Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Party’s recently selected vice-presidential nominee, will address union members in Los Angeles this week on his first solo campaign stop, as the ticket solidifies its relationship with organized labor, a crucial base of support.
Комментарии 0
...комментариев пока нет
Walz will address union members in first solo campaign stop
The visit comes as the Harris-Walz campaign, riding a wave of momentum, jockeys with former president Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) for the support of working-class Americans. Union voters in particular, are expected to play an outsize role in the election, especially in key battleground states.
Walz is expected to speak to AFSCME members Tuesday about his experience as a card-carrying union member during his years as a Minnesota public school teacher and contrast Harris’s record on labor issues with Trump’s.
Lee Saunders, the president of AFSCME, told The Washington Post that Walz had “been there for our members” as Minnesota governor, citing his efforts to combat the privatization of prisons, and highlighted Walz’s years as a union member, saying he “has truly been involved in the trade union movement.”
“We believe it’s so exciting to have someone like that who is running for vice president,” Saunders said, noting that Trump allies want to “destroy public-sector unions.”
As Minnesota governor, Walz signed a variety of pro-worker laws supported by labor — most significantly paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave. He also supported laws that banned noncompete agreements, prohibited employers from holding mandatory meetings intended to persuade workers against unionizing, raised safety standards in warehouses and meatpacking plants, and expanded unemployment benefits to hourly school employees who do not work during the summer.
Since Harris announced Walz as her running mate last week, the pair have been stressing their support for working people during joint appearances in contested battleground states. Last week, Harris and Walz met with United Auto Workers members at a Detroit union hall.
During a campaign rally Saturday in Las Vegas, Harris pledged that she would push to eliminate taxes on tips, piggybacking on an idea first proposed by Trump that intended to appeal to working-class voters in the state. A prominent Nevada labor group, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, backs the proposal.
Harris will address the public sector union’s convention via video Monday, her campaign said.
After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month and endorsed Harris, many of the country’s most powerful labor unions, including AFSCME, quickly threw their support behind her campaign. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s preeminent labor federation, endorsed her after having earlier backed Biden.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters remain one of the few major unions that has not yet endorsed a candidate. Its president, Sean O’Brien, received backlash from organized labor after speaking last month at the Republican National Convention.