Thank you, Brother Joe [Nigro], for your kind words of introduction. Thank you for inviting me to your convention. It’s good to be here with this important, and powerful union, at such a critical point in your history.
I want to talk to you about the unity of our movement today, about Democrats and Republicans, about the labor movement’s engagement in the social issues of our day, and about where we stand in the middle of it all, as a labor movement, as working people.
First, I’ll say this about your union: A merger like yours isn’t easy. There’s nothing simple about it.
On the one hand, your merger has potential for tremendous value: your larger membership means having your voice in more arenas—in organizing and in politics, from city halls all the way to Capitol Hill in Washington.
Yet on the other hand, let’s face it, all that positive stuff sounds good, but I know how hard it is to unite a movement. I know how tough it is to mobilize and bring together a membership as diverse as ours, as broad and strong and varied as the workers represented by your union. We’re talking about unions with very different and distinct cultures. We’re talking, in some cases, about workers who have exercised a lot of autonomy in the past, and this merger to some, represents the prospect of giving some of that up.
It’s difficult to find the right balance, but it’s worth the effort, because that’s how you’ll achieve greater strength, without losing those traditions that are so dear to us all. And so I commend you for the work you’ve done, and the work you will do. As I said, it may not be easy, but it’s important—the merging of cultures for greater power, greater strength. That’s unionism, pure and simple.
Brothers and sisters, just as unionism is so central in our lives, we aim to help more working families use unionism to build a better life. I’m not saying that because I like the sound of the words. I’m saying it because it’s true. Unionism works. Solidarity builds strong careers, strong families, strong communities and a strong future for the United States of America.
A union is the best tool to win respect, to turn a bad job into a good job, one with good pay and benefits and a chance for a secure retirement, because when we stand together, we’re powerful. We earn respect. There’s no denying it. Unionism works.
The best way to fair pay, is a union contract.
The best way to retirement security, is a union contract.
The best way to a better tomorrow, so you can give your family a decent life and a strong future, it all comes back to a union contract.
And a decent life is not too much to ask, because we’re the workers of America, from the shipyard to the round house, from construction site to the airfield, we build the systems and keep them running. We lift the loads and answer the call. We do what it takes, no matter the cost. We wake our country up every single day, and we tuck her into bed at night. We won’t be turned aside. We won’t sit down, or back up, or shut up, and we will not be denied. This is our country, and we’re taking it back. It’s time for America to work for workers!
Sisters and brothers, you know the story of the past 40 years as well as anybody. You know how productivity rose while wages froze, which meant virtually all of the wealth created by our growing economy has gone to the richest 1%.
As working men and women, we’ve seen the day-by-day toll this trend has taken on workers. We’ve seen how corporations sometimes rig themselves to fail, so executives can break pension promises, and walk away with millions. And we’ve seen profitable companies use the struggles down the street to justify health care cuts and take-back contracts.
We’ve seen corporations, profitable and strong corporations, cut corners and take shortcuts for no reason other than to make bigger profits. That puts workers at risk. That’s wrong.
Look at the effort to end two-man crews by increasing automation on the railways. I don’t think these executives have been reading the newspapers about derailments, but we need our trains fully staffed.
We’re talking about the safety of our communities, the lives of workers. This isn’t up for debate, any more than the idea of flying a commercial airline with only one pilot. Some shortcuts are simply too dangerous!
And these proposals come back to one simple thing: the endless pursuit of more money, higher profits, even at the expense of human life.
This is the story of the past four decades, as working families have been worn down all over the country. Our entire nation has been worn down, because our economy doesn’t work when work doesn’t pay.
But the good news is people everywhere are starting to understand themselves as workers. People all across this country, and around the world, are beginning to see collective action as a solution to our troubles. From the Vatican to Vegas, and everywhere in between, more and more people are talking about economic inequality, people who never spoke the words before. The public is debating big issues, like a living wage and collective bargaining. We’re talking about raising wages, and we like it.
