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Remarks by AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka, Greater Boston Labor Council Labor 2012 Walk, Malden, Massachusetts

October 13, 2012

Hello Massachusetts! 

There’s nowhere I’d rather be, than right here in the cradle of American liberty, and there’s nobody I’d rather be with than you, and with the next Senator from Massachusetts -- Elizabeth Warren! 

I want to thank you all for coming out. You’re a great crowd. This is why we win. 

Let me tell you something. Nothing is more important in politics than the active involvement of working people like you who give your time, and put yourselves on the line for something you believe in. Nothing. And nothing is more important than walking neighborhoods. A face-to-face conversation will beat a TV ad every single time. And let me tell you something else. Nobody does a canvass better than union volunteers. Nobody. Walking door to door, talking person to person, is the bread and butter of our political lives. 

Today, working people are standing tall all across America. We’re standing for candidates like Elizabeth Warren, and we’re standing tall for President Obama, and we’re winning for our candidates. We’re winning an election to move forward, not backward! 

That’s why we’re here today. And brothers and sisters, when union members walk door-to-door  we look each other in the eye. We tell the honest truth about the candidates. And the people we visit know they can count on what we say. 

You know and I know that you can’t count on Scott Brown. He’ll say whatever he thinks you want to hear. If you put on a hockey jersey, he’ll put one on, too. If you drive a truck, he’ll drive one, too. He’s got as many colors as the fall foliage! He’s almost as bad as Mitt Romney! 

Scott Brown voted for tax cuts for outsourcers. He blocked investments in America’s future. He voted against unemployment benefits for jobless workers. And listen to this, he claims he was a proud union member, but then he went to Washington and voted against Davis-Bacon, and he voted to deny workers the ability to organize and bargain for better wages. 

And what about Mitt? Mitt Romney wouldn’t know the truth if it kicked him in the back side! He’s Etch-a-sketching his way through the campaign. He doesn’t know a thing about honesty. He doesn’t know what it’s like to work for a living. He doesn’t know a thing about work! 

But you do. And I do. Barack Obama does. And so does Elizabeth Warren. 

I want you to know something. In the years that Scott Brown has been in Washington, the Massachusetts firefighters have asked him to support five bills -- only five bills -- to increase public safety by putting more firefighters and police on the ground right here in Massachusetts. Scott Brown didn’t listen. He voted against those bills every single time -- every time! 

Well, now the firefighters have endorsed Elizabeth Warren for Senate! They made that endorse-ment because she has a plan called Rebuild Now to create jobs and strengthen America’s middle class, and they made that endorsement because she will vote for teachers, firefighters and police not once, not twice, but every single time! Elizabeth Warren will stand with Massachusetts working families every time, and especially when we need her the most.

Elizabeth Warren is a genuine American hero, a pioneer for consumers’ rights, a champion for workers’ rights!

And it’s time -- way past time -- that we stood up and took our country back from the Scott Browns and the Mitt Romneys. We need more leaders like Elizabeth Warren, leaders who will stand with us, and speak out for everybody who works hard for a living. 

We’re going to take our country back. Because we’re the ones who step up when our country needs us. We’re the ones who wake America up every morning, and put her to sleep every night. We fix what’s broken. We answer the call. We build the bridges. We drive the buses. We do what it takes, no matter the cost. And we will take our country back! 

But to take it back, we’ve got to want it -- we’ve got to work for it. 

We have to stand for it. We’ve got to walk for it. 

We’ll fight for it, we’ll vote for it. 

And we’ll vote and we’ll win for Elizabeth Warren. We’ll win for Massachusetts! 

We’ll bring out the best in our country. And in ourselves. To build the future we know we can have -- we must have -- for each of us, for our children, for our grandchildren. And we will never, ever, give up. We will always, always go forward.  And together, we will win -- Together.

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