22 Jul BCTGM Thanks President Biden, Applauds Lasting Pro-Worker Legacy
BCTGM International President Anthony Shelton’s response to President Joe Biden’s decision to end his campaign for re-election:
The BCTGM International Union owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to Joe Biden for the ways he has supported BCTGM members over the last 3.5 years. Joe Biden was—and is—the most pro-worker, pro-Union president of our lifetime. His legacy will show that he delivered time and again for BCTGM members on the most critical issues working families faced:
Biden delivered for BCTGM members by signing an Executive Order in his first week in office, initiating a review of the government’s Buy American policy. He created the first ever Made in America Office, and has fought tirelessly to keep good jobs in the USA.
Biden supported striking BCTGM members when he called out Kellogg’s corporate greed during an active strike, and later wrote a letter directly to Kellogg’s BCTGM members on strike urging them to “keep the faith.” He sent a clear message to employers across the country when he became the first sitting President to send his Secretary of Labor—second generation, card-carrying Union member Marty Walsh—to the Kellogg picket line in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Biden fought for BCTGM members when he created the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, supported passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and brought integrity back to the Department of Labor, OSHA and Wage and Hour.
Most importantly, Biden cemented a life-changing legacy with current and future BCTGM Retirees when he signed the American Rescue Plan at the beginning of his term. The Plan saved the pensions of millions of retirees—including more than 100,000 BCTGM retirees. Vice President Kamala Harris provided the tie-breaking vote in the Senate for the legislation to become law.
Joe Biden’s administration set an outstanding example for future Democratic leaders of what it means to support working people by supporting their Unions. Each time he repeated the slogan, “the middle class built this country and UNIONS built the middle class,” he renewed his own faith in our movement, and subsequently the faith of the American people.
It has been an honor and a privilege to work with President Joe Biden, the most pro-Union president of our lifetime.
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