Contact: Jess Kamm Broomell, (412) 562-2444, jkamm@usw.org
The United Steelworkers (USW) union today endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.
“Vice President Biden has long been a friend of workers and our union,” said USW International President Thomas M. Conway. “The USW is proud to stand with him now as he seeks to put our country back on a path toward shared prosperity through responsible leadership.”
The decision was the culmination of a months-long process that began last fall when the union sent all the prospective presidential candidates a detailed questionnaire to determine where each of them stands on key issues affecting working people.
The USW then shared this questionnaire with its entire U.S. membership. It also solicited feedback through a membership survey and held approximately 170 town hall meetings across the country where members could discuss their top priorities and concerns.
“We came to this endorsement through listening,” said Conway. “We listened to our members when they told us that their top issues were affordable health care and prescription drugs, retirement security, and labor laws that protect working people.
“We also listened to the candidates, examined their responses to our questionnaire and assessed what their past records demonstrate about their values.”
“Vice President Biden shared with us his plans for how he intends to expand access to affordable health care, protect those with preexisting conditions, stabilize multiemployer pension plans, defend Social Security and preserve and expand labor rights.
“Joe Biden spent his life fighting for these things because he understands what it’s like to work for a living. As the son of a working-class family from Pennsylvania’s coal country, he has never forgotten his roots.
“We are confident that as president, he will put workers and their needs first.”
Conway said the union has a responsibility to back a candidate who knows the challenges workers face on the job.
“Workers need an administration that takes workplace health and safety seriously, now more than ever, and Vice President Biden’s record supporting strong, enforceable federal safety standards that help keep workers healthy and safe make it clear that he is committed to this vital work.
“On issues from creating good paying jobs through significant investment in our crumbling infrastructure to raising the minimum wage, we know Vice President Biden stands with working people,” Conway said.
President Trump did not respond to the union’s questionnaire.
The USW represents 850,000 men and women employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.