November 01, 2024 Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | Janesville, WI IBEW Local 890 Janesville, Wisconsin 2:58 P.M. CDT

 November 01, 2024

Remarks by Vice President Harris at a Campaign Event | Janesville, WI

IBEW Local 890

Janesville, Wisconsin

2:58 P.M. CDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Hey, everybody.  (Applause.)  Good afternoon.

Can we hear it again for Garrik?  (Applause.)

Oh, it’s good to be in the house of labor.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  Oh, and it’s great to be with so many leaders.  Thank you, everybody, for taking the time to be here this afternoon for this conversation.  But most importantly, thank you for all of your work.  (Applause.) 

I proudly stand with labor.  I have my whole entire career.  I always will.  This is about the dignity of work.  It is about America’s workforce.  It is about our future, and it’s just about what is right.  I thank you all so very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

And, Senator Baldwin — where are you? — I thank you for all you do.  Let’s reelect her to the United States Senate.  (Applause.)  Governor Evers, thank you for being such a friend and such a leader.  Peter Barca, I thank you for all your work.  Let’s send him to the U.S. House of Representatives.  (Applause.) 

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Go Peter! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And — (laughs) — yeah, that’s right.

And to all the labor leaders here today, including Secretary-Treasurer Noble and President Raes, I thank you all.  And all the brothers and sisters of IBEW, thank you for all the work you do. 

I will tell you — I think it’s now an open secret — I have as a dream that I will — I will visit every IBEW Local in the country.  (Laughter.)  (Applause.)  I’m — I’m on my way.  I’m well on my way.  But, you know, I got more to do.

But I am such a huge fan of what you do.  I am such a huge fan of what you do, because it is about the work you do every day and the apprenticeship programs.  You are building America and America’s future.  And it is such good, good work and exciting work to the benefit of everyone. 

So, I’m so happy to be with all of you this afternoon.  I thank all of the folks who are here.  We have autoworkers here.  We have care workers here.  We have teachers here.  I thank you all.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, let’s get to work.  I love you back.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.) 

So, Janesville, we have just four days left — four days left — (applause) — in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.  And we have a lot of work still to do, but I know who’s here.  We like hard work.  (Applause.)  Hard work is good work.  (Applause.)  Hard work is joyful work.  (Applause.)

And we will win.  And we will win.  (Applause.)  We will win.  We will win. 

 And part of the reason we will win is because we know that when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.  (Applause.)  And we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who had spent full time trying to have the American people point fingers at each other, full time trying to divide us, have people be afraid of each other.  And folks are exhausted with this stuff.  (Applause.)

And we know that’s who he is.  That’s not who we are.  That’s not who we are.  (Applause.) 

     And nobody understands better than a union member that, as Americans, we all rise or fall together.  Here in Janesville and across our nation, union members have helped lead the figh- — fight for fair pay, better benefits, safer working conditions, and every person in America benefits from your work. 

I tell people everywhere I go, “Thank a union member.  Thank a union member.”  (Applause.)  Because you not — you may not be a member of a union, but thank a union member if you got a five-day workweek.  (Applause.)  Thank a union member for your sick leave.  Thank a union member for your paid vacation leave.  Thank a union member for paid family leave.  Because it is union members that work and put blood, sweat, and tears into raising the conditions of the American worker, wherever they work.  (Applause.) 

     And collective bargaining benefits our entire nation.  You know, I try to explain to some folks — I li- — you know what?  Here’s the thing about collective bargaining.  I’m going to break it down for you.  I don’t need to break it down for anybody here, but — (laughter) — but to — you know, to people who are not here.  And I say: Look, wouldn’t we all want a system that says that, in any negotiation, the outcome would be fair?  Right?  All reasonable people should want that, in any negotiation, the outcome would be fair. 

All right.  So, if you’re talking about the worker — one worker, against the company, against the corporation, is that outcome going to be fair? 

     AUDIENCE:  No.

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  No.  The disparity in power is so extreme that that negotiation, if you’re just requiring that worker to negotiate for better working conditions, better benefits, fairer pay, it’s not going to be fair.  Collective bargaining says let the collective, the workers who all stand in the same place, join together as a collective and then negotiate to better ensure just one simple thing: that the outcome is fair.  (Applause.)  That’s what is behind — that’s what is behind this.  It’s about basic fairness, but sometimes you got to fight for fairness. 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And what we know is that when union wages go up, everybody’s wages go up.  (Applause.)  When union workplaces are safer, everyone’s workplace is safer.  And when unions are strong, America is strong.  (Applause.)  Bottom line.  Bottom line.

