why the labor movement is going all-in to deliver another four years to President Biden.”
Over the next 17 months, the labor movement will run its largest campaign ever to engage working people one on one on kitchen-table issues and President Biden’s accomplishments. The AFL-CIO’s campaign will be critical in battleground states where the union vote will prove decisive. When engaged, union members turn out at much higher rates than the general public. Millions of conversations at the door and in the worksite will be supplemented with cutting-edge digital outreach, peer-to-peer texting and other tactics to ensure we’re reaching workers on the issues that matter most to them. Hundreds of thousands of union volunteers are the backbone of this mobilization and will begin engaging voters immediately.
“I’m excited to knock on doors again to win another term for the most pro-union administration of my life, led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” said Carlos Padilla, a cook and a UNITE HERE Culinary Union member in Nevada. “In 2020, I was one of the thousands of members of my union that canvassed for months, even before we had a COVID vaccine. That’s because our federal government needed to step up during a global crisis. And from the moment they took office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have shown they have our back, starting with the American Rescue Plan. I was laid off for months, and thanks to this relief package—led by the administration—and its funding for 100% COBRA coverage, I could keep my employer [provided] health care for free until I got back on my feet. I look forward to working hard for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris so that they can keep working hard for us!”
In an unprecedented show of unity, many other unions announced their endorsements of the Biden–Harris ticket today as well. Click here for more quotes from union leaders on individual union endorsements.
https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-votes-endorse-president-biden-re-electionMachinists Union Membership Votes Overwhelmingly to Endorse President Biden for Second Term
The 600,000-member International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), utilizing a democratic process that included a general membership vote open to all U.S. members in good standing, has endorsed President Biden for a second term.
A statement from IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr.:“The IAM is proud to continue our democratic tradition in our endorsement process and equally as proud to endorse a champion for working people, President Joe Biden, for a second term.
“President Biden has been a staunch advocate and champion for working people. He has delivered on his vision for our nation, which is centered on partnering with organized labor to deliver good jobs with strong benefits and secure retirements. President Biden believes in an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.
“The IAM looks forward to building upon the great work of the Biden administration. Work that includes a historic investment in infrastructure and manufacturing, while making large corporations adhere to Buy American requirements. President Biden’s work also included passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and saving millions of jobs through the American Rescue Plan.
“Our membership realized that we couldn’t let candidates who seek to destroy our democracy and economy rewrite the rules in favor of CEOs and Wall Street. Our union went from getting WARN notices announcing plant closures from corporate CEOs under the previous administration to receiving job openings under this administration.
“The American economy roared back after the numerous plant closures under Biden’s predecessor. The Biden-Harris Administration created millions of jobs since taking office, including nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs. The IAM is happy to report that manufacturing is back, and it’s because this administration didn’t just give lip service to Buy America. His Buy America policy has positively impacted the lives of millions of working Americans.
“Our union will work on educating our entire membership about what’s at stake in this election and why Joe Biden is the only candidate with a plan to build and grow an economy that works in the best interest of working families."https://www.goiam.org/news/machinists-union-membership-votes-overwhelmingly-to-endorse-president-biden-for-second-term/Federal Employee Unions Endorse Biden for ReelectionLabor leaders described President Biden as “the most labor-friendly president in history.”
A pair of federal employee unions, including the largest in the country, on Friday announced that they are endorsing President Biden for reelection next year.
The American Federation of Government Employees and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association both announced their unions’ respective decisions Friday, in conjunction with their parent labor federation, the AFL-CIO, ahead of a union rally at which Biden is scheduled to appear Saturday in Philadelphia.
In a statement, AFGE National President Everett Kelley said the union conducted multiple polls of its membership, as well as a telephonic town hall with more than 20,000 members. Following those steps, AFGE’s national executive council voted unanimously to endorse Biden again.
“During his first term, President Biden has proven himself to be the most labor-friendly president in history,” Kelley said. “The results of our endorsement process show that he is the overwhelming choice of AFGE members. It’s not hard to see why.”
With some exceptions, Biden’s arrival in the White House was a breath of fresh air for unions and the federal workers they represent, following the tumultuous Trump administration. During his term, Trump at various points sought to freeze federal employees’ pay, cut their benefits and evict labor organizations from federal agencies, both literally and in the form of curtailing union officials’ access to official time and restricting the scope of what workforce policies over which they can bargain.
And in 2020, Trump signed an executive order aimed at stripping tens of thousands of federal employees in policy-related positions of virtually all of their civil service protections. That initiative, called Schedule F, ultimately went unimplemented before Biden took office, and he quickly rescinded it along with Trump’s other labor policies. Conversely, both Trump and his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have indicated they would revive Schedule F immediately after their inauguration if elected.
In addition, Biden instituted a new approach to collective bargaining at federal agencies, urging agencies to develop a more collaborative relationship with their labor counterparts and requiring management to negotiate over more topics. And the Office of Personnel Management updated its data platform, FedScope, so that union organizers could see which agencies had large cadres of federal workers who are eligible to join or form a union but had not yet done so.
NATCA President Rich Santa, whose union also voted unanimously in favor of endorsing Biden, touted Biden’s work to include $30 billion in upgrades to air traffic control facilities, including $5 billion at facilities owned by the Federal Aviation Administration. And, he noted, the FAA has included his union in the law’s implementation process.
“With an administration in the White House that is committed to labor, and the bipartisan relationships our activists have built in Congress, NATCA is making real improvements to the lives of every member of our union,” Santa said. “For these reasons, NATCA enthusiastically endorses President Biden and Vice President Harris for reelection in 2024.”
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2023/06/federal-employee-unions-endorse-biden-reelection/387641/Biden reelection bid picks up endorsement from construction workers union
A major construction workers union endorsed President Biden’s reelection campaign Thursday, which is a notable nod for the president from big labor.
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) said they would back Biden and Vice President Harris after other labor groups, including the United Auto Workers, have said they will hold back from an endorsement just yet.
“Every decision President Biden has made, every policy he has adopted, and every piece of legislation he has pushed for has been done with consideration for and for the betterment of hard-working union laborers and our brothers and sisters in the trades,” LIUNA President Brent Booker said in a Thursday statement.
Booker pointed to the bipartisan infrastructure law as an accomplishment of the Biden administration that gave LIUNA members more opportunities to build. Biden visited a LIUNA training center in Deforest, Wis., in February to give remarks on manufacturing, the infrastructure law and job creation under his administration.
“No Administration has demonstrated greater commitment to the men and women who build our nation than the Biden-Harris White House,” Booker said in his statement. “With Biden at our backs, LIUNA members have more opportunities to build our infrastructure, better wages and benefits, and more secure futures.”
LIUNA also endorsed Biden for president in 2020. The union comprises a half-million members in the construction industry, and the endorsement comes after a national poll of members and a unanimous vote to support Biden, according to the group.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4040193-biden-endorsement-laborers-international-union/
