AFL-CIO - American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

22/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 23/07/2024 05:54

AFL-CIO Unanimously Endorses Kamala Harris for President

July 22, 2024

WASHINGTON-Following a vote of its Executive Council, which represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, today the AFL-CIO unanimously endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election.

"From day one, Vice President Kamala Harris has been a true partner in leading the most pro-labor administration in history," said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. "At every step in her distinguished career in public office, she's proven herself a principled and tenacious fighter for working people and a visionary leader we can count on. From taking on Wall Street and corporate greed to leading efforts to expand affordable child care and support vulnerable workers, she's shown time and again that she's on our side. With Kamala Harris in the White House, together we'll continue to build on the powerful legacy of the Biden-Harris administration to create good union jobs, grow the labor movement and make our economy work for all of us."

As vice president, Harris:

  • Played a critical role in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, investing in good-paying union jobs, bringing manufacturing back to America, lowering prescription drug costs and raising wages
  • Saved the pensionsof more than 1 million union workers and retirees
  • Led the administration's efforts to increase access to affordable child careand expand the child tax credit
  • Championed worker organizing and chaired the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, where she championed for new worker organizing and training to create pathways to good union jobs
  • Stood with striking writers

Other highlights of Harris' record in support of workers include the following:

  • As a U.S. senator, she fought to expand labor protections and fair wages for agriculturaland domestic workersand walked the picket linewith International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) workers. She was a vigorous advocate for workers' freedom to form or join a union, including strongly supporting the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to reform broken labor legislation that stacks the deck against workers.
  • As attorney general of California, she cracked down on corporate greed, took on the big banksafter the 2008 financial crisis to deliver relief for struggling homeowners and protected the most vulnerable workers by tackling wage theftand other corporate crimes.

"The AFL-CIO is proud of our earlyand steadfastsupport for the Biden-Harris administration, and now we'll ratchet up our mass mobilization of union workers to elect Vice President Harris as president,"Shuler continued. "Like Harris, the labor movement doesn't back down-and we'll never shy away from a tough fight when the future of workers and unions is on the line. Together, we will defeat Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and their devastating anti-worker Project 2025 agenda in November."

Contact: Steve Smith, 202-637-5018