Thank you, Sister Tammy [Pilcher]. I appreciate you and the Montana labor movement tremendously. Unions are front and center in Big Sky Country. Your movement is strong and growing, and that’s because your values are in exactly the right place.
I want to welcome and thank each and every one of you here at the Montana AFL-CIO Convention. It’s good to have so many allies and community members, as well as elected leaders. I want you to know we will stand with and fight for the leaders who stand with and fight for us.
America’s labor movement doesn’t work for any political party or any candidate. We are led by a vision that grows from our values, and what we need to live a good life in Montana and across America.
Our vision is why we support an expansive progressive political and legislative agenda. And we intend to win real results. Those wins will improve the lives of Montana’s working families. That’s our priority.
The strength of labor in Montana is no accident.
The breadth of unionism in Montana is evident in the number of your affiliates. You’re deep. And that makes you powerful. Your partnerships are growing, too, and that’s good news. All across this country, the labor movement’s coalition is growing.
Just look at how raising wages has grown as an issue this election season. You see, together, we’ve changed the debate. We’re no longer just talking about jobs. We’re talking about good, union jobs that allow you to support yourself and your family.
That’s not all. Look at trade. For years, the Wall Street and Washington elite have tried to paint us as against trade. We’re not. This isn’t a yes or no question. It’s about the kind of trade we want. Show us a trade deal that raises wages and standards and we’ll be the first to support it. But what we won’t do, what we refuse to do, is allow another corporate trade deal to be shoved down our throats. That’s why with the help of leaders like Jon Tester we kicked the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the curb. And let me tell you, we’ll beat that sucker like a drum if it ever comes up for a vote, because our families and communities deserve better. We’ll kill the TPP. And then we’ll hold every elected leader who supported it accountable for their actions.
Good wages and quality jobs are mainstream ideas in America today, and that’s why our labor movement is popular. That’s also why it’s growing among young people and why we have a solid core of women leaders. We’ve expanded the scope of what our labor movement fights for, and we’re expanding our democracy by registering and empowering hundreds of thousands of new voters.
All of this and more is why Montana is poised to turn our vision into action.
It starts with the absolute truth that each and every one of us should be decently paid for the work we do. And we define what decent means! No one should make less than the minimum wage, everyone should make a living wage, and collective bargaining should be available for all workers. That’s not all. Raising wages is about more than dollars and cents. It’s about dignity, no matter who we love or how we worship. It covers everything we care about. Fair trade. Healthcare. Just immigration. Equal pay for equal work.
Our vision will unite this country and build a better future. Montana is hungry for it. America is hungry for it. We can do it, because we’re the ones who drive the buses and run the trains. We build the bridges and lift the loads. We teach the classes, clean the schools, clear the roads and load the trucks. We do America’s work. We make America go. And we want our share of the American Dream, brothers and sisters. So let’s stand for it, let’s march for it, and let’s win it!
We’re in the midst of an incredibly important election year.
Listen, I know Montanans are proud of their independence.
You don’t care about political party or ideology. You want men and women who get the job done.
So it offends your sensibilities when you see gridlock in Washington. It makes you upset when our leaders choose conflict over compromise and grandstand instead of govern.
Sisters and brothers, it makes me upset, too.
Ever since Barack Obama was elected, the Republican vocabulary has been reduced to one word: “no.” It’s like being the parent of a four-year-old.
No to creating jobs. No to raising wages. No to investing in infrastructure. No to expanding unions. No to a new direction on trade. No to a vote on the President’s Supreme Court nominee.
In their obsession with defeating President Obama, Republican leaders refused to work with him. So we haven’t been able to make the big changes working people need. Everyday Americans are fed up. And who can blame them? They think Washington is broken. By refusing to govern, Republican leaders have left working families behind. And their inaction has created a monster. That monster is Donald Trump.
Through his actions, his words and his ideas, Donald Trump is profoundly unfit to be president. And it’s not just me saying that. It’s Republican leaders and conservative columnists. It’s Mitt Romney and George W. Bush. It’s 70 percent of Americans who view Trump unfavorably.
Trump talks a good game, but he won’t solve America’s problems. He is the problem.
Name any core American value, and Donald Trump is against it. Freedom of religion. Freedom of the press. Responsibility. Equality. Unity. Integrity. He stands against everything we stand for.
His speech after the tragic massacre in Orlando showed that Trump is always eager to stoke the flames of fear and division. Can you imagine him in the White House during a major national crisis? As president, he would tear this country apart.
