Speech | Civil Rights

Trumka Makes 2016 Election Closing Argument

Pittsburgh, Pa.

I’m Rich Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. It is great to be back in my home state of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh is a proud union town!

Thank you, President Gerard, for hosting us. The United Steelworkers is one of the greatest labor unions in the entire world.

We’ve got four days left. Mark my words—labor is going to be the difference in this election. And it all starts here in Pennsylvania.

I know how hard you’ve been working. But I need you to dig just a little deeper and push just a little harder.

We are on the brink of something truly special. It’s right there in front of us.

For decades, the economic rules have been written by and for the wealthy. But we are changing that. With each phone call. With each door knock. With each conversation.

Our agenda and our message have been the winners in this election. But none of that matters unless we vote.

We’ve won the debate. Now it’s time to win the White House. And the Senate. And the Supreme Court.

The stakes are high and the choice is clear.

On one hand, we have Donald Trump.

He is unfit to be president. He would tear America apart.

He says he wants to build great things—but he buys his steel from China.

He says he’d be good for workers—but he thinks our wages are too high.

He says he’s our friend—but he won’t pay us or negotiate with us or tell us the truth.

Donald Trump is a fraud.

And in four days, we’re going to send him a message loud and clear—not now! Not ever!

Working people need a champion.

And Hillary Clinton is the woman for the job.

She will make the biggest investment in infrastructure since World War II. And she’ll do it using AMERICAN steel.

She opposes the job-killing TPP today, tomorrow, and every day.

She understands that to truly make America great again, we need to get America organized again. Organized into unions!

Hillary Clinton listens to our voices. She shares our values. She has our backs.

In four days, we can either elect a public servant or a public spectacle.

A respected champion or a cowardly con man.

A workhorse or a jackass.

Sisters and brothers, we know what to do. Let’s elect Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States.

And let’s send her there with reinforcements like Katie McGinty. Katie is fighting for a new direction on trade. She supports equal pay for equal work. She wants to protect Social Security and Medicare and strengthen worker rights.

And what about Pat Toomey? He can’t even decide whether or not to vote for Donald Trump. I mean, seriously.

If you want to know who broke the economic rules, just Google Pat Toomey’s resume. He never met a trade agreement he didn’t like until he was down in the polls. He said right to work would make Pennsylvania more competitive. He voted to make it harder to unionize.

Enough! If we are going to truly change the rules, we need to change the Senate. And that means sending Katie McGinty to Washington and Pat Toomey to Zionsville.

Listen, we cannot take anything for granted. The polls are close. Too close for comfort. Let’s make these last four days the best of this campaign.

Hit the worksites. Talk to members. Walk the streets and knock the doors. And after the ballots are counted and the results are in, we’ll be in a better position to improve our communities, to organize in the workplace and to win strong contracts and better pay.

We’ll fix what’s broken in America. Together, we’ll create a better tomorrow. We’ll work for it, sisters and brothers. Each of us. With solidarity. Where your picket line is my picket line and my picket line is your picket line.

All of us together. Shoulder to shoulder. Arm in arm. All day. Every day. Voting. Fighting. Winning. Together. To bring out the best in each other and ourselves. To bring out the best in America. To build the nation we can have and must have and will have!

Thank you! God bless you!

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