A little after 6 p.m. Monday, the people who had packed themselves into a union hall on Pittsburgh’s South Side seemed to realize they were witnessing a unique moment in American politics.
They were nearly all union folks. Many had spent hours on their feet in the morning, walking with their fellow union members along Downtown Pittsbugh streets during the city’s annual Labor Day parade.
In fact, most were still wearing their colorful union T-shirts — SEIU purple, bricklayer blue, AFSCME’s bright green. Electricians wore dark green. And now, in the early evening, after hours of waiting and, for those without chairs, continued standing, a jolt of energy shot through the crowd. Those who’d been sitting rose to their feet. A number of parents lifted up their young daughters and sons so they, too, could see. Nobody wanted to miss this.
Here’s what they saw: white-haired Joe Biden, the nation’s 46th president, stepping back from a podium that bore the presidential seal and then reaching out to put his arm around the shoulder of his vice president, Kamala Harris, who was then making her way to that same podium. Harris stopped briefly and leaned her head slightly into Biden. The crowd roared.
Perhaps there was a bit of political theater going on here. It’s hard for us to tell, since we’re not professional political writers. (The now 23-monthlong Post-Gazette strike claimed our beloved and talented politics reporter, so you’re stuck with bums more comfortable covering Steelers tailgate parties.)
But as we stood on a press riser 75 feet from the stage, we sensed a moment in which two people from different backgrounds, now enjoined in history, showed genuine affection for one another. One person made a sacrifice; the other seemed to appreciate the act. Could it be that not everything in politics is performative?
Several weeks earlier, Biden had ended his presidential candidacy to make way for Harris. During his term, Biden has saved union pensions, appointed labor-friendly members to the National Labor Relations Board, walked a picket line and passed an infrastructure bill that continues to create jobs for union members. All of these things were cheered at Monday’s rally. Speakers called Biden the most pro-union president in modern history.
Yet he stepped down as the Democratic presidential nominee because … well, there was all that talk about his age. The newspapers and cable TV news wouldn’t give up on it. And then came the disastrous debate performance.
Clearly Biden wanted to stay in the race and felt himself capable. He stepped down anyway and said to the country that Harris is the person who should take his place. And for this the crowd loved him. Before Biden spoke, those in the hall broke out into a chant: “Thank you, Joe; thank you, Joe.”
The rally at the IBEW union hall marked the first time Biden and Harris have appeared together at a Harris campaign event. It was, as journalists have been saying, a “passing of the torch” moment, and it was appreciated by the Democratic faithful in the hall. After introducing Harris, Biden stepped back and off to the side to watch and listen. Harris approached the microphone and the crowd once again chanted, “Thank you, Joe.”
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Harris began her 15-minute speech by praising the current president.
“History will show what we here know: Joe Biden has been one of the most transformative presidents” in United States history, she said.
She then shifted to organized labor, which Harris clearly sees as key to a November victory, as evidenced by the fact that the first joint campaign appearance by Biden and Harris took place on Labor Day at a union hall in a union city in a swing state.
Pittsburgh, Harris said, is “a cradle of the American labor movement” — birthplace of the American Federation of Labor, headquarters of the United Steelworkers, home of “the historic IBEW Local 5.” This brought a roar from the crowd, as the rally was hosted by Local 5. Its members were easy to spot in their dark green shirts and bright yellow caps.
“Everywhere I go I tell people, ‘You may not be a union member, but you better thank unions for that five-day workweek,” Harris said. “Thank unions for sick leave, thank unions for paid family leave. … When union wages go up, everybody’s wages go up. When union workplaces are safer, everybody’s workplaces are safer.”
The November election, she said, is about the choice between two visions for the nation — “One, ours, focused on the future, the other on the past.”
She reminded the audience that GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump, in his first term, blocked overtime benefits for workers, opposed efforts to raise the minimum wage, appointed “union busters” to the National Labor Relations Board, supported “right to work” laws and, should he be elected again, intends to give more tax cuts to billionaires and large corporations. He also, she said, wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.
America has tried Trump’s failed policies in the past and “we are not going back.”