And I can tell you this, people who like the idea of raising wages, are going to love the reality of raising wages a whole lot more. You see, household expenditures make up 70% of the American economy. That’s how raising wages will create jobs, because when workers do well, America does well. We buy goods and services to improve our lives. We create demand, and then corporations hire more workers to meet that demand. It’s what you call a virtuous cycle. It’s the opposite of a race to the bottom. It’s the foundation of a strong economy built on raising wages, not credit card debt and asset bubbles.
We’re spreading the word. At the AFL-CIO we’ve got a new program called Common Sense Economics. How many of you have heard of it? We have a plan to teach 1 million regular working people how raising wages works. That’s just one way we’ll use information to continue to build momentum for working families. We’ve got other initiatives, too. We’re strengthening our state federations of labor and local labor councils. We’re joining together with community partners and allies, in ways we never have before. We’re a mainstream movement, and we’re acting like it.
America is tired of losing middle-class jobs. From Montana to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Oregon to the Florida coast, we’re done with the downward spiral. In poll after poll after poll, we hear Americans say, “We want an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few.”
More than 70% of the American people want minimum wage to go up to $10.10 an hour, and 72% say federal investments in America’s infrastructure to create jobs should be a top national priority. Eighty-two percent of the public wants good American manufacturing jobs, not more bad trade deals. That’s an idea that unites us, and 90% of the American people want an end to Chinese currency manipulation -- 90%, that’s an idea that unites almost every single one of us!
Now let me tell you this: At the AFL-CIO we asked a specific group of voters if they agreed with this simple statement: “We need to make sure that all of us, not just the CEOs get our fair share in our economy.”
Two out of three voters agreed -- 66% agreed and said, yes, that’s right, we need to make sure all of us, not just CEOs, get our fair share.
Well, you might think that number’s a little low. But you’ll think differently when you hear who we asked. The poll was of registered Republican working class voters. Or as I like to think of them, workers who happen to be Republicans.
Here’s what that definition means to me. It means a solid majority of working people of every stripe share our same basic challenges, the same hopes and dreams, and together we understand economics are at the heart of our problems.
You see, working people may embrace a range of philosophies, religions and political points of view, but we are still united by the circumstances of our lives, and by the vision and the hopes we share.
And so it is up to you and me, to each of us, to help bridge the gap for the workers who share our values, but who don’t yet see how our interests intersect.
That’s why we’re reaching out to all workers, even if they fly the Tea Party flag, because when it comes to economic issues, we must all stand together, so the voices of America, our America, can be heard in the workplace and in our national life. And let me tell you, our research shows us that there is a demographic within the self-described Tea Party community, we’ll call them Tea Party liberals, or Tea Party populists, who share our values, who want America to work for the people who work.
Work should never hold us down and trap us in poverty. Work must lift us up. We want our country to work for the people who work! And America is on our side!
Power and hope are rising. We’re on the right path, brothers and sisters. From sheet metal workers to retail, from domestic workers to day laborers, a groundswell is growing, and it keeps getting bigger. It's strong, and it'll get stronger. It's a movement to raise wages, so all of us can live a better life.
We’ll stand together, to raise wages for all. We’ll fight for construction workers and security guards! We’ll march together! For mass transit and power plant workers! For all working families! For good pay. We’ll stand together! For a strong future. For each other! We won’t back down, or back up, or step down, until we win a new day for the American Dream. We’ll shout here in Vegas and all across America. And we’ll show how much good raising wages can do.
Brothers and sisters, I began my remarks by talking about the merging of our union cultures, and let me tell you—what you’re doing within your union is pretty similar to what we’re doing all throughout the labor movement.
You see, we’re taking a movement of working people and we’re bringing that movement closer to other major social movements of our day. Whether we’re talking about immigration or the movement for marriage equality, some of those same contentious issues arise -- cultural issues.
And I know what some people say. They say the AFL-CIO spends too much time and money on social issues. The critics don’t see jobs coming out of it. They don’t see collective bargaining agreements coming out of it.
