Washington, D.C. — Following the announcement that President Joe Biden will no longer seek reelection, Jobs With Justice Executive Director Erica Smiley issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement from President Joe Biden that he will no longer seek reelection is a major development in the race for the White House, for our nation, and the future of our democracy. For the past three and a half years, Jobs With Justice, unions of working people, rank and file workers, and regular folks throughout the United States worked tirelessly to ensure our collective voices were heard by the Biden administration. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris heard us, recognized us, and as a result, workers are in far better shape today than they were four years ago.
President Biden has long discussed his connections to labor and his support for workers’ freedoms to unionize and fight for dignity, decency, and respect in the workplace. We worked early and often to ensure Biden’s words were backed by actions and thanks to our collective efforts, the results over the past three years have been significant.
As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law–a landmark achievement of this administration–workers, unions, and Jobs With Justice pushed for the inclusion of key protections for construction workers, including ensuring fair wages, health and safety protocols, and more.
The investments in the Inflation Reduction Act fast-tracked the build-out of a sustainable energy industry, representing our era’s best shot at building a multiracial democracy that would sustain the planet and our descendants’ existence on it for ages to come. Given the dramatic move of many manufacturers to the South, we will work tirelessly to ensure the next administration builds on Biden’s work and incorporates workers, particularly southern workers, into decision-making and standard setting via collective bargaining.
And while our democracy continues to face existential threats, President Biden and Vice President Harris have reaffirmed their commitment to our fundamental democratic rights. Today’s decision from President Biden is a sobering reminder of what we have at stake this fall–will we continue to live in a democracy, where we can continue the unfinished work of Reconstruction and finally build an equitable democracy or will we watch our democracy further erode under the looming threat of autocracy under the right wing and billionaires bankrolling their movement.
We thank President Biden for his service to the country, his willingness to listen to the needs of workers, and commitment to building a country and an economy that finally puts working people first. We look forward to continuing to raise the voices of workers everywhere during his remaining time in office as we strive to build upon the progress made in recent years.
The fight continues. Our democracy remains under constant threat, from the billionaires undermining workers’ freedom to organize unions, to politicians using their power to erode the rights and freedoms of workers, women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, immigrants, and so many that don’t fit their narrow, white supremacist point of view.
As Vice President Harris appears poised to be the next Democratic nominee for president, we hope to hear an agenda from her that centers the needs of workers–Black, brown, and white alike–and the importance of expanding our democracy, from the factory floor to the ballot box, and beyond. Let’s get to work.”
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