She chided Republicans for what she called the “backward thinking” of believing the “measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you put down, when we know the true measure of a leader is based on who you lift up.”
Her administration, Harris said, will strengthen the Affordable Care Act by making prescription drugs affordable to all Americans and protect workers’ freedom to organize by supporting the PRO Act, federal legislation that would expand workers’ rights to collectively bargain.
Harris announced she opposed the sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, a Japanese firm. “U.S. Steel should remain American-owned and American-operated,” she said.
Harris wants to build what she calls an “opportunity economy” where people have the opportunity to “buy a home or start a business or build intergenerational wealth, and have a future that matches their dreams and ambitions and aspirations.”
“We can see what’s possible unburdened by what has been.”
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Before Harris, Biden spoke for about 20 minutes and leaned into the union message.
“Wall Street did not build America,” he said, “the middle class built America. And unions built the middle class.”
He reminded the crowd about something his father had told him when Biden was a boy: “A job is about a lot more than a paycheck, it’s about your dignity, it’s about your community, it’s about your place in the community, it’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be OK.’”
Biden spoke about the jobs created by his infrastructure bill and reminded folks that Trump promised “infrastructure week” throughout his term as president “but didn’t build a damn thing.”
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While waiting for the event to begin, people gathered behind the press riser in the back of the room to talk and munch on hot dogs and hamburgers. We said hi to state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, Democratic candidate for state auditor general, and then noticed Pittsburgh singer/songwriter Joe Grushecky leaning against a back wall. (If you don’t know who Joe is, shame on you — immediately educate yourself while drinking an Iron City beer.) A little over two weeks ago Gruschecky performed on stage at PPG Paints Arena with his friend Bruce Springsteen. We thought he sounded great (a friend invited us to the show and gifted us a ticket) so we told him so.
Then we bumped into Todd Beckett, president of Ironworkers Local 3. He was standing with other members of his union near the press riser. He said union density — or union membership rate — has been picking up, in part because of projects such as the Shell ethane cracker plant, which took years to build in Beaver County.
A number of building trades saw their memberships increase during that project, “and we’ve been able to maintain that,” Beckett said, because of work provided by other building projects in the area.
Some of these projects are funded by Biden’s infrastructure bill — but more work will come in the future as these projects progress. That’s especially true for ironworkers. “More work is coming next year, with all the bridge repairs,” Beckett said. “That’ll be ironworkers.”
Not all the work for the trades is local.
“All the buildings trades have members that can go work on projects in other states,” Beckett said. “I’ve got guys working in Columbus [Ohio] right now. Our big projects are yet to come, but there are small projects — courthouses and fire stations. I might not have 50 guys there, but I’ve got four here, four there. Those numbers add up.”
Beckett said he sees a lot more optimism among his members with Harris on the ticket. Before her entry into the race, there was a real fear that Trump would win another term.
“When I speak to my membership, when I speak to my family, I say if it’s not a step forward, it’s two steps backwards, and that’s where we’ll end up if we don’t win this election. We’ll be walking backwards. Right now we’re moving forward. We don’t want to go back to where we were.”
On the other side of the room, near a popcorn machine, we found Joan Bruce sitting with a few friends. From 1996 to 2006, Bruce was president of SEIU Local 668, which represents public employees.
She said the people she talks to are excited by Harris. “I mean, everybody loves Joe Biden, but they were also saying, ‘Oh God, what is going to happen at the next debate and are we going to lose to Trump?’ Now people are optimistic. They’re happy. It’s a total change.”
Project 2025, the right-wing document produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation that Democrats say is a blueprint for a second Trump term, would put an end to public service unions, Bruce said. “So our livelihoods are on the line.”
She praised Harris for bringing energy and joy to the campaign.
“The country is moving forward and getting rid of the past,” she said. “Not the Biden past but the Trump past, the ugliness that is there. It’s still out there, but joy overcomes it.”
Steve is a photojournalist and writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he is currently on strike and working as a Union Progress co-editor. Reach him at smellon@unionprogress.com.