(CWA) Message to Members on Biden Endorsement

May 22, 2020

Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday the CWA Executive Board voted to endorse Joe Biden for President of the United States.

The past three years – and indeed just the past three months – have proven that the 2016 election was the most damaging election of our lifetimes for working people and for our entire country.

That is why we are fortunate this year that the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Biden, is someone who will walk the walk when it comes to fighting for workers’ rights to organize and bargain collectively.

Joe understands labor’s mantra: “Which side are you on?” He knows who built America and who built the middle class. When we need him, Joe and his White House will be there for us, ready to help. It’s about time the President of the United States was an ally of working people and an advocate for union membership, not an enemy.

We asked each candidate to submit answers to our presidential questionnaire and a short video about their plans to help working people in their first 100 days. You can find Joe Biden’s video and his answers here: cwapolitical.org/biden2020.

Donald Trump’s campaign did not respond, but his actions in office have disqualified him from our endorsement. At every turn Trump and his appointees have made increasing the power of corporations over working people their top priority. The list of the damage Trump has done is long - from making it easier for corporations to offshore jobs to stacking the courts and the National Labor Relations Board with anti-union appointees to paving the way for pharmaceutical companies to jack up prices. If you need a refresher, we’ve posted a partial list at cwapolitical.org/trumps-anti-worker-record.

Trump’s onslaught has been made possible thanks to the age-old trick of divide and conquer. He stirs up America’s darkest forces: racism and xenophobia. He wants us to believe that our fellow workers, rather than his wealthy benefactors, are the ones who are rigging the economy against us. The deepening racial divide we have seen in Trump’s America is no accident – it’s a tactic. He and every other enemy of labor throughout history have deployed it. They know: when workers are united, we win; when we are divided and pointing the finger at each other, we lose, every single time.

The last several months have starkly exposed the tragic and devastating inadequacies of Trump’s leadership. Trump did not start the coronavirus pandemic, but he has failed at every turn to prepare the nation for it, protect lives, and minimize damage to our economy, let alone set a national tone of shared sacrifice and unity in confronting this crisis.

It’s time for us all to put everything into electing a President of the United States who will stand with workers for a change and put our nation on the road to healing and recovery. That person is Joe Biden.

If you are with me in this fight and are ready to elect candidates up and down the ballot who will be there for working people, please let me know at actionnetwork.org/forms/2020-ready-to-fight.

In solidarity,

Christopher M. Shelton
President

CWA
501 Third Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
cwa-union.org