Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 Teamsters Hosts Labor Forum In Iowa 20240713

Unfiltered coverage live as it happens, reyears and anytime on cspan. Org. Six 2020 democratic president ial candidates spoke at a forum on labor issues hosted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union in cedar rapids, iowa. The first candidate to speak his former Vice President biden. Ok, i want to introduce our first candidate who will tell us why we should elect him, former senator from the great state of delaware, former Vice President joe biden. [applause] [cheers and applause] mr. Biden ok. Welcome. Mr. Biden thank you. It is good to be home. Vice president biden, we are in a room full of teamsters and i want you to tell all of them here and all of them watching, why they should vote for you. But no malarkey. Vice president biden, we are in a room full of teamsters and i want you to tell all of them here and all of them watching, why they should vote for you. But no malarkey. [laughter] mr. Biden no malarkey. I tell you why. First i should thank you. The only reason i am sitting here is that in 1972, i was losing in the polls the sunday before the election, the newspaper went on strike. You guys had put on a gigantic insert in the sunday paper to go out on the republican party. You guys would not cross a picket line. And i won by 3100 votes. [applause] if you think i dont like secondary pickets, youre wrong. The reason is, i am, as my grandfather would say, labor from belt buckle to shoe sole. Where i come from, i understand a very basic notion. Wall street did not build the United States of america. The middleclass did it. And unions built the middle class. I am the real deal. [applause] passed nlrb, when it was , did not say there could be labor, it said the government should promote labor unions for a simple basic reason. When you are strong, labor you are the only one that can keep the barbarians at the gate. No joke. They only understand power. Power countervailing power. , and you guys have been getting when you are strong, labor you killed, organized labor. We are down to 6 . When i started off as United States senator, it was 34 of all people working that were part of organized labor. And there has been a war on labors house for the last 30 years. I give a speech 12 years ago to the aflcio National Convention , and i said that and they thought i was exaggerating. Everything going on here is about keeping you from being able to compete with corporate power. And without unions being strong, we are in deep, deep trouble. The last point i will make, and then i guess my time is up. But folks, it used to be there was a basic there was a direct correlation a basic , bargain in america, if you contribute to the wealth of the outfit you work with, you got to participate in the profits. Well, guess what . From the end of world war ii, and by the way this is pearl harbor day, everyone of you who are veterans out there, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do. [applause] but look, think about this. Productivity went up 92 from the end of the war until 1978. Wages went up because of labor 94 . Wages went up. From that point on as the war on labors house began, guess what . Productivity went up 68 and wages went up 8 . 8 . 8 . Now, everybody thinks that the only obligation we have, Corporate America has, according to milton friedman, god rest his soul, i hope you had little contrition on the way up. The fact of the matter. Think of what is being said these days. The only obligation corporate and has is to stockholders. They say they have no obligations to employees, not a joke. No obligations to the community. And what has happened . Workers are being killed. The last point i will make. As the war on labors house has succeeded they have not only , stifled labor, look at what they have done. They have gone out on the right and make sure it is impossible for you to compete for your own, to represent yourself. You work for jimmy johns, you have to sign a noncompete agreement that you will not walk across town to work for mcdonalds and get three cents to five since more. Other fortune 500 companies, over 350 make you sign an agreement, if you come to work for them you will never discuss the ways you make with another the wage you make with another employee or you get penalized. Why . Because you are doing the same job that he is doing and your guinea pig less because you are a woman and they do not want , anybody to know about it. The third thing is, last year billion in overtime was denied for hourly workers who were not unionized. 1. 2 billion. So you stack spaghetti sauce in a store, in a supermarket. You control the guy or the woman who brings out the carts on a forklift. So what happens . They make you management. And you cannot get paid overtime. You see it happen with labor as well. The bottom line is i am for you because America Needs you to grow. We need to to grow. When labor does well, the whole country does well. [applause] i am sorry. Im really angry about this. Thanks, everybody. Thank you, mr. Biden. We have a video question now barack, a member of that teamsters local 817 from freeport new york freeport, new york who provides transportation for film and Stage Productions throughout new york city. Hello, i wanted to find out what provisions are theyre going to be and what promises are made, to make sure that collective bargaining is always going to be available to us as unions, as Union Members and his brothers. Thats my only question. Fmr. Vp biden it is the 64 question. Here is the deal. Folks, number one, i was the original sponsor of the employer free choice act. On by the way, my employees my Campaign Just joined the teamsters. They signed us. [applause] but all kidding aside, you have to do at least three things. The employer freetrade act and the proactive. Act. E pro i came from a state when i ran for the first time was a right to work state. We should change the federal law that there is no right to work allowed anywhere in the country, for real not a joke. , [applause] not a joke. Number two. The way we should be moving, i say to the gentleman from freeport, is that right now we are in a situation where last year, on a yearly basis, billion perent 1 year trying to bust unions from being able to start off in the first place. Ok . Now, under the pro act and under the lewis act, what we are going to be able to do is two things. When they engage in the, not unionbusting, but preventing unions from being able to be formed in the first place, they should be subject to significant fines. I know i only have a short time, but here is bottom line. Right now it calls for a 50,000 first fine and the second find fine 100,000ond , dollars. For a major corporation, that does not mean a thing. But here is what will change it. You want to get someones attention . Fine the managers personally. [applause] not a joke. Fine the management. If they are engaged in keeping unions by violating the rules of organization, and you know them all, than they should be held accountable. For a multimillion Dollar Corporation to be able to take , out 50,000 as a fine, their shareholders hit a price. Take it out of the pocket. Take it out of the pocket. And if, in fact if it becomes a , serious, serious offense, we should take about criminalization of some of these things. [applause] i am not i really mean it. If you engaged in trying to prevent people from voting in a polling place in a regular election, what happens . You can be held criminally liable. What is the fundamental difference between saying to you that a powerful employer can intimidate workers to not get engaged and vote for a union that you have a right to vote for . Ok . And in fact, if it is as egregious enough, why is that not similar to denying your right to vote in a general election . I do not think it is dissimilar. I tell you what, as they say in southern delaware, and awful lot of employers have had an altar call, as they say. And theythe lord, would see it quickly. There would be very few come in to prosecutions but some are so , egregious that they should thing about that. We also have to do a lot of things that relate to employer pensions whole range of things. , abut the bottom line is, to be a position where you enforce the ability of unions to be able to organize. And if there is interference, and the rules are pretty clear, you make sure that it is enforced and the penalties are imposed. And if it is because of a particular management and it is a repeat offense, it should be a higher fine, and it should be directed to the person who was in charge of putting it together. [applause] am i going too long . You have a little more time. Leslie we have a question from our audience. This individual is mr. Frank pastorino, a 36 year ups number of local 238, right here in iowa. He is also a board member of the National United committee to protect pensions and his , question is regarding pensions. [whistle] Frank Pastorino . Right here. Mr. Biden , i may be irish, but i not but i am not stupid. I remember her daughter. Said, frank retired membera from winterset, iowa. I saw you a couple of weeks ago at your town hall. I have gotten involved to protect my pension, my coworkers pensions, but also for my grandson here. Im worried about the Work Environment he is going to inherit from us when it comes to , education, when it comes to opportunity, when it comes to compensation. I think these are all important things. You are familiar with the and ongoing crisis we have with the employer Pension System. That is going to hurt the retirees as far as devastating , cuts to their benefits. We are going to have a negative effect on actives in their retirement, when it comes along. We are reaching a point where we are going to have a pension benefit guaranty corp. , the pbgc, go bankrupt. That is the federal Insurance Agency which is responsible for covering these pensions. There going to collapse and go bankrupt. These are good, hardworking people. All the way through this, they have worked their entire lives in order turn these pensions. They pay their taxes, more than their fair share of taxes to our nation. And many of our people are veterans. Probably better than 50 of our group in des moines are veterans. Many of them are vietnam veterans, and we cannot disrespect them again. We need to make sure that we honor these pensions. My question to you is, what is your plan to address the pension crisis in america and restore Retirement Security to American Workers . [applause] fmr. Vp biden number one, there was a great senator in ohio who introduced the bush lewis act. Here is the deal. Folks, look, the fact is these multiemployer pensions are the only way it works for the vast, significant number of labor unions, particularly you all particular the teamsters. , and im going to see to it, according with the act and may and maybe go beyond it, that we open up to use the fancy term of the trade, open up a window at the Treasury Department meaning that can provide 1 , loans, 1 loans to make sure multiemployer pensions are able to sustain themselves so they dont go bankrupt so , that you are able to maintain the pension, number one. Number two, the way that works is youre going to have, in addition to that, we have to be sure that we deal with the larger sections. You talk about veterans, you talk about other means. I remember, i grew up in a household where my dad did not belong to a union, although the folks up in scranton where i came from, if you listen to barack, you would think i climbed out