Donald Trump talks a big game about making America great. He says he’s a friend of workers. But Trump doesn’t have our backs. He wants to break our backs.
Here are the facts. Trump says our wages are too high. Let me repeat that. He says our wages are too high. Trump wants to destroy labor unions. His position on right to work is “100 percent.” He refuses to bargain with workers at his hotel in Las Vegas. Trump is pro-outsourcing. He has consistently shipped American jobs overseas to line his own pockets.
Here is all the proof you need: Donald Trump actually rooted for the collapse of the housing and real estate market two years before it happened. Trump bet on himself and against America. People lost their homes, their jobs, their life savings, their livelihoods. And Donald Trump was profiting every step of the way.
Sisters and brothers, Donald Trump is nothing more than a billionaire who made himself rich by making the rest of us poor. And come November, we’re gonna say, loud and clear, Mr. Trump, You’re fired!
Fortunately, we have a pro-worker candidate who understands that politics and paychecks are tied together. Last week, the AFL-CIO proudly endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Sisters and brothers, Hillary is a proven leader who is going to make a great president. Time and again, she has listened to working people and stood with us to win positive change. She is tough. She is smart. She is committed. And she understands that to truly make America great, unions must lead the way. She’s with us. And we’re with her.
Clinton is traveling the country this week talking about raising wages. She believes in a basic bargain where everyone who works for a living is able to get ahead.
She’s with us on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. She said and I quote: “We need an entirely new trade policy that creates jobs in this country, not more low-wage jobs abroad.”
She’s with us on infrastructure and has put forth a bold plan to rebuild our nation, create jobs and revitalize the middle class.
She’s with us on equal pay for equal work and fair overtime rules and labor laws that level the playing field.
Hillary Clinton will be a champion of workers in the White House. And we will be her champion on the campaign trail.
I must also say a word about Bernie Sanders, who won the Montana caucus. The Democratic primary was one of the most productive and positive in recent memory, and Bernie played a big role in that. He elevated critical issues like income inequality and strengthened the foundation of America’s labor movement. I have no doubt he will stand with us to keep Donald Trump out of the White House, and put Hillary Clinton in it.
And by the way, we’re going to make history here in Montana too, because you’ve got one of the best candidates for the U.S. House I’ve ever seen, heard of or talked to. Working people are going to elect Denise Juneau a century after Jeanette Rankin became the first woman in America to win federal office.
And I promise you, our labor movement will end this election year far stronger than we started. We have the power to change America!
You see, our economy isn’t like the weather. It doesn’t just happen to us. Those chinook winds didn’t melt pensions away. Corporate CEOs are taking them. America’s middle class jobs aren’t just vanishing into thin air. Bosses have been working overtime to drive down wages and ship American jobs overseas, because our trade and tax policies encourage them to.
Our pain is because 40 of America’s richest people own 40% of this country. Think about that for a moment. Forty people, own more wealth than 40% of this nation.
We’re going to change America.
And what we do in Montana this year will transform the economy for those of us who count on a paycheck. We’ll keep fighting. Keep marching. Keep building. To win a new era of good jobs, strong unions and raising wages.
This year, America’s labor movement will unleash the most comprehensive electoral program in our history, with a massive effort here in Montana. We’ll fight for Governor Steve Bullock and pro-worker candidates up and down the ticket. I’m asking you to step up. Every local union in Montana should designate an election point person. We have to be united: big unions and small, public sector and private.
Raising wages is what we’re all about. And we know the single best way to raise wages is with a collective bargaining agreement. Good old-fashioned unionism will always be our top priority. That’s why it’s so important to engage in collective action. That’s why organizing must be our daily mission.
We’re building a movement. It’s a movement where unions grow and inequality shrinks. It’s a movement where you can grab onto the American Dream no matter what you look like, where you come from, how much money your parents have, or who you love.
When it comes to doing right for working people, we define that vision. We embody those values. We will fix what’s broken in our country. We have unity. We have solidarity. And we are ready to win justice and jobs today, and a better tomorrow.
We’ll work for it, sisters and brothers. We’ll stand for it. Together. Each of us. With solidarity. Real solidarity. Where your picket line is my picket line. And my picket line is your picket line. Shoulder to shoulder. Arm-in-arm. All day. Every day. As long as it takes. To win together. To grow together. To bring out the best in ourselves and each other. To bring out the best in America. To build the America we can have, and must have, and will have.
Thank you, and God bless you!