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Home » Tim Walz Speaks As Harris Campaign Surges (Transcript) 

Tim Walz Speaks As Harris Campaign Surges (Transcript) 

Here is the full transcript of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s speech as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) convention.

Listen to the audio version here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Wow. Wow. Wow. Hello, Los Angeles. Wow. Well, sisters and brothers in AFSCME, first and foremost, to each and every one of you, thank you for the privilege of being able to stand with you, because I know that AFSCME stands with the American workers. AFSCME stands for all that’s right. Let me acknowledge a few friends and the fighters who are here today with us.

It goes without saying, thank you to my friend and your president, Lee Saunders. We were just talking earlier, we’ve done a few doorknocks, we’ve done a few phone banks, we’ve done a few rallies, and we’ve worked together on a few laws to improve people’s lives. I said my friend, the important thing about this guy is, this guy is the friend to every American worker. So thank you, Mr. President.

Madam Secretary-Treasurer, thank you. Thank you for your leadership. The leadership team of AFSCME is there when we need them, always when they need them, making sure we not just win elections, but we understand.

Political Capital and AFSCME’s Impact

You don’t just win elections to bank political capital to win another election. You take that political capital and you burn it as fast as you can to improve people’s lives, and that’s what the leadership here does. To every delegate in this room representing 1.4 million AFSCME members, thank you. Thank you for what you do.

As a dues-paying member of my teachers’ union for years, let me just say thank you again for having a fellow union member here. Vice President and I are just so grateful for the support you’ve given us. I’m proud to be on this ticking, working with Vice President Harris, who we all know we want to call the next president of the United States.

Here’s a little fact that they just told me. By the way, my week has been very interesting since last Tuesday, as you might guess. But here’s a fact they shared with me as I came here to make this opportunity to say thank you.

Union Representation in Politics

I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan. But rest assured, I won’t lose my way. Probably should be a few more union members in elected office, President Saunders. We might want to work at that.

I think I’m looking at some. So you heard the story. You knew Vice President Harris, grew up in a middle-class family, picked up shifts at that McDonald’s as a student.

I keep asking this to make a contrast here. Can you simply picture Donald Trump working at a McDonald’s trying to make a McFlurry or something? Oh, he knows, he knows us, he knows us.

Contrasting Work Ethics

He couldn’t run that damn McFlurry machine if it cost him anything. But Vice President Harris took that work ethic, goes to work every single day to make sure families don’t just get by, but they get ahead. She stood on the side of the American workers, she stood up to the billionaires and fought corporate greed.

She led this administration’s work to eliminate the barriers to organizing. And let’s not forget, she cast the tie-breaking vote on the American Rescue Plan to keep public service workers on the job during the pandemic. Just to be clear, the Vice President and I, we know exactly who built this country.

It was nurses, it was teachers, and it was state and local government employees that built this nation. People in this room built the middle class. And it’s not just a saying, it’s a fact. When unions are strong, America’s strong.

Pro-Worker Policies

Vice President Harris and I have both had the privilege of joining workers on the picket line. And it’s why, as governor, I signed one of the biggest packages of pro-worker policies in history in the law. In Minnesota, we made it easier for workers to form unions.

We strengthened workers’ protections. And yes, we banned those damn captive audience meetings for good in Minnesota. Last time I said that at a union meeting, they sued me over it.

It was the best thing to get sued over I ever said. We’re going to continue to ban those meetings. But we did more than that for families and AFSCME workers that are there every single day.

Improving Lives in Minnesota

We did things to improve people’s lives in a real fundamental way. We guaranteed free breakfast and lunch to every single child in Minnesota. That helped a whole lot of school employees, AFSCME members, to keep their students engaged and keep them in the classroom learning.

Today, Minnesota is one of the best states for workers in the country. I’m surrounded by some that aren’t. So the vice president’s vision is to take those worker protections to every state in the union.

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Every state in the union. I keep saying this. I know you know it, but I think it keeps us focused.

The Importance of Worker Protections

We all understand it in here. You’ve heard me say this. I know I’m preaching to the choir a little bit today, but the choir needs to sing.

The choir needs to sing. And just so you know who’s not in the choir, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they see the world very differently than we do. The only thing those two guys knows about working people is how to work to take advantage of them.

That’s what they know about it. Every single chance they’ve gotten, they’ve waged war on workers, and their ability to collectively bargain to take that away from them, all’s we’re asking for is better wages, better benefits, better lives, and dignity in the work that we do.

Supporting Worker Rights

There’s a great bill in Congress, should be the easiest vote you’ve ever taken, the PRO Act.