of a coal mine with a lunch bucket, scrappy joe biden from scranton. But my dad was a whitecollar worker. And when coal died in scranton, pennsylvania, everybody lost their job. My dad, we moved to a little steel town called claymont, delaware, which has been eviscerated now, but that is another story. I remember my dad, we lived in a threebedroom splitlevel home with a grandfather and four kids. We were not poor, it was just the normal, technically lowermiddle class home. And the walls were thin. And i can remember my dad being so concerned and restless and i asked my mom, what was the matter . And she said the outfit he worked for, there is no more pension. The pension went under. And i remember my dad saying, your job is about more than a paycheck, it is about your dignity, about respect, it is about your place in the community. And he would say to me at all of my siblings, it is about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, honey, it is ok, and mean it. All the people can no longer say that. Go back to the old neighborhoods where people are not Union Members. And how can they say it . They do not have faith. For the first time in american history, you have more than half, no longer the wealthiest middleclass in the world. We have over 55 of all people thinking their children will never be able to reach the state they have reached the economic , prosperity they had. And it has got to change, and it gets back to all of you. The reason that has happened is because of the loss of power of unions in america. So when you talk about pensions, we have to talk about the Pension Guarantee Fund that is able to be funded, funded through federal government funding at a low, 1 rate, so that we can maintain the hundreds of billions of dollars time to needed over keep these pensions alive. With regard to your grandson, you asked a separate question, at least i view it as separate. What you do to make sure he has a shot . What you do to make sure he or she, your granddaughter has a shot . Two things. Number one, the idea that anybody in america works, and works 40 hours a week, and lives in poverty, is absolutely barbaric. It is not who the hell we are. So immediately we should move to, it will not affect you all. But a 15 minimum wage. We also have to change the way we educate people in america. Ladies and gentlemen, you have an awful lot of kids growing up in title i schools, where the tax base is low, not based on color. It is based on income. But guess what . The teachers are leaving. They are not getting paid enough, so they cannot stay there. There are increasing class sizes. Number two, they find themselves in a situation where there is no social workers in the school anymore. They do not have people, School Psychologists. There is one School Psychologist for every 1500 kids in america. Kids coming from tough homes, no matter what their background is, need help. They need help beyond learning how to read, write, add and subtract. I would triple the amount of money from 15 billion to 45 billion per year for preschool, so everything a child in america aged 3, 4, and 5 can go to school, school. And we can do it. [applause] and every study shows, by all the great universities, that increases exponentially the prospect that that student no matter what their background is, that the student will do very well in school and go beyond high school either to trade , school or to Junior College or college. It is about opening opportunities. You know better than i do it is about giving opportunities. 12 years of education in the 21st century is not enough. It is not enough. Is my time up . No, ive got another few minutes. I see you looking at your watch. m boring the hell out of you it is your wife . Well, answer the damn thing. I answer mine when she calls. , 12 years of education is no longer enough. There are a hundred thousand jobs out there, 100,000 decent paying jobs in Hightech Industries that we are fully capable of being able to do, but no one has been trained to do them. Companies are not spending the money. If you look at the details, theres a guy from the university of massachusetts who did this long study. Corporations made trillions of dollars. Guess what they did . They took 35 of it and gave it to their stockholders. They took another, over a 12 year period, they took another 59 and used it to buy back their stock. They buy back their stock and it increases the benefits the management gets, because they get paid in stock. They left 9 for everything else. 9 for new wages, research and development total. , 9 for new development. 9 , thats it. That is what is happening today and it is wrong. , its simply wrong. And i come from the corporate state of america, delaware. But guess what . I have been a prounion guy and have a better record than anyone you are going to be talking to, for that entire 36 years i was a senator. [applause] because what happens is, again, when you get people a shot to get into the middle class, everybody benefits. The wealthy do very, very well. Very well when the economy is growing. Because guess what . Middleclass folks like my dad and my mom and you guys and you , women, you spend everything you have. Not because there is a lot, not profligate, but because you need it to get by and hope you have a little bit , of breathing room. And guess what, that grows economy for everybody. Everyone. And that is not happening now because were denying access. Denying access. And we should have Free Community college for everybody. [applause] it is only 6 billion. We can put everybody into Free Community college. Cutting in half the cost of college. And by the way, im talking about people coming back. We are in the middle of an industrial revolution. I wont give his name, because i dont have permission, but one of my buddies i went to school with in claymont, i went to a Catholic High School called holy rosary. And afterwards i went on to the local Catholic School that was a prep school, it was an academic academicallychallenging school. I worked in the summer to be able to get the tuition on the , school grounds. This guy went on and became a trucker. Guess what . As used always point out to me, he made more money than i did over time. But i saw him three christmases ago. I will end with this. I am sorry but it is important. , we wonder why people have anxiety. We treat people where i come from and the neighbors i come from, with high school degreesi did not have any friends who had parents who had college degrees. We would treat you like all dummies if you do not go to college. But heres the deal. He sees me and walks up and goes joey, baby, and grabs my cheek. I thought the secret service was going to shoot him. [laughter] i said no, he is my friend. I said, how are you doing, buddy . I will not mention his name. I said are you still driving . And he said no, only guys like you who never worked in your life can continue to work. [laughter] and i said how is your son . His son is the same age as my son who died. I said how is your son . And he said, he is in trouble, joe, he is in trouble. I said how can i help . , i thought maybe he had a drug problem or health problem. He said no, joey, he is still driving, joey, but he knows that in five years hes not could have a job, because of automation of trucking. We treat people in this country like theyre stupid. You think you all do not know exactly what the rest of the world is saying and doing . And that there not reason to have anxiety, about the mechanization of trucking . So what is going to happen . What are we talking about . What are we doing . I remember, i have always had support, not only from you, but i have always had support from postal workers. 20 years ago i said, im worried and you guys better begin to organize and figure out how youre going to deal with the changes. Youre not going to have to mail something anymore or pick up the phone, theyre going to figure out how to get the message without any paper. They all look to me like i was crazy. How many of you are ups drivers, raise your head . You can tell them, cant you, what is going on . So folks, we have to start treating people with respect. I really mean it, respect. And im sorry to say this, a lot of times you guys do not even treat people with respect. When is the last time you walked out of the house, and the guy who is out there cleaning the sewer to keep your basement from flooding, how many of you walked out and said thanks, man, thanks for what you are doing . I was never, ever raised by a man who could never walk by anybody without recognizing them. No ups driver ever walked up to my house that did not walk out where we said thanks, man, thanks for the job youre doing, and mean it. We are turning into, like this guy running the show is turning into. We do not treat people with enough respect. And respect is first and foremost treating you for what you are worth, what you do, the value add. And like i said, man, if in fact the teamsters went on strike and said we are finished, we are going into some other business, the entire economy would come to a screeching halt. Every single wall street banker, if they stopped tomorrow, would affect on damn anything just about. , i really mean it, no joke. [applause] , folks, remember your power. I guess i am supposed to get out of here. Im sorry. Jim we love you. Wish you could stay all day. Art joe biden. [applause] fmr. Vp biden every time, i would walk out of my grandfather gans house in scranton, he would yell, keep the faith. And my grandmother would yell no spread the faith. , you have got power. Lets take it back [applause] art thank you, joe biden, way to go. [applause] our next candidate is here. It is cory booker, the senator from new jersey. He is our next candidate. Hes a great man. [applause] he is a man who has fought for us, but most importantly, he is a cosponsor of the bush Lewis Pension bill. Come on up here and meet senator cory booker. [applause] jim thanks for coming on. Sen. Booker i told them i would grab a stick, but let me see if i can do this one. Art senator booker, welcome to iowa. Senator booker it is very good to be here. Art and there are a lot of teachers here who are interested in electing a new president. Tell them why you are that guy. Senator booker look, as i was a kid growing up in a suburban town in new jersey, my dad used to look at me in this nice home we are growing up in and said boy, do not dare Walking Around this house like you had a triple. You were born on third base. You are here because of the struggle and the fight of folks youcame before you, and have an obligation. You cannot pay it back. You have to pay it forward. Our whole countrys story, we have had wretchedness and pain, bigotry in our past but that is not the story , of america. The story of america is that in every generation of americans we fight to come together, stand together, Work Together. We fight to put more indivisible back into this one nation under god. And the call of this moral moment in our country, we are not trying to beat down our fellow americans. I tell people all the time that we as democrats cannot run a president ial election about what we are against, we need to get back to talking about what we are for and who we are for. [applause] and let me tell you, we cant vilify the 60 Million People who voted for the current guy in the white house. We cant. The reality is that we as democrats, we need to let folks know we want to send Mitch Mcconnell to the back benches and we want to be donald trump. But we are not ultimately out just to beat republicans. The