And everything that we have fought for is on the line in this election.  In less than 90 days, it’s either going to be Donald Trump or me sitting in the Oval Office. 

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  It’s going to be you!

     AUDIENCE:  You!  (Applause.)

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  But here’s the thing that we want to he- —

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Madam President!  Madam President!  Madam President! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  I appreciate you, brother. 

     AUDIENCE:  Madam President!  Madam President!  Madam President! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Not yet.  Four days.  Four days.  We still got work to do.

     And part of what I’m trying to explain to m- —

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I appreciate you, brother, but let me tell you — (laughter) — part of the thing that I’m trying to help people — not who are here, obviously; not the leaders who are here but others — understand, is if you’re trying to kind of figure out what the stakes are, just imagine the Oval Office.  We’ve all seen it on TV.  And just imagine on January 20th.  Because if he is elected, if Donald Trump is elected, he’s going to be sitting in that Oval Office, stewing over his enemies list, because he spends full time plenting — plotting revenge and retribution — full time.  The man is angry, right?  It — it — but you know what I’m talking about. 

So, imagine on January 20th, it’s either that — him plotting over his enemies list — or me, working for you on my to-do list.  (Applause.)  That’s what we’re talking about.  That’s what we’re talking about.  That’s what we’re talking about.

Because I like hard work, and at the top of my list is bringing down your cost of living.  And it will be my focus every single day as president.  I will always put the middle class first.  I come from the middle class, and I never forget where I come from.  (Applause.)  I never forget where I come from.  Never.

 And we know, to strengthen the middle class, we must make sure that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century.  (Applause.)

Under my plan, we will invest in the industries that built America, like steel, iron, the electric power industry.  (Applause.)  And we will ensure that the next generation of breakthroughs, from advanced batteries to cutting-edge solar panels, are not just invented but built right here in America by American workers — (applause) — by American workers.

And as part of that vision, we will invest in manufacturing communities across Wisconsin and across America.  And we will retool existing factories.  They’ve been built out, but we need to upgrade them.  They are where the people are, and where those people are, they don’t want to have to leave.  They want to stay home.  They want their kids and their grandkids to be where they are. 

So, we will retool those factories.  We will hire locally and work with unions to create good-paying jobs, including, by the way, jobs that do not require a college degree.  (Applause.)  Because here’s the thing.  We got to really understand and do better in understanding that a college degree is not the only measure of the skills and the experience of the qualified worker, right?  (Applause.)

And I’m telling you — so, the press is always asking me, “What are you going to do on day one?”  One of the things I’m doing on day one, because I can do it by executive order, is I will eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs — (applause) — and then I will challenge the private sector to do the same.  (Applause.)

As we go forward, when we win, we will also continue to fight to expand the freedom to organize by passing the PRO Act — (applause) — and work to end union busting once and for all.  (Applause.)

We will protect the pensions of union workers and retirees.  (Applause.)  I’ve done it before.  I’ll do it again, because when it comes to your pension, Social Security, Medicare, those are retirement benefits that the people have earned — have earned and are due without anyone trying to take them away.  (Applause.)

And for me, look, this issue is about dignity.  It’s about the dignity that any individual who has worked hard all their lives that they absolutely deserve, which is to retire with dignity, and it is about the dignity of work.  It is about the dignity of hard work and what should then be the benefit of those years of hard work. 

But, look, Donald Trump has a very different view of it all.  Independent economists have said his plans would bankrupt Social Security in the next six years.  And we know a lot of folks are out there, their Social Security check is the only thing that they’ve got.

He called for raising the retirement age to 70.  He intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.

And remember, he said he was the only one — you know how he talks — (laughter) — he said he — he was the only one who could bring back America’s manufacturing jobs.  And then America lost nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president, including thousands of jobs right here in Wisconsin.

And — and facts be clear: Those losses started before the pandemic — okay? — making Donald Trump one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs — (applause) — in America’s history.  It’s the truth.

     And his track record for the auto industry was a disaster.  As —

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well — (laughter).  And so, as president, he promised that the auto industry would not, quote, “lose one plant” during his presidency.  Then American auto manufacturers announced the closure of six auto plants when he was president.

