Vice President Biden Says Obama Administration Stands With Unions

Unions Help Build the American Middle Class

Tens of thousands of working people under attack from Republican governors in 12 states received some high-level support and encouragement on Thursday, when Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis assured workers in a virtual town hall meeting that the Obama administration will stand with them make sure their rights are protected.

Joined by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in the call, the Vice President quoted President Obama as saying: “We can’t have a strong middle class without unions.”

“You built the middle class,” Biden said. “This fight is not about wages or benefits; it’s about trying to break unions. We absolutely, positively need collective bargaining.”

Solis also said our leaders should be focused on creating good jobs and helping working families get back to work.

“That’s important to remember now that as states and cities grapple with enormous fiscal challenges and everyone we know is making sacrifices and meeting those challenges,” Solis said. “But some states’ leaders have gone too far. Budget sacrifices are one thing, but having union members give up their rights is another.”

Trumka said this moment will be what we make of it.

“The teachers and firefighters and nurses and EMTs and snowplow drivers on the ground in a dozen states have provided the inspiration and shown us the way,” he said. “Now we need to carry it forward –– the attacks on workers’ rights are huge, but the courage and activism we’re seeing are even bigger. Together we can build a movement for real change.”

Trumka urged all the listeners to take the next step toward building that movement by talking with their friends and co-workers about what’s at stake. He invited them to join thousands of people across the country on and around April 4 for a time of solidarity and action to say, “We Are One, Respect Our Rights.”

The virtual town hall was sponsored by the unions of the AFL-CIO, SEIU, the National Education Association (NEA), Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the Teamsters, according to a press release about the event.

While the workers on the town hall phone call live in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota, Iowa and New Jersey, the attacks on workers are nationwide, according to the unions.

“Across the country, Republican governors and state legislators have proposed a variety of anti-worker measures that would cut bargaining rights, end prevailing wages, enact so-called right to work laws and a host of other measures,” Trumka said.

Isn’t it about time unions got in the game and started standing up to certain corporations and politicians?

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