call of this country is for the Democratic Party to unite americans. So i am running for president because that is who i that is am, the value of this country i was taught that is the call of , this moment. We are a stronger, better nation when we do not turn against each to each other, when we get back to the foundation of this nation and how we have done great things before. I love the ideas of rugged individualism and selfreliance. But the ideals of rugged individualism and self aligned and selfreliance did not get us to the moon or beat the nazis. We did it together. We have to understand it is time to affirm our values, to stand together, Work Together so we rise together. That is why am running for president of the United States. [applause] leslie senator, we have a question from a member of the audience. This question is from ryan, the principal officer of teamsters local 322 in richmond, virginia. Brians question is about collective bargaining and right to work laws. Senator booker, first of all, thank you for attending the teamster candidate event today and i want to say we appreciate , having you here. Senator booker let me just say, ive got to acknowledge that you have a great haircut, man. I appreciate. The big bald black and brown and hairless, man, that is a good look. My daughter does not care for it. As was previously stated, i name my name is brian payton and teamsterud, 25year from the extraordinary state of virginia. I have the honor and privilege of being from the state of virginia. Im the president of the our local and the coordinator. Last month several candidates with a strong labor message secured on that electoral victory, thereby giving them a majority in the state house and senate. There is hope this change can provide a Solid Foundation for legislation which promotes unions and workers rights. For too long, virginia, iowa and many other states, have served as battlegrounds for workers under siege. The workers have fought tirelessly and courageously against continued attacks. Senator booker, as president , how would you use your influence , im also going to insert power here, do not only cease these attacks, but to advance the American Dream by creating quality jobs, advocating for workers rights, and championing collective bargaining . Sen. Booker give that an applause. [applause] understand what is going on here. Even when my dad was working, my dad was born in the south in segregated america. He got to working age, if you worked a minimum wage job back then it was above the poverty , line. Heres a guy who was able to work his way out of poverty. He told me, dont let people tell them i was po because i could not afford the other two letters. [laughter] my grandfather worked on a uaw Assembly Line on my moms side, during world war ii. And on my mothers side, that pulled us out of poverty. So we see now corporations getting more and more power, and using that power in the political process to deny workers more and more rights. These socalled right to work laws are wrong for workers. And we have to change it. And the way we are going to fight and do that is doing what you already see some some some some democrats like me doing in the senate, where i am one of the proact, that would make illegal these righttowork states. [applause] pro am fighting for the act, im fighting against the janus decision in the private sector. [applause] but this goes further than that, it is the trend again toward corporate power. We have a Supreme Court that as said corporations are people. I dont think corporations are people, but i think Union Members are people. [applause] and i will tell you this, that is where we should have our loyalty. This is what i mean about what this race is about. It is not a referendum on one guy in one office. Is it is a referendum on us, who we are and who we are going to be to each other. Because we have the power. My grandfather, taught me that the power of the people is greater than the people in power. It is time we understand that if we are going to pass legislation that right now is opposed in the senate, we have to make sure that we win the senate back. This is going to be a little technical, because, how do we do that . Senate seats up in north carolina, south carolina, georgia, arizona, these are states where we better have somebody at the top of the ticket that can create the same type of wave election obama created. , we saw our electorate big diminutions of voting last time. There was about one million African Americans that voted between 2012 and 2016, an estate like north carolina, south carolina, georgia, we dont get a record africanamericans or not, we are not going to win those senate seats. Im running because i believe i am the best candidate to energize all americans,. If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Democracy is not a spectator sport. All of us have an obligation to get people off the sidelines, to get them on the field, so that we can drive the ball down the field and score touchdowns for everybody in our country. [applause] senator, one of the things a lot of people i think are impressed with when you talk is you talk about unity and were supposed to be the United States of america, were the very divided states of america. You also talk about democrats and how they need to unite. If you were elected president of the United States, how do you reach across the aisle and work in a bipartisan manner, and unite democrats and republicans in the best interests of workers and for workers rights . Senator booker so this is at the heart of our country right now. This is the issue. And some of you experienced this at your thanksgiving table. Let me be direct. Some of you are experiencing this in your union halls. We are now a country where people begin to hate each other just because they vote differently. And thats just wrong. [applause] there is dignity there is dignity, there is divinity on both sides of the aisle. And by the way, if youre a union in this country, you know that neither side has a monopoly on good behavior. Because the Democrat Party has done things that have hurt union labor in this country. God, im running in this election, the whole theme of my campaign, the theme of my tour through iowa this time is talking about this ideal and im , going to put it to you this way. Patriotism is love of country, but you cannot love your country unless your fellow countrymen and women, all of your fellow countrymen and women. [applause] and love doesnt mean we always have to agree. On some days come to my family, we may not always like each other. But love says that were all in this together, that there is one destiny for america. And we should understand this. Im a senator so i go in the bunker of the senate, read classified documents sometimes. And the russians are attacking this country right now. And do you know what one of their strategies is . To go on our social media platforms and do everything they can, disguising themselves as other americans, to make us hate each other. Because they know when we dont agree, and cant even talk to each other, when its not partisanship, its deeper, it is tribalism, then it makes hard to do the things we even agree on. So let me tell you the crazy thing in america that our politics doesnt reflect. We agree on so much more than were getting done in america. We agree, 90 of americans, 86 of gun owners agree on common sense gun safety. Yet here we are, a nation that is now sending our children to school with the implicit message that we cant protect you so , were going to teach you how to hide. More shelter in place drills than there are fire drills. Heres another flash for you. We agree in this country that we are a nation, we say it in our songs that were the home of the brave, but yet our veterans come home and theyre disproportionately homeless. Republicans and democrats agree we should be doing more for veterans. Minimum wage raising, even that is agreed to by the majority of republicans, and guess what . Maybe republicans in washington dont agree with it, but even the crisis of climate change, most americans agree we should be taking action. The next president is not going to win because theyre going to be winning is not enough. Beating donald trump, thats the floor, its not the ceiling. It gets us out of a valley. It doesnt get us to the mountaintop. [applause] so let me tell you how we get to the mountaintop. A get to the mountaintop with president who can best inspire those ideals of unity. And ive had to do this my whole career. When i was mayor of new jerseys largest city and presided over its biggest economic turnaround , biggest economic turnaround i , had a republican governor. His name was chris christie. I could text him right now, i could write a dissertation on my disagreements. Talk about differences. But he and i found ways to get dramatic things done. When i got to washington and the only major bipartisan bill passed under this president was the one that i led from the senate with dick durbin for massive criminal justice reform. [applause] so my mission has always been to bring people together across the lines that divide us to help us , understand we have a common spirit and a common cause. And ill end this answer with this one point right now. The test of our nation will never be how one party tears another one down. The test of our nation has always been and always will be how well we lift each other up. [applause] thanks, senator. Now, we have another video question. This ones from sue mason and sues the wife of a 30year teamsters member and retiree of local 728 in atlanta, georgia. Currently, residing in florida. The issue is, of course, pensions. My most pressing question to the democratic candidate is how , do you plan to shore up the Multiemployer Pension Fund . My husband worked for 30 long years, 70hour work weeks, foregoing pay raises and other labor incentives in order to secure a pension that was promised to us. Now we are seniors and they want , to cut our pension. So we no longer have the ability to work the long hours and harsh conditions with our aging bodies. So my question is how do you , plan to fix it . [applause] this is very straightforward and its insulting that we have to even have this conversation. There are ways to measure the soul of a nation. You look at how they treat their children. We have some real issues to talk about from Public Education to , prenatal care. You look at people that are in the shadows of a society. You look at peoples prisons and who they incarcerate, where this crazy nation that one of every three incarcerated women on the planet earth are here. One area we should be ashamed of ourselves is what we do to our seniors and our elders in this country. The very idea of this nation is that everyone should have dignity and security in retirement. Those people who were made a promise for pensions, and now we is, that that isnt, and a bipartisan fashion rushing to , make sure we meet that promise . Im sorry. This is something i will fight for and woe be to you if i am the president of the United States and youre going to stand in the way of doing whats right by people who have earned pensions. So let me tell you very specifically. Im going to tell you three things that im going to do as president , but theres a lot more, but i want to brief. One is i am an original cosponsor of the Butch Lewis Act and we are going to get that passed. [applause] its not complicated. Were going to get it done. [applause]. Number two, Social Security that has not kept up with the cost of living and retirement. We