Thank you, Brother Tim [Canoll], for your friendship and your leadership. It’s wonderful to join you at this pivotal time in America’s history. I’m excited to talk to your new leaders.
When I’m done, I look forward to your questions, thoughts and ideas. Let’s make this a real conversation. I’m told you will be able to either step up to one of the microphones or text a question to the number behind me, and Captain Canoll can pass it along.
Listen, I am very fortunate to lead the AFL-CIO. It’s the greatest honor of my life. But I’ve never stopped being an organizer. I’ve never stopped being a rep. I’ve never forgotten what I learned on the safety committee of my union, the United Mine Workers of America.
In your union work, each of you is going to determine the future of our labor movement. You have the power—and the responsibility. Your staff and elected leaders will give you tools and support, and I certainly offer my guidance and experience. But it is you on the ground—and in the air—who will make our movement go forward.
We are fighting for the future of the American Dream. And when it comes to working for a better life, a union contract is where the rubber meets the road. When working people stand together—from pilots and engineers to nurses and coal miners—we can bargain for what’s fair. You know what I’m talking about. Wages. Safety. Benefits. Pensions. A voice.
As new union reps, your job is to make sure our collective bargaining agreements are respected and enforced. That’s weighty stuff. The decisions you make and the actions you take will have a profound impact on the work and lives of your members.
Looking at you, I think about my own role early on. It changed me, and I believe it will change you, too. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for the importance of our basic democratic freedoms on the job. You’ll stand up more quickly and forcefully against unsafe or unfair treatment. You’ll be more careful to listen to every side of an argument. As you serve, you’ll strengthen your union, and our entire labor movement. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more of you goes on to lead a local union or federation. Trust me, the American labor movement needs all the dedicated leaders we can get.
Now, I couldn’t come here without talking about politics. And I am happy to discuss it more during Q&A.
Politically, we’re growing increasingly independent. That doesn’t mean we’ll shy away from the debate. We’re as involved as ever. We’re simply asserting ourselves in a more constructive way. We’re putting our issues and our values out front.
We can’t and won’t make politics personal. We need jobs. We believe each and every one of us should be able to work hard, play by the rules and earn a decent life. In return, we want what’s fair. That’s not too much to ask.
In one of his very first actions, President Trump did something that I applauded. He withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the massive trade deal that two years ago everyone thought was a slam dunk. Regardless of your feelings about President Trump or Hillary Clinton, both had vowed to pull us from this bad agreement. The fact that both major party candidates campaigned against bad corporate trade deals is really remarkable. In many ways, it marks the beginning of a new era in our country.
That shift was no accident. Working people from coast to coast made calls, wrote letters, lobbied Congress and let our leaders know enough is enough. We stood united. The men and women in power listened, and now we are moving in a better direction.
Yet today, there is no denying that America is divided, and few people are more divisive than our president. Even the question of whether he’s divisive is divisive. Hardly anything can separate the people in a room more than the subject of Donald Trump, but let me tell you something: we can’t let who we voted for separate us in this room, because what happens over the next four years will affect every one of us and everyone we know. It’ll be our responsibility to try to derail the bad things and lift up the good things.
Take Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, for example. She has the potential to do a lot of good for transportation in America, but it’s up to us to push her to fix the flawed policy that has allowed Norwegian Air to operate a low-road air service flying a flag of convenience. The Norwegian permit is bad for American jobs. It’s sets a bad precedent. It’s unsafe. And we’re going to put a stop to it!
You see, our fidelity is not to a political party. We serve the men and women we represent, and the priorities that mean the most, like the safety of our aircraft and our pay and benefits. We want to have a hand in crafting regulations that affect us. We want a seat at the table.
In these challenging times, we must stand together. Solidarity—in pursuit of our issues and our values—is the best way forward. Any politician who thinks they’re going to tear down America’s air safety standards for a quick buck has another think coming. That idea won’t get off the ground. We’ll beat the heck out of it.
So trust me when I say we’re going to come together as a movement, and we’re going to continue to change America.
America needs change. For decades, corporate power has grown, wages have been held down, the union share of the workforce has diminished and just about every dime in productivity gains has gone to pad the wealth of the richest one percent. The gap between the too-rich and the rest of us is as wide today as it’s ever been. But we are responding in force.
Working people are tired of being knocked down. More and more are looking to unions. New data from the Pew Research Center shows a strong and rising majority of Americans support unions—60%—and our approval is even higher among workers ages 18 to 29.
When I talk about working people, I’m referring to all of us who count on a paycheck to live. Every one of us shares the same basic economic interests. Whether you’re a pilot, a flight attendant or a server in the airport, we all rise and fall together.
That’s one thing I spoke about during my meeting with President Trump. I told him that we would judge every action by the same yardstick, and that’s whether it helps or hurts working people. If it helps us, we’ll applaud him, and do everything in our power to push it through. If it hurts us, we’ll fight him at every turn.
While the Trump Administration has done a few positive things like scrapping the TPP, they have also taken a whole host of actions that attack our solidarity, safety, health, wages, benefits, retirement security and workplace rights. We particularly object to his choice for Labor Secretary, Andy Puzder, a fast food CEO who openly disdains workers. Puzder can’t be trusted. He has routinely violated practically every rule he’d be required to enforce.
Brothers and sisters, the Puzder nomination is a reminder that our pay and benefits—our rights and our unity—could get a whole lot worse during the Trump Administration. On Friday, the White House issued a statement saying the president believes in right to work. The attack on unions is raging in Washington D.C. and in states across the country. The next few years will truly define who and what we are as a labor movement.
America needs to work for working people. It’s the right thing to do, and it is good economic policy. When we protect our members, when we win fair raises and good benefits, our entire economy gets a boost. Our lives get better. Our future gets brighter.
We know what we want, and we know what we need. America’s unions are ready to stand up, rise up, step forward and do what’s right! And I will personally call on every worker in America to stand with you in your fights. This is about solidarity, sisters and brothers. We’re seasoned. We’re tough. And we’re big enough to win. So get off your seat and onto your feet. We’ll be marching out the door and into the street!
When I speak to you about the power we can build as working people in America, I’m not asking you to disregard reality. I know it won’t be easy. I know we face long odds. But I also want each of you to consider this simple truth: Nothing is set in stone. The future is ours to shape.
If there’s one thing I want you to do, it’s to keep an open mind. Listen to everybody. Watch everything with a critical eye. Stay engaged. Read what you get from your union and your central labor council. Our labor movement belongs to all of us.
Whatever your personal politics, I’m asking you to embrace your union’s plan to fight for higher wages, better benefits and rights on the job. Embrace your role as an educator, too. Your members count on you for clear-eyed, dispassionate information. That’s absolutely critical. Our movement and our future is much bigger than Democrats or Republicans. It’s bigger than President Trump. It is bigger than any politician or political party. It’s about solidarity, and what we can do to build an economy that works for us, for our lives. Solidarity is the answer. Unionism provides us a path forward.
Everywhere I go, I’m talking about solidarity. Real solidarity. Where your picket line is my picket line, and my picket line is your picket line. I’m talking about standing together, marching together, fighting together and winning together.
This is our country. This is our time. We are the rising tide. We are the American labor movement. We won’t sit back, shut up, back down or be quiet, and we will not be denied!
God bless you! Now let’s get to those questions.
