Leaders of some of the largest labor unions in the country will speak in a primetime slot at the Democratic National Convention on Friday in Chicago, as the party continues its political overtures to block the crucial vote.
According to details first shared with CBS News, at least seven union representatives will make comments Monday at the convention stage. They include United Automobile Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President April Verrett, and American Federation of County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) President Lee Saunders.
President International Labor Union of North America (LiUNA) President Brent Booker, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Kenneth W. Cooper, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Claude Cummings and American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL) -CIO) President Liz Shuler will also speak Monday.
One union leader who will not speak in Chicago is Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who has requested speaking slots at both the Republican and Democratic conventions. When he did speaking at the RNC in Milwaukee earlier this year, convention officials said he would not speak in Chicago.
The Teamsters endorsed President Biden’s campaign in 2020, but have remained neutral so far this cycle. A source familiar with the planning of the convention said the Teamsters will be represented on stage during the DNC, but that O’Brien would not say.
On Saturday, the Teamsters and Harris agreed to a roundtable discussion in the future, as they did with Trump and Mr. Biden, when he was a candidate.
Monday will also feature speeches from several congressional allies of organized labor, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Gary Peters of Michigan.
More than 2.7 million union members live in battleground states, where Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are nearly tied, according to a new report. CBS News poll.
While 56% of union members are going with Mr. Biden in 2020, according to a CBS News poll, rank-and-file members concerned voice over Trump chipping away at Democratic support in the union halls.
The Harris-Walz campaign hopes the public support of union leaders and an aggressive get-out-the-vote strategy will break through rank-and-file members on the fence.
“The dozens of union endorsements this campaign has received convey not just words in a press release, but real organizing prowess,” Harris-Walz campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a memo about the union.
After announcing his candidacy, Harris quickly received support from major unions. He and his running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former teacher union member, spoke at a UAW event in Michigan as part of a battlefield tour last week. Walz also spoke separately at the AFSCME convention in Los Angeles.
Harris’s campaign shows a pro-labor record, from when he was attorney general of California, where he signed an order on employer wage theft, to vice president, when in 2021 he chose to run for the Senate. pass the American Rescue Plan, which included the Butch Lewis Act – a provision that provided emergency funding for some pension plans.
“(Harris) has had workers’ backs throughout his career: from the picket line to the Senate floor, protecting our pensions and fighting for the rights of home care workers and fighting corporate greed,” Shuler said in a statement. “The labor movement is mobilizing like never before against the Harris-Walz agenda that puts people first — and against the Trump Project 2025 agenda that attacks unions and everything we stand for.”
The party’s theme for Monday, “For the People,” is also dedicated to Mr. Biden, who will deliver the keynote speech and is a longtime supporter of unions.
Several unions, including the SEIU and the nation’s largest union federation, the AFL-CIO, have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in canvassing efforts and launched door-knocking operations in support of the Harris-Walz ticket.
Culinary Union Local 226, an influential group in Las Vegas, will also begin a canvassing operation in Nevada to back Harris. The group has supported him announce the push to end taxes on tipped wages and raise the federal minimum wage. Trump proposed a similar plan in June, though the Culinary Union called it “a wild campaign promise from a convicted felon.”
Chicago’s rich history of labor unions is also a key point for the city to host the Democratic Party convention, with the convention claiming two primary seats supported by a combined membership of 30 unions.
“Chicago is the birthplace of the American Labor Movement, and the DNC is strong,” said Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter. “From the labor peace agreement we negotiated with the DNC and the Host Committee to the incredible workforce that keeps Chicago moving every day, we are thrilled to welcome a delegation from across the United States to the Windy City.”
