US trade union movement mobilizes millions of voters for Harris 

The U.S. presidential election could be decided by the smallest of margins, but the stakes for working people could not be greater.  

Leading up to 5 November, voters have a stark choice between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The record of the Trump presidency, from 2016-2020, reads like a wish list for anti-union billionaires. Trump made penalizing striking workers easier and his administration eroded health and safety rules and enforcement. His Department of Labor was referred to as the “Department of Employers’ Rights.” 

In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration has promoted workers’ fundamental human right to form a union. As a result, there has been a doubling of petitions by workers to have union representation during their administration – the first increase since the 1970s. The administration has also used the power of federal procurement to incentivize unions. 

Harris has stood with striking workers, including UNI affiliate the Writers Guild of America. As a senator from California, she was one of the leading champions of legislation to make union organizing fairer across the nation. 

Many of UNI’s largest U.S. affiliates have redoubled their efforts to mobilize millions of voters in support of Vice President Harris.   

The UFCW is driving turnout across the country, including key swing states like Nevada. 

“Working families deserve a presidential candidate that will put them first and the only candidate in this race who will do that is Vice President Harris. We look forward to working with our members across the country to elect her as our next president,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said announcing the union’s endorsement. 

SEIU is making sure that its members and the communities they serve are registered and ready to vote. In a post on the care and property service union’s website, Lolita Owens, a 22-year home care worker in must-win Pennsylvania, makes the importance of the election clear:  

“We have too much at stake this election. MAGA extremists are in cahoots with the wealthy and corporations and are determined to reward them with tax breaks and fewer regulations—the very things that will stop our progress and set working people back. We cannot risk our rights or our democracy this election year, or ever.” 

CWA members and retirees also are working tirelessly to ensure a Harris win, and entertainment unions like IATSE are doing the same.

UNI General Secretary Christy Hoffman says, “The Biden-Harris administration has been the most pro-union of my lifetime, and I’ve been proud to see the U.S. government take concrete steps to insist that foreign policy take worker issues and the importance of collective bargaining into account.  A Donald Trump victory would not only reverse these steps, his leadership would be a global threat to human rights and democracy. It would undoubtably lift an already rising tide of right-wing extremism and fascism around the world. My thanks go to our U.S. unions who are organizing their members and communities to elect Harris.”   

 

 

 

 

 

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