have millions and millions of our seniors living in fear, insecurity and at or below the poverty line. Enough is enough. Social security has been a regressive tax where the , wealthiest among us pay a far lesser percentage into that pool of Social Security. Its a simple way to fix it. Im one of the leaders of legislation in the senate to do that. Its for the wealthiest americans, only affecting about 2 of us. You just raise the cap to get more resources to extend the viability and to expand the payments to people in this country. [applause] and now, this is important because security my mom turns 80 in a couple of weeks. And i watched her with my dad who had parkinsons and parkinsons dementia at the end of his life. There are millions of americans who are taking care of a spouse with special needs, a parent with special needs, a child with special needs, and it is hard. You bleed through your savings, your home, youre giving up your job or whatever else you are doing to bring income in. Physically a toll on you, what i watched my mom go through taking care of my dad. And we have a nation that says at the end of your life the only way youre going to qualify for health is when you bleed through all of your savings, and thats when you qualify for medicaid. Talk about stripping the dignity of somebody who played by their rules their whole life, and we say were not going to stand with you until we drive you into poverty. And those people who have given up their jobs to take care of you which, by the way, if they didnt do that and you ended up in the public sphere, it would be more expensive. So you are doing a service and , youre doing what reflects the soul of this nation. We need to have a plan for those life,at the end of their that were a nation that stands for each other with those ideals i talk about all the time of grace and decency and love. So the simple plan for me is im , not playing around. This is very simple. Number one, for medicaid eligibility, were going to raise the cap on how much money you can have so you dont have to go to poverty in order to do it and then number [applause] number two, very simply, number is very simple. Two if you are staying home to take care of someone with special needs, that should qualify in america as work and under my plan, we are going to make you qualified for the earned income tax credit and you will be able to get thousands of dollars back as well to help support that most sacred obligation that we all understand which is to take , care of a loved one in their final stretch to see god. Thank you. Senator, i work in the newspaper industry. Therefore, i cannot afford my own Health Insurance. I spent 27,000 out of pocket this year on Health Insurance, including a 1,400 a month premium and a 5,000 deductible from what is practically a monopoly in iowa, blue cross and blue shield. What are we going to do about it . Senator booker first of all, im going to answer your question, even though youre offending me with that beautiful hair that you have there. [applause] next time im going to demand a bald moderator. I just want to be clear right now because weve watched this , now five times i think, the debates were having amongst carelves on Health Democrats going after democrats. , when im standing up there sometimes and thinking to myself the differences between us are small compared to what is going on on the others of the aisle, where they are trying to take health care from us altogether take back the , Affordable Care act, send us back to the days where a preexisting condition would bar you from getting Health Insurance. And i want to tell you, theres differences between us, but obama, one of his slogans was yes, we can. The operative word there is we. This is not going to be an individual effort, the person with the loudest voice on their views is going to win, no. This is going to be the person that ultimately goes to the white house and has to get all the democrats to agree with them to get anything past, to andanything passed , maybe get some republicans. And so im a big believer in a million payer plan. I have to say i think thats the best thing to do, but if you cant please applaud that. [applause] i can argue that forever. But if we cant get all the Democratic Senators on the stage to agree on it, getting all the democrats in the senate let me tell you, is going to be harder. And when my family members are telling me theyre watching the debate stage having anxiety like you do about their costs, its not making folks feel a lot better. So let me tell you, the person that we need in the white house is a person that can build coalitions necessary to continue to make as much progress expanding care and lowering the cost. Because im the only person in the United States senate, only person in this race that lives in a community below the poverty line. I have lived there for 20 years because when i came out of yale , law school, my dad said you got more degrees than the month of july, but you aint hot. Life isnt about the degrees you get, it is about the service you give, get into america and make a difference. I moved into one of our communities where i discovered we should never mistake wealth with worth. And my lived experience of my folks in my community who are desperately in need of health because he said 2,700, i know people 27,000. 27,000, in my community, 2,700 is the difference between staying in your home or not. In my community, people have to ration their insulin because they cant afford it even though right up north here in canada, it is a 10th of the cost. The president we need is the person that every single day is not going to let progress be sacrificed on the altar of perfection, but build the coalitions necessary to do the things we can do as quickly as we can, getting as part of the goal is i want to get to, where health care is a right in america. And those things include enough is enough. Prescription Drug Companies in america can no longer profit off of our pain. And i am going to [applause] take away patent exclusivity from those companies that charge one price in our country for a drug and a fraction of that price in others. Were going to use medicare to negotiate down prices. Were going to do the things i know we can do more easily right away, which is lower medicare eligibility to 50 years old. We can expand, we can expand a public option. I thought with that hair man you must be 25. [applause] long as long as the kids im seeing in college for crying , out loud. There are things we can do as a party united when we look people in the eye who are afraid and worried about their families. We can say to them follow me, we will get this done together and guess whats going to happen . When we create a functioning public option, its going to make us have even more ability to go further and farther until , we get to that day that in the United States of america the , land of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, that you cant have liberty, freedom from fear, that you cant have happiness without healthcare, that you cant have life, that we become the nation that finally, once and for all, every single american, as a matter of right, has access to highquality health care. [applause] thank you. I would like to tell you this is a wig. It is not, but we would love to hear your Closing Remarks. Senator booker i really appreciate this. I just want to break it down real quick. I am here because of unbelievably courageous people who didnt pray like my family or look like my family, but they stood for my family. My parents were denied the ability to buy a house in the neighborhood i grew up in because of the color of their skin. And it was white folks who gathered together, when i parents were denied told it was a house told it was sold they would go right behind , my parents, volunteering, they bid on the house, the bid was accepted, papers were drawn up and on the day of the closing the white couple didnt show up. The Real Estate Agent actually punched my dads lawyer in the face, and sicked the dog on my dad. And as i was growing up every , time my dad would tell this story, the dog would get bigger. [laughter] thats our story. When i got to be a senator i did , what a lot of senators do who have a high sense of selfregard. I decided to write a book. And when your name is booker thats , a lot of pressure, folks. So i went back to find those people. That lawyer that organized the the whole sting operation, i asked him why would you help , black families move into your neighborhood . He said the moment i made that , decision i was sitting on my couch in 1965 on march 7th, watching tv. And he said there was a movie called judgment at nuremberg. Thats when we had three channels so most of america was watching, and then they break away from that show to show a bridge in alabama, breaking news, a bridge called the Edmond Pettis bridge. And this white man watches as these activists get stopped on the bridge by troopers who gas them with tear gas and then beat them viciously. We know this day as bloody sunday. And so what did the white man on a couch do . Did he allow his inability to do everything to undermine his determination to do something . No. Did he forget that the knowledge of our country, that the power of the people is greater than the people in power . No. He knew he was one person, but that he was powerful. And so he stood up and he knew he couldnt go to alabama, he couldnt even afford a plane ticket, but he entered that Great American tradition that has transformed this nation in every generation. He was one american that stood up and said im going to do the best i can with what i have where i am and he went to work, joining with other americans and unions, building a group of people helping families move into a town by by 1969, hes 1965. Got the case file of a family, coming up from the south looking , for help, frustrated and discouraged because they cant buy a home. Buy a home. And he goes, corey, we got them into a home and the name on that case file i got was your parents. Im here because just one american didnt just sit there on the sidelines, watching our democracy but knew this was a , time to fight. And the way we fight is not against each other, not to tear each other down. But the way we fight is to build new othersons, to join with in the highest ideals of the country. We didnt beat bull connor because we bought because we brought bigger dogs and bigger fire hoses. Hate cant beat hate. That man on that couch showed love. And so i want to tell you right now were in crisis. , you all feel it. There is fear and that doesnt , mean youre not courageous. Courageous is knowing fear and Going Forward anyway. Let me take you to another time of fear and crisis. It was when a man named king was slain. And if you went to the motel today and saw killedot where he was they put scripture down there. , now, im a man of faith, but this scripture speaks to our civic gospel. And the words there are the words that i want to leave you with as a challenge, god doesnt speak about a policy plan because this nation never wins with plans, it wins with vision that Inspires Action that makes plans possible. These words i want to leave you with, i hope inspire you in your action and i hope you consider joining me in this larger american movement, bigger than an election. This is a campaign for our country. The words there are written from scripture are the words of josephs brothers, who were going to kill joseph with his coat of many colors, dropping him in a well to die. They uttered these words and threw him into a pit, but he rose up to lead a nation through crisis. What were those words . To speak now to a nation with a pit in its stomach where its , values are on the line, the wordsern simply this of josephs brothers, written where king was slain. It says, behold, here cometh the dreamer, let us slay him and see what becomes of the dream. What now will become of our dream . We have to answer that question right now. What will become of the dream of america, the dream our ancestors died for on the beaches of normandy, dying in mississippi what will become of the dream that we fought for at stonewall at seneca, at selma . , well, i say all of us need to join together in a chorus of conviction and say this dream will not be on our watch, that we too will dream america anew and it will be like our ancestors a defiant dream, a daring dream and will back those dreams up with work and sacrifice and struggle. Because without struggle there , is no progress. We will back that dream up yet again with the most powerful force we know inhumanity, and that is love. If we dream like that, we will not as a nation perish in the pit. We will rise. