President Biden landed on Marine One at Northeast Philadelphia Airport before speaking with union workers at the headquarters of Sprinkler Fitters Local 692 on Friday afternoon.
Mr. Biden often says he is the most pro-union president in American history and on Friday he spoke to workers, including members of the Teamsters, America’s largest union, expressing his administration’s historic support for unions.
Before Mr. Biden’s comments, Bill Hamilton, chairman of the Conference of Pennsylvania Teamsters, spoke and agreed with the president. Hamilton told the chamber of union workers that the Biden-Harris administration has saved more than 1 million in pensions by passing the Butch Lewis Act.
Hamilton said former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, is no friend of unions or labor and implored members to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Lewis’ widow Rita Lewis also addressed the crowd, telling them that the Biden-Harris administration had fulfilled their promise to take care of unions.
The president then took the stage and repeatedly told members that the middle class built America and the unions built the middle class.
Mr. Biden then awarded Rita Lewis the Presidential Citizens Medal. The president later said he was proud of what he and Harris had done for the unions before taking a shot at Trump.
“I am honored to be considered the most pro-union president in American history and I am proud to be the first president to stand on a picket line. Kamala is proud that he also stood at a picket line,” Biden said. “The other guy is looking for picket lines to cross. But we have always had your back.”
Mr Biden will next travel to Wilmington, Delaware, as Pennsylvania remains a crucial battleground state for both campaigns.
