Vice President Harris addressed a crowd of union workers in Detroit on Labor Day, criticizing former President Trump for blocking overtime pay and cutting taxes for the wealthy.
Tyrese West, a member of the North American Workers’ International Union, introduced Harris on Monday. She was joined on stage by several union officials, including Sean Payne, president of the United Auto Workers.
Harris said Trump was “trying to take us back” to a time when workers did not have the freedom to form unions.
“As president, we will always remember that Donald Trump blocked overtime pay for millions of workers (Tyreese talked about this a little bit), opposed raising the minimum wage,” Harris said. “He appointed union busters to the National Labor Relations Board, and supported so-called ‘right to work’ laws.”
Harris used his now-famous catchphrase to tell the crowd, “We’re not going back.”
She said Trump, if re-elected, would give tax breaks to billionaires and big business. Harris said he would tax everyday items that would cost the average American family an extra $4,000 a year.
Harris said that if elected, she would fight for a future where all workers have the “freedom to organize.” As president, she said she would pass the Right to Organize Act and “end union-busting once and for all.”
Harris highlighted Detroit’s role in the labor movement and celebrated the accomplishments unions have made for ordinary Americans.
“Everywhere I go, I tell people, ‘Even if you’re not a union member, you’d better thank your union member for the five-day workweek. You’d better thank your union member for sick days. You’d better thank your union member for paid vacation. You’d better thank your union member for vacation days,’” she said.
“When union wages go up, everyone’s wages go up. When union workplaces are safer, all workplaces are safer,” Harris continued. “When unions are strong, America is strong.”
After her remarks, Harris heads to Pennsylvania, where she will join President Biden for another Labor Day event, likely focused on organized labor in the state. She is expected to voice her opposition to the U.S. Steel sale.
Trump criticized “Comrade Kamala” in a post on his Truth Social site on Monday, saying “many Americans are suffering this holiday weekend.”
“Gas prices are high, transportation costs are rising, and food prices are through the roof,” Trump wrote. “We cannot continue to live under this weak and failed ‘leadership.’”
Updated at 3:40 PM.
