Tim Walz Champions Unions in Milwaukee Labor Day Appearance

Tim Walz visits Milwaukee on Labor Day. Photo taken Sept. 2, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.

Union members of all walks began Labor Day with a celebratory parade through downtown Milwaukee, waving to crowds from trucks, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and on foot.

Several hours after the procession concluded at Henry Maier Festival Park, 200 N. Harbor Dr., Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz took to the Miller Lite Oasis Stage to deliver a rallying speech in support of union rights.

“Here’s the deal, sisters and brothers in labor, it’s time to get off the sidelines and get on the field,” said the former football coach. “Whether it’s labor rights, middle class rights, having corporations pay their fair share — all those things that impact our lives — we need you on the team, and we need you now.”

Walz, governor of Minnesota and running mate to Kamala Harris, addressed more than 4,000 supporters at the event, including union members of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, AFL-CIO, who joined him on stage.

During his appearance, Walz touted Harris as part of “the most pro-union administration in history,” highlighting her and President Joe Biden as champions of workers rights.

“Vice President Harris was the deciding vote on the American Rescue Plan that kept workers on the job and the public safe during the pandemic,” Walz said. “It was Vice President Harris and President Biden that protected over 1 million workers’ pensions and retirements that we got back.” Biden, himself, attended Milwaukee Laborfest in 2022.

He further praised Harris for “sticking up for workers, voting for fair legislation and walking the picket line,” noting that “she was there with workers every step of the way.”

With Laborfest 2024 in full swing at the festival grounds, attendees filed into the stage-side bleachers — many with kids in tow and armed with ice cream cones or cold drinks in an attempt to beat the scorching early-September sun. Those in the front sections waved signs stating: “It’s Better In A Union.”

Walz, a former union member himself, pointed to the strides he’s made as governor of Minnesota, calling the state one of the best in the country for workers.

“It was my privilege to sign one of the biggest and best pro-worker packages in Minnesota history,” he said. “We made it easier to form a union, not harder. We strengthened worker protections … and in Minnesota, it’s against the law to put your workers in a room and do an anti union meeting. You can’t do that.”

If elected, Walz promised to deliver on policies such as paid family leave, paid medical leave, reproductive rights and lower taxes for the middle class, as well as to “keep fighting” for Social Security and Medicare.

“We have a saying in Minnesota,” he said. “When everybody does better, everybody does better.”

Before Walz took the podium, Congresswoman Gwen Moore warmed up the crowd with a short speech.

“Milwaukee was one of the places where the labor movement was started in this country,” she said. “Being for labor is part of our DNA. Civil service, workman’s compensation, social security — hey, you’ve got some skin in the game in making sure that a presidency that would implement Project 2025 and take away all of these things does not.”

Governor Tony Evers followed the congresswoman, leaning into his commonalities with Walz and telling the crowd “you all know what happens when you elect a former teacher, don’t you? We get sh-t done.”

Senator Tammy Baldwin also spoke, highlighting Wisconsin’s rich history as a blue-collar state, as well as a series of Biden-era policies including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act and CHIPS and Science Act.

“I have been proud to support some historic measures that will create good-paying union jobs in the trades,” she said, also noting the current fight to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO), which aims to amend previous labor laws and strengthen union protections.

Harris, at her own Labor Day rally in Detroit, pledged to sign the PRO Act.

Rich Kangas, vice president and political coordinator for Ironworkers Local 8, said he’s excited to see a fellow union member on the ticket.

“I say that’s what we need to see in Washington, D.C.,” said Kangas, whose recent work includes The Couture, a 44-story apartment tower clearly visible from the festival grounds.

In contrast, Kangas disparaged former President Donald Trump as “one of the worst and one of the most anti-worker and anti-union presidents in history.”

A pre-program speakers list included Pam Fendt, president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council; Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and 1st Congressional District Candidate Peter Barca. 

In a fiery speech, Johnson praised Milwaukee as having strength in diversity, and urged the crowd to channel that strength into electing Harris and Walz.

“We’re the cultural center of our state,” he said. “Milwaukee represents America. And where there is a diversity of people, there’s a diversity of thought, there’s a diversity of opinion, there’s different ways of life. And even if those thoughts, even if those opinions, even though those ways of life, even if they don’t match up with the way that we would live our own lives, as long as we’re not hurting anybody, then guess what? We respect that.”

Crowley echoed the mayor’s statements and said that his father, a master electrician, instilled “the belief in dignity and respect for hard work.”

“No matter what job that you are working in, you deserve a working wage,” he said, addressing the crowd. “You deserve a living wage. You deserve to have safe working conditions, but more importantly, you deserve to have the utmost respect for not only your labor, but for the craft that you are in.”

The Democratic Party as a whole has been campaigning heavily on the labor front, with several members of Biden’s cabinet visiting Milwaukee in recent weeks to praise the president’s efforts in creating trade jobs and other employment opportunities across the state.

That includes Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who participated in a roundtable discussion at a Payne & Dolan aggregate mine in Franklin and held a joint press conference with Johnson in August.

Walz’s approximately 25-minute speech took place mid-way through Laborfest, which ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Milwaukee Area Labor Council organizes the annual pro-union celebration, inviting guests for a day of enjoyment at the festival grounds, with free activities including a raffle for children and access to the splash pad, fountain, playground and more. For adults, the event included a variety of food and beverages, adult bingo, wrestling, a classic car show and live musical entertainment.

Walz’s fellow Democrats also spent the holiday campaigning. Harris started the day in Detroit, later joining Biden for an appearance in Pittsburgh. Their opponents, Trump and Vance, were off the campaign trail Monday, though they are set for events in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin later this week.

In lieu of in-person campaigning, Trump fired off a series of posts on Truth Social, labeling the vice president as “Comrade Kamala Harris.”

Congresswoman Moore greeted Walz and his wife, Gwen, at the airport on Monday afternoon.

Before arriving in downtown Milwaukee, the Walz motorcade was involved in a crash on Interstate 794. One person suffered a broken arm and others sustained minor injuries, but the campaign reports that “everyone seems to be okay for now.”

The car transporting Walz and his wife was not affected. During his speech, Walz told the crowd that both Biden and Harris had called to check in.

A small group of protestors attended the event to oppose the Israel-Hamas war. After Walz began speaking, several stood up and held keffiyehs in the air, blocking the view of those behind them. Security escorted three protestors away from the stage, while the others continued under close watch.

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