Thank you, Ken [Sagar] for your kind words of introduction, and for inviting me to speak at your convention. It’s great to be back in Iowa.
Let me start by acknowledging our brothers and sisters in the midst of tough negotiations. We have bakery workers in Cedar Rapids whose contract expired this past weekend. The way forward won’t be easy, but I want to thank the local Building Trades in particular and all the other unions that have stood in solidarity with BCTGM. And I want the workers who are fighting for a fair contract to know the entire AFL-CIO has their back.
You’ve got a lot of good things going on here in Iowa. Your State Fed is growing stronger with new affiliations and new members. You are engaging with community partners and helping to keep our shared priorities in the public eye. We saw the power of this coalition at the Iowa Working Families Summit in May, which brought together progressive activists to rally support for our Raising Wages agenda, and to set the tone for the 2016 election.
I also want to mention the Ames Organizing Project. With coalition partners and community support, you are organizing new members and building powerful momentum for a labor movement in a place that desperately needs it. I’m told you’ve got two new public employee units in the process of certification, and four active drives at private employers. That’s progress.
You know better than I do that Iowa working families have a unique ability to shape the national debate as we head into the next presidential election. I can’t tell you how proud I am to see candidates talking about working family issues. Even Jeb Bush has tried to chime in. Now, he can’t pass the laugh test, but he should feel pressure to be accountable to working people, and you’ve done a lot to raise that pressure. Thank you.
Last week, at the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting, we hosted five presidential candidates. Each one spoke and took questions for an hour. We had Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Bernie Sanders.
Let me tell you, the EC’s enthusiasm for the Raising Wages agenda is through the roof. Those candidates felt it. They heard it. They responded.
This is important. We are crystal clear with these candidates about one thing: We do not work for any political party or any candidate. We work for working people. Period. We want the freedom to live better lives, to take care of our families and to improve our jobs and our communities.
But corporate CEOs see it differently. They want to tear down working people. These CEOs are doing everything possible to lower pay and ruin benefits in Iowa and all across our country, but we have a better vision. We’re focused on fixing America, with unionism and political action. We can raise wages. This is a popular idea. This is a mainstream idea. This is an American idea.
So get on your feet, brothers and sisters! This is how we rise. With political independence. With action for working people. By standing together. Today, tomorrow and as long as it takes. Together. With all workers, all families and everyone who believes in the American Dream!
Listen, you’ve done a lot of mobilizing over the past few years, but I especially appreciate all the hard work you’ve done fighting Fast Track, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership these past months. We’re not done, not by a long shot, and all across the country our activists have made a difference turning yes votes into no votes.
You helped move the dial because you brought pressure. You held elected leaders accountable.
Democratic, Republican, Independent, whatever, working people are tired of these damn bad trade deals full of corporate entitlements. They’ve been killing jobs and weakening our country for far too long.
Iowa doesn’t like bad trade deals. The American people don’t like bad trade, and we are making our voices heard. Fast Track may have squeaked by, but listen close, we have forever changed the trade debate in America. It will never be the same. We will fight TPP. We intend to beat it. And mark my words, we are building very real, permanent power for a new America, and we’re not stopping.
We’re working for a better life. We’re showing America that raising wages can work.
America needs your activism, now more than ever.
Iowa voters, just like working families all over this country, are independent people, yet we share common values. We have a common vision. We want work to pay. We want fairness. We want what’s best for our families and each other.
That’s why the AFL-CIO has taken such a strong stand for political independence. That’s why we pledged to freeze our political spending this spring to campaign against Fast Track. I don’t care who wants that deal …. I’m against it.
We know what doesn’t work for America—bad trade deals—and we know what does—collective bargaining.
The single best way to raise wages is with collective bargaining agreements. The labor movement remains the backbone of the American middle class. We embrace that fact, and that’s how we always know who stands with us and who stands against us.
This year 5 million union workers are bargaining contracts. This is the biggest year for collective bargaining in American history. We helped our employers pull through in the hard times. Profits are up. Stocks are climbing. So now, we want a fair share.
In the first six months of this year alone, working people in all kinds of jobs have won an average 4.3% pay increase the old-fashioned way—by asking for it. Other contracts will follow.
That’s not all. Over the past few months, higher minimum wages have been going into effect all across the country. Fast food workers won a $15 minimum wage in New York and for the first time in history federal legislation was proposed at the same level.
And this spring, 2 million retail workers stood together and won raises from Walmart and Target and Marshalls and TJ Maxx. When Ikea raised wages, the results were so good they raised wages again.
Our work raising wages has opened millions of eyes. People are getting bigger paychecks, and you know how good that feels!
Last month, our unions helped convince the White House to propose updated overtime rules so millions of people can get paid for ALL the work they actually do! And if it is adopted, overtime pay will account for rising prices for the first time since the 1970s. It’s about time!
Raising wages is how we lift up our families and our communities.
Raising wages is what we do.
And raising wages will kick-start the greatest engine of economic growth the world has ever seen… a well-paid American workforce!
Raising wages comes from activism and the collective voice. That’s big.
And if some is good, more is better! We want more! We want better! We want raising wages! We want a better life!
Brothers and sisters, it’s incredibly important for us to do everything in our power to raise wages. It starts with us and it starts here in Iowa.
We’re building collective power in the workplace, in the economy and in politics. It’s critical for all of us to continue member-to-member organizing, to keep building our central labor councils and state federations of labor, and to keep engaging with community allies. In all of these areas, I want you to lead by example. Make sure your members see you and hear you.
We’re part of a powerful movement at an historic time … and you are on the front lines. After this convention, when you go back home, you’ll be better prepared with what you gain here, to push our movement forward.
The next election cycle is just around the corner. We’re building for it. We’re ready for it. When we unite with allies and partners, the numbers are on our side. When we stand together with those who share our vision and our values, the numbers are on our side.
This is our day, our time, our rights, one voice, one power, one country. We will do better. Together.
So declare with me today … we’ll march for it. We’ll fight for it. We’ll organize for it. And mobilize for it. We’ll keep building and winning, winning a better future for us and for our kids and their kids. Together today. Together tomorrow. Together for as long as it takes to reclaim an America that works for all workers!
Thank you! God bless you, and the work you do!
