That was fast — the IBEW and the AFL-CIO endorsed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the very day that he announced his reelection bid, making it that much harder for any Democrat primary challengers to build strong campaign war chests.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International President Kenneth W. Cooper said that Biden-Harris have led the most pro-union administration of his lifetime. He did not mention the president’s failure to make America energy independent or the increasing reliance on China for critical minerals needed for advanced technologies.
“The IBEW represents approximately 775,000 active members and retirees who work in various fields, including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government. The IBEW is the most established and comprehensive energy union in the world dedicated to promoting members’ welfare, safe working conditions and interests, fighting for fair wages, and for the dignity and rights of all workers in America,” Cooper said.
“When the IBEW endorsed candidate Joe Biden in 2019, it was because of his commitment to creating good union jobs, protecting secure retirements, addressing climate change responsibly and investing in American manufacturing. President Joe Biden has delivered on all of these pledges: promises made and promises kept,” Cooper said.
“Throughout his first term, President Biden has been a steadfast ally of unions and American workers. I am confident that support will continue in his second term. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently advanced policies that empower workers, created opportunities for everyday people, and promoted the well-being of working families. As a direct result of these efforts, the Biden-Harris administration has overseen robust economic growth, increased worker wages and the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.”
“Within the first week of taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris began appointing into the administration union officials who have dedicated their lives to advancing the labor movement’s core principles and worker’s rights, including a card-carrying union member for Secretary of Labor and a chief counsel for the NLRB who supports collective bargaining.
“President Biden has issued executive orders to reverse policies that have eroded unionists’ strength for decades, including industry-recognized apprenticeship programs (IRAPs) and rules that gutted federal employees’ collective bargaining rights. And then the Biden-Harris Administration went on the offense: mandating project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects, establishing the first-ever White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, and ensuring that skilled American workers benefit from historic federal investments.
The AFL-CIO also issued a quick statement: “The record is clear: Joe Biden is the most pro-union president of our lifetime. In the first two years of his presidency, Biden has delivered time and again for working people on the most critical issues we face, including making historic investments in good jobs, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, bringing manufacturing home to the United States, supporting educators and other public service workers, and strengthening the right to organize.
“The future of our country hangs in the balance—and like President Biden, we know there is much more to do. Over the next few weeks, the AFL-CIO and our unions will build on more than a year and a half of engaging our 12.5 million members as we gear up for 2024. We look forward to building on the progress of the past two years and finishing the job of creating an economy that puts working people first.
“We are working to build on the progress of the Biden–Harris administration’s past two years and finish the job of creating an economy that puts working people first,” the AFL-CIO said in a statement.
Really? Unions behind socialism?
Impossible.
No surprise. Unions are a Marxist cancer.
The IBEW, in particular, literally epitomize narrow-minded, blinkered, selfish, self-serving thugs.
????????. Biden and “Salad Word” Kamala are so terrible as leaders. The US is in a world of hurt. 2 Chronicles 7:14. We REALLY need God!
Looks like the IBEW,AFL-CIO is rooting for the destruction of America.
I wonder what their members think about that.
They don’t care about the members, so long as the cash keeps flowing into the God’s pockrts!!
Their members can’t think. That why they joined a gang/ union.
There was a time and a place for unions. I think we are long past that time.
This endorsement just shows how much control they have over politics.
Union bosses steal from their own members and rig their own internal union elections so they can remain in power and keep the outside auditors away. Did you ever look at the homes, recreation homes, and power toys the union bosses have? Vacation digs and fat bank accounts and luxury cars? The members bought those things for their bosses ………..involuntarily.
I work side by side with many IBEW rank a file. This not who the majority will cast their ballot for. Now what happens after it’s dropped in that mailbox and trucked to and frow …..well we know how that works out.
Probably safe to assume that the pipe welders union that use to furnish labor for the late keystone pipeline will likely back the BIG GUY also
I read a very good essay one time about the formation of unions and I’ve been kicking myself ever since that I didn’t hang onto the information or author. So I have no source to back me up but the gist of the piece has remained with me. I’ve heard the old adage over and over again–“Well, unions have become corrupt but they were started with a good purpose”. The article I read said that unions were always “dishonest”. Some researchers think they were infiltrated by informers for the business owners from the very beginning. The workers were unhappy, rioting, destroying property, etc. and it was to the advantage of the businesses to make some concessions. Some of the owners might even have become a little enlightened, but in general most business were only willing to agree under threat of destruction and not because they were so generous to their employees. If you look at the whole idea of strikes and causing disruption, it is kind of sad to think of people only getting improvement by violent means. (I grew up with a unionized father and had been taught the virtue of unions so I was especially shocked at some of that research.)
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Or be in the union.
You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Joe Stalin will be endorsing Biden by the end of the week. Stalin now identifies as a living US citizen with all civil rights. (This is what the “+” in “LGBTQA+” means…) If you question this you will be arrested for hate speech.
When Brandon shut down the Keystone Pipeline not a one of any Trade Unions spoke up. Not a one. And yet they still back him. Unbelievable. Most Union workers I worked with wanted good wages and benefits for their families and vote conservative.
The unions are just in it for their 10%. Biden will reward them when elected just as all democrats do. I never seen a union leader who got their hands dirty. They are money suckers.
Union Leadership are Inspired by Communist Means of gaining absolute power. Most of our elected officials are BEHOLDEN to them come Election time, and Juenuo Legislative time. Who where the ESSENTIAL WORKERS during Covid, why is the PFD MONEY moving from our account to theirs. Look what their policies have done to every major city and Blue States. The Trillions we are borrowing more of each year are going into bailing out UNION CESSPOOLS. The PFD CHECK is the Canary in the Coal Mine for Alaska. We cannot afford this Economic Philosophy. Lots of good hard working ALASKANS belong to Unions, in fact the majority of the workforce does.They are organized and can vote themselves a bigger raises every year. They will fight for that right to do so every year, till the money is all gone.. You Will Get What You Don’t Vote For, Unless you get others to vote with you.
It is stunning they can be so duped and short sighted. I do not know anything about the AFL-CIO but do work with many people that are members of IBEW and most of them vote conservative. How can a trade union support someone who is the antithesis of what the union claims to represent? They certainly don’t seem to be representing most of their members either. Unions need to just stick to representing employees in contract negotiations, provide training to improve the trade such as IBEW has done, and stay completely out of politics.
Elizabeth, I agree with a lot of what you said. The concept of Unions is good. It is the Democrate Political arm, using Communist Party tactics is what is destroying our country and State.. The Democrats Party representing State and Federal Unions is a total conflict of interest.
I agree.
It is a real shame that the readership of MRAK isn’t on a par with the ADN and these constructive and accurate comments aren’t available for their readers to educate themselves with.
No one reads the Adn Arctic
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