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Were going to the mountaintop. To the mountaintop, thank you. [applause] did you like it . Yeah. Thank you, senator cory booker. Wasnt he great . Very good. [applause] our next candidate is senator Amy Klobuchar of minnesota. [applause] i know many of you know her born , of Union Parents and a cosponsor of the butch lewis save our pension act. All right. And she fights constantly to save our Central States pension. Lets hear it for Amy Klobuchar. [applause] senator klobuchar wow, what an incredible group. Thanks for having me. And should i say a few words at the beginning here, art . Have a seat. Senator klobuchar do you want to put me back here . You get your words at the end. You and i have something in common. My greatgrandfather was a teamster and you have a long family history. Senator klobuchar right. of Union Workers. And you have repeatedly touted on the campaign trail the importance of Union Workers. So tell the Union Workers why it would be important for them to vote for you as president. Senator i want to thank the teamsters. I would not be here without unions. My grandfather was an iron or minor. He worked 1500 feet underground in the minds of minnesota, but before that he was a teamster. Sick. Rents were he pulled the wagon and he was a teamster. When he was in those mines, it was unions whose saved his life. Unions who saved his life. It was unions who made the minds mines safer. Every month, someone would die from those mines, and it was unions that made them safer. My grandpa save money in a he and histo send brother to community college. My dad then went on to the university of minnesota. My mom grew up in milwaukee. She wanted to be a teacher. Thank you, wisconsin, but not the packers. [uproar] be. Klobuchar she wanted to a teacher and came to minnesota because they had a strong teachers union, and she taught second grade until she was 70 years old. Before you today as the granddaughter of a teamster antiunion worker, the daughter of a union teacher, and a union newspaperman. The first woman elected to the u. S. Senate from the state of minnesota, and a candidate for president of the United States. That is what unions are about. So when i look at these policies, and when that budget bill came over and everyone said we should all vote for it, i think it was Claire Mccaskill and me, we looked at this thing, what is the central pension provision, and it was bad. We voted against that because it was in there. At least now we have a fighting chance to save the pensions with the work being done by my good friend sherrod brown, who so strongly believes in the dignity of work, and we are trying to push that bill to get done. I also believe that unions help everyone, and i am so proud that our staff is now organized by. Eamsters thank you for that. [applause] sen. Klobuchar and continue to work with our minnesota teamsters. Quiet group in the front. You so much for your support. It has meant a lot, so i would love to answer questions. Not real sorrym that iowa ruined the minnesota gophers perfect season. [applause] sen. Klobuchar i would like to point out that in addition to having one of the few teams roden that the had their first season where they won 10 games since 1905. Well, anyway, theres that, but we also have a video question here. It is from the first woman teamster who first began working there in 1966 as a member of local 886. Over the years, she became one of the most active trade unionists in her home town of tulsa, oklahoma. And again, her issue is pensions. Im a member of teamsters local 886 in tulsa, oklahoma. My question is, what will you do to protect my pension . Will you support senate 2254 . Central states pension is due to become insolvent in 2025. There are two reasons this bill is important to us. Number 1, it will save the pension of 400,000 retirees, and number 2, it is the right thing to do. If you do the right thing, you will never be sorry. [applause] sen. Klobuchar so, i believe that promises that are made should be promises kept, and when you look at the original proposal there, it would cut hardworking people who have worked their whole lives, cut their pension, people who were near retirement, 50 , 60 , 70 . And thats what was so wrong. So out of that, we pushed to have changes, and teamsters organized town halls, actually, all over the country where there were a lot of people in Central States pension. We brought the treasury officials out there. They listened and we ended up pretty much being able to break open the whole thing. So that agreement did not stand in place. The next thing that happened was that the Butch Lewis Act was introduced. I wish that butch lewis was alive today to see the work that were going to do. As president , i will get it done. We must make sure that people have their pensions, and that includes the Central States pension. That includes miners. And we have to plan for the future, as well, for new workers, but to do that, we want to make sure we shore up Social Security. I have been against all efforts to privatize it, by lifting the cap on where the payroll taxes are taken out of so we can keep it solvent beyond where it goes now, which is about 2034, it will start paying out at 90 . We must also think of the new workers and give them the right to organize. We have this whole gig economy right now. 1 3 of our workers are in this gig economy. And making sure that they have the right to organize is going to be key, because i believe that unions [applause] sen. Klobuchar and this is all about misclassification of workers and making sure theyre classified the right way. That unions make for a stronger economy. When unions are strong, our economy is strong. When unions are strong, america is strong. [applause] im really confused about these teams. Im from boston. Never heard of them. I just know the sox and pats, if anybody from new england is in the house. [boos] klobuchar my dad once wrote a book called will the vikings ever win the super bowl . It was in the early 1980s and sadly, its still relevant today. I didnt mean to have pain here, but senator, we have a question from the audience, and this is from paul. Paul is secretarytreasurer of local union 407 in cleveland, ohio, and he has a question about healthcare. Sen. Klobuchar okay. First, i would like to welcome senator klobuchar to this forum. Healthcare is the issue that i have, and healthcare has been an issue the last election cycle. And im sure its going to be the big issue in the next election cycle. Most americans believe that everyone should have the right to Affordable Healthcare. And while some of us pay 27,000 a year for healthcare, luckily the teamsters negotiate contracts in Many Industries that offer highquality healthcare at little to no cost to our members. However, the quality benefits came at a price. Our members agreed to less wages to get Better Benefits. So my questions are, what policies do you support that would help raise the bar to all americans without having to lower the benefits that our members fought for and won . And secondly, since tax on healthcare would penalize our members for sacrifices that they already incurred, would you be in favor of the elimination of the socalled cadillac tax on highquality health plans . Thank you. Sen. Klobuchar thank you. [applause] sen. Klobuchar i am a cosponsor of that bill. I believe that we should eliminate that tax. Thats first. Secondly thank you, one person in the front. Okay. Secondly, secondly, when it comes to healthcare, i think stepping back a little, you must have the right to collectively bargain. And what the iowa Supreme Court did recently, which was really putting a rubber stamp on what the legislature did, is exactly the same thing that the u. S. Supreme court did in janus. Thats why as president i would make sure we pass Mazie Hironos bill which guarantees the rights of Public Sector workers to collectively bargain. Thats the first thing. [applause] sen. Klobuchar the second thing, when it comes to healthcare, if youve been watching any of the debates, you guys have been watching them . We keep having this same debate over and over. And i am the one from the beginning that said i read the medicare for all bill. I read it and im the only member of congress on that stage that is not on that bill. And i didnt get on it, as well intentioned as it was, because i read it. On page 8, it basically says that people, 149 million americans, including a bunch of the people in this room that are Union Members, would lose their current healthcare. And i dont think thats a smart way to go. What i want to do is this. I want to build on the Affordable Care act, and lets remember that right now in this country, the Affordable Care act is 10 points more popular than the president of the United States. Obamacare. So the way you do this, when you start seeing it as a beginning and not an end, you say okay, how can we make this better . You make it better with a nonprofit public option. That will bring down the premiums, and its a smart way to do it, and its what president obama wanted to do from the beginning. The second thing we can do is take on the pharmaceutical companies, and i have been leading those bills from the beginning. They are things like getting rid of the ban on negotiations for medicare. That would bring prices down for everyone, not just 43 million seniors. It is putting a cap on pharmaceutical prices. The bill over in the house right now that Speaker Pelosi is leading would save 350 billion for taxpayers, just by taking the average internationally. Bringing in less expensive drugs from other countries like canada. That is a klobucharsanders amendment that almost passed. I can see canada from my porch, in addition to iowa, from minnesota, and we see what those less expensive prices are. So those are some ideas, and i think if we just look at this, not taking away hardbargained healthcare, but instead making it easier for unions to organize, Public Sector and others and i would do that, by the way, by passing the pro act, which would make a big difference for taking away the penalties and making sure theres no retaliation, and making sure theres no misclassification. You combine those things with working on these issues on healthcare, and its going to make it better for everyone, because you all know when youre a member of the union, you represent that union, but you dont just help