Harris, Walz extol value of unions at Detroit rally
WAYNE, Mich. — Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, played up their support for organized labor at a Detroit-area union hall on Thursday, with the Democratic nominee saying “we're all in this together” as the new ticket lavishes attention on a crucial base of support.
Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, and Walz, who joined the ticket Tuesday, spoke Thursday to about 100 United Auto Workers members at Local 900 Hall, which represents Ford’s Michigan Assembly Plant.
As she proclaimed it was “good to be in the house of labor," Harris described the value of unions, saying they were “about understanding that no one should be made to fight alone” and that “hard work is good work.”
“We have fun doing hard work, because we know what we stand for,” she said. "When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for. We know what we stand for, and we stand for the people and we stand for the dignity of work, and we stand for freedom. We stand for justice. We stand for equality.
She continued: “And so we will fight for all of it.”
Walz, riffing off a favorite line of President Joe Biden, told the labor crowd that "we know that unions built the middle class.
“The rest of America has to,” Walz added.
The members at Local 900 were the first Ford workers to strike in 2023 when the union’s contract with the company expired. Workers at the assembly plant went on strike Sept. 15 and remained on the picket lines until Oct. 25, when the union announced a tentative agreement with Ford.
After President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign last month and endorsed his vice president, organized labor quickly rallied around Harris. The AFL-CIO endorsed her after having first backed Biden. The UAW formally backed her last week.
Harris and Walz have been highlighting their support for working people during their first joint appearances this week in some of the most closely contested states that will help decide whether she becomes the first female U.S. president or whether Trump returns to the White House and brings along Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his vice president.
The Democrats visited Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support among the younger, diverse, labor-friendly voters who were instrumental in helping Biden get elected in 2020.
UAW President Shawn Fain told the Associated Press last week that Harris' leading the Democratic ticket boosts the party's chances of winning Michigan and keeping the White House in November. Fain said Trump is beholden to billionaires, knows nothing about the auto industry and would send the labor movement into reverse in a second term.
On Thursday, Fain welcomed the ticket to “labor’s house” and rallied the union crowd by exclaiming: “Kamala Harris is one of us. Gov. Tim Walz is one of us" and praising their pro-labor records.
“This isn’t about opinions. This election is not about party politics,” Fain said. “All we have to do is look at these candidates in their own words and actions. That’s all the facts we need.”
Fain also spoke Wednesday at Harris’ campaign rally at a Detroit-area airport hangar. The UAW leader has become a top nemesis of the Republican presidential nominee, who frequently rails against Fain at rallies and in speeches.
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