Election 2016: Members Speak Out
Joe Smith
Local 959
Joe Smith, 54, of Fayetteville, N.C., has been a union member for 31 years. He works for Goodyear in Fayetteville and is a member of USW Local 959, where he is Rapid Response and ERT coordinator. Joe has a 26-year-old daughter who is struggling with more than $100,000 in college debt, and he says she is the reason he is working to elect Hillary Clinton president.
“Trump will just say anything to get elected. He does not have the values I have tried to instill in my daughter over the years. He has brought out the worst in people. His message is popular because he says he will bring back jobs, but he doesn’t have a plan. He says all kinds of things, but he has no plans. His products are all made in other countries. He said he could shoot someone in Times Square and still get elected. He can say anything, and then brag about it.
“Hillary has already been a senator and secretary of state. All Trump has done is been a businessman and work for his own personal benefit. If people did something he didn’t like, he would just fire them. Hillary has worked with all kind of people and for the benefit of all kinds of people.
"I have worked hard all my life and paid my taxes. Hillary understands working people deserve a fair shot. Hillary understands we are entitled to good wages, safe working conditions and Social Security that we paid into all our lives. She wants to end college debt, and that is really important to my daughter.
"Donald Trump wants to do away with Social Security and wants to get a national right-to-work-for-less law that would destroy the unions that raise wages and living standards. He has no plan at all for college debt.
"I feel like electing Hillary Clinton is really important for future workers and the country. It is vital to the future and my daughter and her children."