Janesville, you know what those closures mean for communities: thousands of union jobs lost, factory sites sitting empty for years, other businesses in town then forced to close.

So, Wisconsin, you know all about Donald Trump’s big empty promises.  He promised to stop offshoring.  Then he cut taxes –he cut taxes for corporations that shipped 200,000 American jobs overseas during his presidency.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And he promised to bring jobs back to the United States, like his promise that Foxconn was going to invest —

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — was going to invest $10 billion and create 13,000 manufacturing jobs in Mount Pleasant.  You remember that.  He said Wisconsin would soon be home to a manufacturing plant that he called — again, Donald Trump language — “the eighth wonder of the world.”  (Laughter.)

Yet another empty promise, typical for a person that is all talk, no walk.  (Applause.)

And all that to say, we here know Donald Trump is no friend to labor — no friend to labor.  He has been a union buster his entire career.  He has called union leaders quote, “dues-sucking” people.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  He said that he supports the so-called right-to-work laws 100 percent.

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  He joked with a billionaire buddy of his about the mass firing of striking workers. 

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

 THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And while he was president, he lowered labor standards and made it easier for companies to break labor laws and then get federal contracts, right? 

And so, part of why I’m here is to ask all the leaders here, let’s remind all the brothers and sisters of labor about who Donald Trump really is, because he’s got a lot of talk, but if you pay attention to what he’s actually done, if you pay attention to who he has actually stood with when people needed a defender and a friend, you’ll see who he really is. 

And we got to get the word out about this, because there’s a whole lot of misinformation about what he is and who he stands with.  And we know he does not stand with organized labor. 

So, here’s the bottom line.  Donald Trump’s track record is a disaster for working people, and he is an existential threat to America’s labor movement.  (Applause.)  And — and everything Donald Trump intends to do if he is reelected is spelled out in Project 2025, which I still cannot believe they put that thing in writing.  (Laughter.)  Like, they bound it, handed it out, and people read it, and now they can’t handle that.  Right?

He intends to launch a full-on attack on unions and the freedom to organize.  He will ban public-sector unions.  I know we’ve got AFSCME here, right?  He will roll back workplace safety protections.  He will make it easier for companies to deny overtime pay for workers. 

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Talk about trying to take us back.  And he will appoint a union buster to run the Department of Labor —

     AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — not to mention what would happen with NLRB, right?

So, I say all this to say to the friends that America, as we all know, is ready to chart a new way forward.  We are ready for a new generation of leadership for America — (applause) — and especially the leadership that together we all offer that is optimistic about what we can achieve when we are working together.

There’s a certain spirit of how we think about all this that directly relates to whether, as we move forward, we will be stronger or not.  And here’s the thing that we all know: We’re not going back.  (Applause.)  We are not going back.  We’re not going —

AUDIENCE:  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!  We’re not going back!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We’re not going back.  We’re not going back.  We are not going back. 

And — and here’s the thing, Janesville: It all comes down to this.  We are here together because we love our country.  We love our country.  (Applause.)  We love our country.

And what you all know better than most is when you love something, you fight for it — (applause) — you fight for it.  And I do believe one of the highest forms of patriotism, of our expression of our love for our country, is to then fight for the ideals of our country.  And that’s what’s at play in this election.  And it is about a fight to realize the promise of America. 

So, we got four days, and we’re going to get this done, but nobody can sit by the sidelines. 

     AUDIENCE:  No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  We got to remind everybody.  You know, five days from now, you don’t want to look back on these four days and have any regrets about what you could have done.  And everybody here knows how to organize, so I don’t need to tell you that it’s all about talking with each other.  It’s about reaching out to each other.  It’s about, in the face of a stranger, seeing a neighbor and helping — and unity and helping people understand that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.  (Applause.)

And labor how — knows how to do that best.  We knock on doors, know how to text and call folks — (applause) — reaching out to family and friends and neighbors.  And we’ll remind people that their vote is their voice, and their voice is their power, right?  (Applause.)

     AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, brothers and sisters, today, I ask you: Are you ready to make your voices heard? 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in freedom? 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in opportunity? 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Do we believe in the promise of America? 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes! 

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And are we ready to fight for it? 

     AUDIENCE:  Yes!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And when we fight —

     AUDIENCE:  We win!

     THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — we win.

     God bless you.  And God bless the United States of America.  God bless you.  God bless you.  (Applause.)                              END                3:19 P.M.