Union Workers. You help all workers, and thank you for that question. [applause] earlier when you talked about misclassification in the workplace, this is a huge issue for Union Workers. I live in california, and its a very big problem, especially in agricultural areas. Rules like the a. B. C. Test that clarify when workers can be classified as independent contractors, etc. , a lot of people support. Do you support that and what other ways if youre elected president would you working to combat this . Sen. Klobuchar well, i think the thing you have to do is to make sure that our people can organize. And this is going to be battled out in the courts. The attorney general is going to decide what kind of cases to proceed on, and the president will have a lot of say in what these rules are with the department of labor and with who is appointed to the National Labor relations board. All of that is important. Theres a lot of things that Work Together here, but the key is to make sure that people can organize. Right now, as i mentioned, a third of our workers are in this gig economy. Theyre working parttime, and a lot of them are being abused, actually. Theyre putting in part time, theyre combining jobs, and they dont have access to benefits. So by allowing them to organize, you change everything for them. Because then theyre going to have access to the kind of healthcare and childcare negotiations and things we want to have in place. The other thing i would do is take some of these tax breaks that the president gave to big corporations and to wealthy people, and i would use that money to help regular people. You can do that with childcare. The proposal out there takes 150 of the median income, and it says if you make less than that you shouldnt have to pay more than 7 of your wages for childcare. And if you do, the rest of that, the government will help you with that. That helps the whole economy. Those kinds of proposals will help people, whether theyre in the union or not, but its going to make sure that those workers in the gig economy are helped and that they are able to get retirement and able to get Social Security and things like that. So i really think we have to step back and look at this economy, make sure were protecting the people who worked hard. Thats what the butch lewis is. But then also make sure that were thinking ahead. And right now, unions are on the rise. If they werent, i could say four good words for you. Former Governor Scott walker. [applause] sen. Klobuchar thanks to jim hoffas work and your leadership and so many people in nis room on the front line, unions have become more popular because people have figured out that their lives get better when unions are out there, and that they feel isolated and no one is going to stand up for them, and certainly, that guy in the white house, despite what he promised people, and there were a lot of members of a lot of unions that actually voted for him because they thought hes going to get this done, make things cheaper for me, hes going to do that stuff. Those were false promises. And thats one of the cases i will make, but i ask you to make too, because they are going to listen to you and theyre going to hear about the kind of judges hes put in place that have been against union rights, and the kind of policies that hes put in place that have hurt the ability to organize, and the kind of people hes put on the nlrb, and the kind of person he just put on in charge of the labor department. Youre going to have to make those cases, because while a lot of money has gone up to the top, there has not been shared prosperity in this country. And he has betrayed the people he made those promises to. [applause] thanks, senator. You favor important changes to taft heartley, the father of all modern antilabor legislation. Isnt it time to get rid of taft heartley like harry truman wanted to . Sen. Klobuchar that would be one way. And if not, why not . Sen. Klobuchar what i think we have to do is make sure we have the right to collective bargain and that we make sure we put these provisions in all of our government contracts, and then we make clear that there is protection for our workers. My one experience, in a big way, with this was some of the prevailing wage laws. That was when i had the job before the one i had now. I was county attorney and i had the biggest county in minnesota, over a Million People. I put a fulltime person on prevailing wage because you can have all the laws you have on the books, whether theyre good or bad, but if you dont enforce them in the way that helps workers, it doesnt matter. I put a fulltime lawyer on that to make sure we were enforcing it, and then that lawyer helped counties all over our state because a lot of the small Rural Counties arent able to hire someone to do that fulltime. That was the kind of precedent i set, and i will continue to support these labor laws that are allowing for collective bargaining, and that we make sure these government contracts, when we give them out, theyre fair and they go to Union Workers. [applause] and would you like to give us a closing statement . Sen. Klobuchar i would. You look so cheery in your bow tie, art. I love you, too [laughter] sen. Klobuchar i want to start with this. Theres been some dramatic speeches here, but a holiday story, and that is a story about my daughter. My husbands out there somewhere. I dont know where he went. But when our daughter was about eight or nine years old, we went to see that movie polar express. Maybe some of you remember that movie. Tom hanks was in it. He played the conductor of this train. And our daughter walks out of it and she says to me, mom, theres one thing in that movie that wasnt true. And i say what was it . Was it when the train went over the big lake and it froze over immediately so the train could keep going . She goes no, no, that wasnt it. And i said, was it the million elfs at the north pole . That was not it. She said it was when that conductor, who was tom hanks, is standing on the train at the end, and the little kid comes over, and tom hanks looks at the little kid and he says come on, kid, get on the train. Get on the train. And the kid is hesitating, and then the conductor says it doesnt matter which way the train is going. Just get on the train true story, she looks at me and says mom, thats not true. It does matter which way the train is going. That is a good lesson for this election. It matters which way the train is going. Look at what donald trump has done. He went down to maralago after that tax bill was signed. He went down there, and he said to his friends, i just made you a lot richer. You just got a lot richer. We cannot forget that, and you as ambassadors to all these working people that you see every day, youve got to tell them that, because they have got to see that thats where his head is and thats what he did. I will come at this in a much different way as president. You know i know the policies. I passed over 100 bills as the lead democrat in that gridlock of washington, d. C. And i did it because i was able to work with people and figure out how to get things done. Thats going to be important, but the most important thing is going to be to win, because yes, this is a matter of economics, and all these things we want to do, from the Butch Lewis Act to bringing down the cost of pharmaceuticals, to putting those Labor Protections in place, to making sure were standing up for workers and standing up for people in the rural areas, were not going to be able to do that unless we win big. And the way we win big is not shutting people out with policies that they dont support. How we win big is bringing them with us in a big, big way. It is to remember that we must have an optimistic economic agenda for the people of this country. And ive got proof. We won in wisconsin, the governors race. We won in michigan. We won in pennsylvania. After we lost in 2016, because we put up candidates that went there not just where its comfortable, but where its uncomfortable. We just won in kentucky and louisiana. We won. Mitch mcconnell [applause] Mitch Mcconnell, and dont tell me we cant win the Iowa Senate Race if we won in kentucky and louisiana. We won, despite the fact that donald trump went down there and did a rally with the opponents of the democrats the night before. My question is, where can we send him next . That is what happened. We won. So thats what i dont want us to forget here. This is an economic check for working people. But this is also a patriotic check. This is a values check. This is a decency check. I have won every race, every place, every time. Every congressional district, the reddest of red, michele bachmann, the district that borders iowa, and ive done it by bringing people with me. Ive done it because ive listened to those workers and those Steel Workers in northern minnesota. And we dont want to eke by a victory at 4 00 in the morning. Then we are not going to be able to get this bill passed and were not going to be able to get these workers rights. Weve got to win big, so thats what i leave you with. Think about going with someone that has that proven track record. Of standing with unions, yes. Of getting things done, yes. But also of winning big. Literally every race, every place, every time, all the way down to 4th grade. [laughter] sen. Klobuchar when my slogan was, that ive since discarded, all the way with amy k. Im not going to use that one, i dont think its a good idea, but what i will use is this, that this is something former congresswoman Barbara Jordan once said, that she said what america wants is something quite simple. They want a country as good as its promise. If we remember that, and we go with decency, and we think big, and we have big values, we win. So lets go out there and get it done, and i would love your support. Thank you. [applause] wasnt she great . Very good. Are you enjoying it here . Were so fortunate to have so many good candidates speaking out on our issues. Our next candidate is mayor Pete Buttigieg of south bend, indiana. Mayor pete is new to the our next candidate is mayor Pete Buttigieg of south bend, indiana. Mayor pete is new to the but hes speaking out on our issues. Hes a navy veteran and a rodes scholar. Lets give him a big hello. [applause] come on. Mayor Pete Buttigieg [applause] mayor buttigieg thank you. Well, mayor pete, thanks for coming back to iowa. You practically live here now. Mayor buttigieg its starting to feel that way. There are a lot of teamsters wanting to know why they should vote for a guy named buttigieg. Mayor buttigieg sounds good. First of all, i want to thank you for having me. Thank you for sending your teamsters in south bend, everybody making our city a livable place. Weve got a lot of teamsters in our administration. Were thankful for them. I want to let you know first and foremost that i stand with organized labor in order to build up an economy that actually works for us. Not just when the stock market is looking good. Thats nice. But actually making sure that one job is enough. Actually making sure that working conditions meet our expectations. And building up middle class in this country. If you start the clock right around the time i was born, you see two things happening. One thing youll see is that inequality increases dramatically in the United States. The other thing that youll see happening is an assault on organized labor and a decline in Union Membership. I believe those two things are not a coincidence. They happened at the same time for a reason. And the time has come, as i have proposed