Sept. 2 (UPI) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were together in Pittsburgh on Monday for a Labor Day campaign event in the Steel City in their first joint event since she accepted the Democratic nomination.
On Monday, Harris joined Biden by calling for U.S. Steel to “remain American owned and American operated” in her remarks, which ended just before 6:30 p.m. EDT.
“My name’s Joe Biden and I’m from Scranton, Pennsylvania,” he told the crowd as he regaled attendees with stories and recognized other officials who attended.
The event at IBEW local number five union hall in Pittsburgh was filled with tables and attended by members and officials of local unions such as United Steelworkers and AFSCME in union-friendly Allegheny County.
“Wall Street did not build America,” Biden said as he noted “unions built America.”
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Pittsburgh at IBEW Local Union #5 on Labor Day. Photo by David Muse/UPI
Harris became the Democratic nominee in the running to replace Biden as president against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.
The event began a little after 5 p.m., opening with the state’s first Black lieutenant governor, Austin Davis of Allegheny County.
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh at IBEW Local Union #5 on Labor Day. Photo by David Muse/UPI
A union official introduced Biden by describing him as the “most pro-Union president in history” before the outgoing Democratic president took the stage ahead of Harris amid chants of “thank you, Joe.”
Biden, who spoke for nearly an hour, talked about his admiration for unions as he recognized some in the crowd with a sprinkling of union names.
Vice President Kamala Harris greets the daughter of Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis (seen holding her) before departing for a Labor Day rally with labor leaders in Pittsburgh. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI
He said America is the “strongest economy in the world today — without question — because of unions.”
“A job is about a lot more than a paycheck,” said Biden, quoting a maxim his father once told him and that the president often restates during speeches.
President Joe Biden greets local Pennsylvania dignitaries and their families at the 171st Air Refueling Wing before departing for a rally with labor leaders in Pittsburgh on Labor Day. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI.
They were joined by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — who had been in contention to be Harris’ vice presidential pick — along with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who is seeking re-election this year; Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., Pittsburgh Mayor Gainey and Reps. Summer Lee, Madeleine Dean and Chris Deluzio, who all represent districts in the state.
“We are the greatest manufacturing economy in the world and we will remain that way,” Biden promised as he said his administration had created 16 million new jobs, 800,000 of which were in the manufacturing sector.
Biden added that he and Harris had “protected pensions for over 1 million workers” as he highlighted some of their other achievements.
Pennsylvania received $17 billion from Biden’s bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure law with more than 2,000 new projects in the Keystone State.
Trump “didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden said about his predecessor’s failed promise to expand infrastructure.
Private companies have committed $4 billion to invest in clean energy in Pennsylvania, Biden said, with “project labor agreements” where union terms are laid out before work begins.
He said he believes in “American-owned and -operated” steel companies, saying how U.S. Steel’s possible sale to a Japanese company should not go through and the company should remain in the United States.
“Everyone in America deserves a fair shot,” he said talking about the “dignity of work.”
He said picking Harris to be the nation’s first female vice president was “one of the best decisions” he made, adding that she will be a “pro-union president.”
Harris has received the backing of several unions, including United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, and has indicated her plans to largely continue Biden’s labor policies.
The Pennsylvania swing was part of a Labor Day campaign blitz for Harris, who was in Detroit earlier in the day. She spoke to supporters at Northwestern High School about building strong unions.
She was joined with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In western Pennsylvania, Harris talked about fighting for a future where every person “can not only get by, but get ahead” as she outlined her plans for an “opportunity economy” so Americans can, for example, buy a home or start a business to see a “future that matches their dreams and aspirations and ambitions.”
“It is good to be in the house of labor,” Harris opened with saying she was glad to be back in Pittsburgh. “I love Labor Day.”
Harris was in Pittsburgh late last month with her vice presidential pick to kick off their bus tour.
“I have spent more time with extraordinary human beings with no cameras in the room, when the heat was high,” Harris said as she praised Biden.
“Sometimes it’s good when no cameras are in the room,” Harris joked about Biden. “History will show what we here know: Joe Biden has been one of the most transformative presidents the United States ever witnessed.”
“Everywhere I go I tell people you may not be a union member but you should thank unions for that five-day work week,” family leave, vacation and other workplace policies because, Harris said, “when union wages go up everyone’s wages go up.
“When unions are strong, America is strong” Harris said. Pittsburgh, she said, “has shaped the history of the labor movement” in the U.S.
Harris said she is “fighting to build an economy that works for all working people,” saying how “that has always been the vision of the labor movement. And that is the vision of our campaign.”
Her campaign is “focused on the future,” she said, adding that Trump is “focused on the past.”
“The true measure of a leader is based on who you lift up,” the Democratic nominee said. “Do you fight for workers? Do you fight for families?” she asked.
“This election is a fight for the promise of America.”
“One of the highest forms of patriotism,” she said, is to fight for American ideals she said among chants of “we’re not going back.”
Trump, she said, supported “right to work” laws, blocked overtime pay benefits “for millions of workers,” opposed efforts to raise the minimum wage and appointed “union-busters” to national labor relations board.
And if re-elected, Trump “intends to give more tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations” as well as cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other public safety net programs, Harris claimed Monday.
“America has tried those failed policies before and we are not going back,” she told the electrified crowd.
Harris said she is fighting for an America where no person “goes broke for being sick”
“I will always have the back of America’s steel workers,” Harris pledged on Monday in Pittsburgh.
Meanwhile, Walz was farther north in Erie.
He spent the day in Milwaukee with his wife, Gwen.
Multiple vehicles traveling in the motorcade in Milwaukee crashed. Walz was not hurt and the crash involved three vans with members of the press and staff members.
“Passengers reported injuries considered to be non-life-threatening and were treated by medical personnel prior to transport to an area hospital,” Secret Service Public Affairs Specialist Joe Biesk said.
Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, was at a campaign event later in Newport News, Va.
Trump and vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance were not on the campaign trail Monday.
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Publish date : 2024-09-02 12:42:00
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