Here’s what I tell them. I say, first off, there’s a rationale for doing this. Our labor movement cannot stand alone. We must have people on our side, and so we’re stepping forward with those allies and partners who share our values, who share our basic interests, because we are more than just an interest group. We are a movement for working people, all working people. That’s what solidarity is all about. Our strength comes from standing together.
And second, I tell them this: When we cast our eyes about for partners, we look for those who share our values and our interests.
We know, I know, as the son and grandson of immigrants, of workers who were called every name in the book, who were cheated because we didn’t speak the language, who were the last ones hired and the first fired, I know what it’s like to be an immigrant, working hard and searching for a better life, a life where hard work yields rewards, so you can raise your family the way you want, so you can pass a better life onto your children. That dream is the immigrant dream. It’s mine, and yours, too! That dream is the American Dream!
You see, we’re not a bunch of bleeding hearts condescending to the latest liberal fad. We are standing together with working people, for working family issues. And if you think about it, immigration policy has always been work policy, ever since the days of chattel slavery. And the worst thing we can ever do as working people is to allow ourselves to be divided along social lines, to be torn apart and beaten up, one by one.
We’re standing together with all workers, because we know if working people don’t stand together, we’ll fall together.
So that’s why we’re building a movement, a broad movement for the America we want and need. We’re building a movement that will understand the importance of an energy-efficient future of good jobs and a secure economy. We’re building a movement that will understand the importance of Made in America, that will understand the importance of American Made, Union Made.
But when it comes to politics, sisters and brothers, you won’t find us joining together with just anybody.
You see, we’re not working for just any candidate. We’re not building power for any political party. Not the Democratic Party. Not the Republican Party. We’re building power for working people, pure and simple. We’re looking at the long view. We’ll work for anybody who works with us, and we’re not afraid of holding anybody’s feet to the fire. Working families need results. Period.
You see, we’ve learned some mean political lessons about the red-blue divide in the last few year, hard political lessons, but I want you to listen very closely to what I have to say, we’re stronger because of those lessons. We’re more independent because of those lessons. We’re more focused, more disciplined, more creative, and more powerful.
We’re asking hard questions of every single candidate who wants our support, we’re asking questions like, do you support America’s workers? Do you support manufacturing jobs? Do you support our right to bargain collectively for a better life? Do you support good jobs? Will you grow our economy, not shrink it? Will you raise wages?
And I tell you, we will not hold our nose and line up behind any Democrat, just because there’s a D next to his or her name. That’s not good enough. It won’t happen.
Yet I promise, I swear, nobody will work harder, or smarter, or longer, to elect the leaders who make the right commitments, and nobody will work harder, or longer, to defeat those who don’t, regardless of party. And I’m asking you to do this with me.
This electoral season, I want to ask you to be leaders who lead by example. Be the first to knock on the doors. Make the first phone call at the phone bank. I’ll do it, too.
We have a plan for what we’re doing. We’ll motivate our volunteers. We’ll strengthen our activists. We’ll connect with more working-class voters, get more working families to the polls, because if we want the policies we need, if we want all of us to get our fair share, we need the right leaders in every corner of America. We’ve got to engage and turn out our people. And after Election Day, we’ll have a stronger network of activists and local leaders ready to mobilize and pressure our leaders, and to support our organizing for the union members of tomorrow.
We’re changing lives. We’re scrambling and reaching for a little more hope. We have a vision. And we’re going to make it rea, because when all of us pitch in, that’s shared responsibility, shared sacrifice.
From Long Island to Long Beach, from the maintenance shed to the factory floor, we win together when we stand together. So get off your seat and on your feet, sisters and brothers. When we stand together, we win together. And we’re gonna win together!
We’ll work for it. We’ll stand for it. Together. Each of us. With solidarity. Real solidarity. Where your picket line is my picket line. And my picket line is your picket line. Shoulder to shoulder. Arm-in-arm. All day. Every day. As long as it takes. To win together. To raise wages. To grow together. To bring out the best in ourselves, to bring out the best in each other. To bring out the best in America. For the America we can have, and must have, and will have. Keep fighting. Keep winning.