in our new rising tide economic agenda, to make sure that we support and expand not just better wages, making sure that 15 is the floor for the federal minimum wage across the United States, but also support the right of workers to organize for better pay, for better conditions, and that we support not just how you can unionize, but who can unionize. A lot of gig workers out there right now. As far as im concerned, if youre doing a gig, youre doing work. If you are doing work, that makes you a worker. And if you are a worker, you ought to have the right to organize and have Labor Protections that go with that. [applause] mayor buttigieg i come from the exact part of the country that this president pretends to speak to and for. I live in the industrial midwest, i dont know which way is east, but just about one guy is pointing that way, and one of you is pointing that way. Wherever it is, its not that long of a drive up i80 to get to where i am. I have seen what our communities are up against in different parts of this country, because we no longer have a system, economically or politically, that works for us. I also know what were up against as a country in the sense of the need to come together. I am running not only to bring an end to the current presidency, but to launch the era thats going to come next. If you just stop and picture what its actually going to be like the first day that the sun comes up and donald trump is no longer the president of the United States, its a good picture. Were looking forward to that day. [applause] mayor buttigieg were ready for that day. But think about what it will actually be like. Think about how divided our country will be, even more torn up over politics than we are right now. That means were going to need a president who can solve big problems to empower workers and enhance the life of this country and prepare us for the future. And do it in a way that actually starts healing and unifying this country rather than further polarizing it. I am running to be that president because thats what were going to need from the white house come january 2021. Thank you. [applause] we have a question from our audience, and this question is from dan. Dan is a 23year teamster of he works for Highland Dairy there. He has a question about pension protections, specifically bla from cs active perspective. And where is our audience member . Ive been called worse than damn. [laughter] im a teamster with local 554. Im honored to be here today with my Union Brothers and sisters. Im 58 years old and was born and raised in council bluffs, iowa. I still live there. Ive been employed in the dairy Processing Plant for the last 23 years. I joined the Teamsters Union as soon as i was eligible. Ive foregone pay raises in contracts to receive increased contributions to my retirement fund. Ive hoped to retire at age 62, a short four years from now. As you know, the Central States pension fund is projected to be insolvent at about the same time. I have no desire to work until i die and im certain the other 400,000 active and retired workers who have invested in the Central States pension fund feel the same way. My question is, what is your plan to address the pension crisis and restore Retirement Security for American Workers . [applause] thank you. Mayor buttigieg so, the bottom line is that you deserve to know that the promise made to you will be kept, because that was a twoway promise. As you said, often there was a tradeoff between a pay raise and putting into the pension, which means it ought to be there for you, and thats not about doing you a favor. Thats about keeping a promise. Right now, the Butch Lewis Act has been designed to make sure that we secure and support multiemployer pensions, and i support that legislation. [applause] mayor buttigieg i also support the broader idea that our country has a responsibility to make sure everyone can retire with security. Even for those who are not fortunate enough to be represented by a strong union and to have the benefits of some of those negotiated pension plans. We have to begin by making sure that Social Security is there for all of us. This president talked a lot about caring for Social Security only to turn around and have a budget that took funds away from it. Thats unacceptable, and dont listen to anybody who says theres no way to keep Social Security solvent without cuts. Its just not true. As long as we are willing to raise revenue by things like collecting those payroll tax dollars past 250,000 incomes and up. If we do that and a couple of other tweaks that do not involve cutting benefits, then the solvent the Social Security fund will at least be solvent to where im planning on collecting on it and beyond. So weve got to do that. I also believe we ought to set up a public option 401 k in the United States, eligible for everybody to participate. Healthcare is not the only place where a public option could do a lot of good. And so were proposing any employer, you would be it probably wont be as strong as the Pension Program program youre participating in that we must protect, but for those not as fortunate, weve got to make sure that we create another alternative, and we would have employers matching 2 1 what employees put in. The last thing i want to mention, just as we contemplate more and more americans retiring and aging into the need for longterm care, is that we have got to do something about longterm care in this country. I remember a conversation with a social worker in a hospital when my dad became ill. And the social worker explained to my mom, it appeared when we thought he might need longterm care, that the best answer would be to spend herself into poverty so that we would qualify the family would qualify for medicaid, and thinking, is that how things work in the United States of america . So im proposing longterm care for america, a cash benefit for anyone who is eligible, who needs those expenses covered, 90 a day, which would go a big part of the way towards the cost of longterm care, and making sure that we continue to enhance opportunities for carrie and aging in home, and not just in institutions. I know that is a long way from your horizon, but i want to mention it as another retirement related and that needs to be taken seriously. In addition, making sure that multiemployer pensions are secure and rocksolid for the future. [applause] mayor pete, you propose guaranteeing bargaining rights for all workers. If youre successful, how do you believe it would transform americas workforce and americas economy . Mayor buttigieg i believe it is crucial to making sure the economy actually works for us. Think about it this way. We generally look at manufacturing jobs as some of the best, most precious jobs we need to make sure we grow in our economy, right . There good jobs. But we did not used to think of them as good jobs. A hundred years ago, manufacturing jobs were generally considered dirty, dangerous, and underpaid. They became good jobs when workers got together, organized into unions, and demanded that they become good jobs with good pay, safety, and good benefits. This must now be done for other kinds of jobs, where you do not see that kind of representation. Im thinking about Home Health Care workers. Im thinking about fast food workers. We with fast food workers in charleston who were fighting for their right to 15 an hour. I am thinking of farmworkers who do not have the ability to organize. Not to mention to what they were doing to Public Sector workers, here in iowa and other places, which is why i support the publicservice freedom to negotiate act. It makes our economy actually work for us, instead of looking good just as numbers on a page. I would also argue, as somebody, as a mayor who oversees a workforce represented by organized labor including by teamsters, that it also makes the employers better off. Because you are able to sit across the table, hear the voice directly of workers and what concerns them, and earn the loyalty and retention of a workforce that knows theyre going to be taken care of. So i believe that our employers, our companies, our government units, as well as our workers, benefit when we make sure the right to collective bargaining and organizing is available to all. [applause] mayor buttigieg, we have a video question from a 26yearold resident of bell gardens, california. His parents immigrated from el salvador before he was born, in search of a better future. He has worked at the ports of l. A. And long beach for three years. As a victim of misclassification, where drivers are classified as independent contractors by companies, denied benefits and the ability to organize, but treated like employees. He hopes to see action on the federal level. His question is about worker misclassification. Hello, i have been a driver for about three years. I am an independent contractor. But in reality im just a classified driver. I dont have any Health Insurance, vacation days, sick days, workers compensation, disability. My coworkers tried to form a union, but we have been turned around by our employer that we are independent contractors. But we cannot bargain for better pay rates. We cannot move loads for other companies. With the little wages we get, we have to pay for diesel, for maintenance on the truck. We have to pay for tires, many other things that have to do our corporation should be paying for. In california, we have a b 85 and sb 1402 pased and we have a hope that the government will take on this. My question is, when you become president , what will you do to take on this classification, to make sure Companies Like mine enforce the law that they keep breaking every day. [applause] art josue is talking about misclassification of drivers. They do not have workers comp. They try to form a union but they were misclassified so they cannot be. His question is when you become president , what will you do to take on misclassification . What do you do to that company breakinges that keeps the law every single day . Mayor buttigieg first of all, when a companys breaking the law when it comes to labor, whether it is missclassification, interfering with union elections, not offering you what time on company time or whatever it is, there need to be penalties that have enough teeth, multi Million Dollar penalties, that the actually care. What is happening now is not only are they not getting enough enforcement, because we do not have enough enforcement energy and resources, whether were talking about nlrb or the department of labor, but even when there is enforcement and a finding that a company has been in violation, the fine does not have any teeth. So they just keep doing the same thing. That will end when im president. The penalties will be harsh enough to make them change their action. That is number one. [applause] mayor buttigieg number two. Workers like josue deserve these kinds of protections. What we are seeing is not just illegal missclassification, but a lot of cases where workers are been described as a 1099, a contractor and not an employee, by companies that functionally control everything about their working experience. So we need to adopt what is called the abc test. It basically says if somebody controls your pay and working conditions and youre doing something that is part of their business, then whether you put them on a 1099 or not, you are considered a worker. And they have to extend those protections and labor rights to you. It takes way that magic between being a socalled contractor and being an employee. [applause] mayor buttigieg and as we move into the changes in the economy ahead, i would argue we also need to think about how to not only take away some of that magic that makes them want to call people contractors, but look at the fulltimeparttime line too. Because i think we have to do things different with gig workers. As far as im concerned, if youre driving an uber nine hours out of a week, then nine divided by 40 is how much ought to go into your sick leave, your vacation, your ability to get benefits across the board. And we will set things up to make sure the benefits are not just portable, theyre prorated, so it takes away these incentives for companies to push people into a kind of work where they are not able to get the benefits that we consider to be basic to what it is to be a worker in our economy. [applause] art thank you, mayor. We have talked to each other a few times here in iowa. And i appreciate your time. And im not that bad a guy, really. Do you think that a free press in america is the enemy of the people . [laughter] mayor buttigieg i do not. And i am not just working the riff on this. This is really important. How is the United States supposed to be a force for freedom and democracy around the world, if our own president echoes the language of dictators in describing reporters as the enemy of the people, anytime they reveal a fact that is inconvenient to the president . A democracy rests on a press. I do not always like what is in the press. I do not always like the way im covered. But i will tell you this too. If we ever catch a reporters saying something that is factually incorrect and we call them and we can prove it, they fix it. Because the press cares about the truth. Just like the American People care about the truth. And coverage, whether it is favorable or unfavorable, the freedom of that coverage is the bedrock of american society, and deserves to be honored and protected by the american president , as it is under our constitution. [applause] leslie over the last 40 years, while worker productivity has increased 70 , the hourly pay of typical workers has remained essentially flat. What would you do to help change that if you were elected president . Mayor buttigieg glad you raise that. We are at a moment where a lot of things are complicated about the future of the economy, and because the conversations get complicated, they have distracted us from the central problem in our economy, which is so abundantly simple that it is almost blindingly obvious. That is this. People do not get paid enough in the United States of america. It is that simple. [applause] a lot of other stuff we can talk about and should, but lets begin with this. Certainly that is true of the minim wage. The minimum wage is worth less in real dollars, if you allow for inflation, than it used to be, by quite a bit. And in not one county in the United States of america can on minimum wage easily afford a twobedroom apartment. But this is not just about the minimum wage, which needs to go up to 15. This is about wages across the board. As you point out, the wealth is there and it is being created by workers. The productivity of our economy grew enormously over the course of my lifetime. And shockingly little of that has gone to the workers that are generating the value. This is not the result of some mysterious cosmic force of macroeconomics. There is technology and globalization, but lets be clear. This is the result of policy decisions. This is the result of political decisions, beginning in the reagan era, that have disempowered workers and their ability to command more of the fruits of their labor. That will change. It must change. It is one of the things at stake when i say we must commit ourselves to a goal of doubling the rate of participation in organized labor in this country. [applause] leslie if elected president , and if the Butch Lewis Act act lends up on your desk, would you sign it, and why . Mayor buttigieg yes, i support it for the reasons i said earlier, that we have to make sure pension obligations entered into in good faith by workers are protected. That is part of what i shared about making sure we have Retirement Security in this country. This country is headed for a crisis if we do not do something to make sure that Everybody Knows that they will age into a prosperous, dignified, safe, and secure retirement. Leslie repealing tafthartley . Mayor buttigieg we deftly have to change tafthartley. By the time i am done with it, it might deserve a different name. I think it is through a change with tafthartley that we do away with socalled right to work in this country. [applause] leslie how do you do that was such a divided government . Mayor buttigieg great question. I will tell you plan b. Then i will tell you plan a. Plan b is to remember this fact, that the American People are with us on raising wages, on delivering paid family leave. By the way, we did that in south bend. The state of indiana would not let me do it for our community, so i just did it for our city workers. We raised the minimum wage and set of paid family leave and challenged other employers to join. But that was as far as i could go, because the state would not let me, which is why we need federal law on paid family leave. Whether it is wages, family leave, whether it is immigration reform, even stuff where my party has been a defense, like gun reform. Even most republicans and most gun owners agree we have to do something. On issue after issue, most people agree with us, even in conservative states. So whether is a member of the so where there is a member of the house or Senate Getting in the way of an action that would support American Workers, would be to fly the plane into the home district of getting in the way of the senator who is getting the way of something that is widely popular and remind workers in the home state or district how much daylight there is between them and their representative. Lets see if that doesnt bring their conscience back to them. [applause] that is plan b for how to deal with things like Mitch Mcconnells senate. Plan a is to have a nominee, in my biased opinion, that might be, for example, a mayor from the industrial midwest who is a little bit outside washington, with enough coattails that Mitch Mcconnell is not in the majority or in the senate at all, and we have a Better Congress to work with. [applause] leslie i imagine you would get rid of the graveyard in the senate right now. Mayor buttigieg the senate has to change. That means the filibuster. The filibuster has got to go. It is been used to get in the way of good policy. Harry reid, who is very much somebody who lived and breathed the life of that institution, has called for the filibuster to come to an end, and i agree with him. [applause] leslie we are seconds away from your Closing Remarks, but i want to give your due diligence. We would like to hear your Closing Remarks today, from anything the two of us did not cover or we do not get to ask you with questions from the audience or via video. Mayor buttigieg perfect, do we have 30 or 40 minutes . Leslie how about five. Mayor buttigieg first, thank you for leading the discussion. And thanks to all of you for standing up for workers in this country. It is coming down to this. Sun comes up in the picture i painted for you, on this first day that donald trump is no lager president , we are going to have some big problems on our hands. One of those problems is going to be this economy, where the numbers on a page might look good, the stock market might look good. But most americans are not feeling it. Most americans are not getting ahead, having to fight like hell just to hold on to what weve got. Wages are not keeping up with the cost of health or retirement or education. Moreover, we are actually living shorter lives. Think about what that means, for the Gross Domestic Product to go out and American Life expectancy to go down at the same time. That should not even be possible. That tells you whats broken in our country right now. Now is our chance to fix it. Im running to be the president who can deliver solutions that will solve those problems and unify the American People. It is that american majority i was talking about that can help us get these things done, that is with us on issue after issue, especially when it comes to working conditions and organized labor and wages and benefits. We have to hold it together. We know how to fight. But we cannot ever get to thinking fighting is the point. We cant ever let it look Like Fighting is all we have. We have to keep our eyes on what is on the other of the fight. Im determined to be the president who will help us on that day, pick up the pieces, and move us toward actual solutions. This is what im getting at with an idea like medicare for all who want it. We take a version of medicare, make it available for every american who wants to get in on that plan, but trust you to decide whether you want it. Because if you negotiated passing up wage increases for something better, you ought to be able to keep that too. The important thing is that everyone be covered, one way or the other. [applause] it is a difference, in my view, on college. I believe we should work with states and to deliver federal funding to make sure college is tuitionfree for the first 80 of americans by income. Then a sliding scale as you go between 80 and 90 . If you are the fortunate top 10 , i wish you well. I do. But i think you ought to pay your own college tuition, so we can use those dollars for other things, like apprenticeship programs and cte, and stuff that will help people thrive in our economy whether you went to college or not, because you should be able to do well in this economy no matter what. These are the kinds of solutions that help us deal with the issue, bring us together, and move us forward. One more thing i will promise you, as somebody who wore the uniform of this country. That you will not see the president of the United States laughed at by the leaders of the world when i am your commanderinchief. We will be a country that keeps its word, that upholds our values and that honors our pledge. [applause] mayor buttigieg we should never forget that my partys roots are in standing up for workers and standing up for those who are organizing for a better life. That is in my heart, because i saw in my own hometown the the consequences of recklessness by the wrong decisions being made in Corporate America. We almost died as a city with a car factories left in the cash when the car factories when the car factories left in the 1960s. We were called a dying city at the beginning of this very same decade we are living in now. Now we are growing. It has not been easy. Jobs are growing. And income. And we are a growing population. Because we came together to actually get something done. I have seen what is possible, having grown up in a community where the message that went out when i was a kid was, success means getting out. Get out if you want to make some thing of yourself. And as soon as i left, i realized i was from somewhere, and i knew that i had to come back, come home and make myself useful. That is my story. It is what propels me to make sure that every community thrives. I see in this movement coming together, a chance not only to get rid of the presidency we are living through right now, but to build an era we are going to be proud of. And we could be so proud of what we did working together, starting in 2020, to make a better American Life for all of us. That is why i am running. I believe the presidency has a purpose. The purpose of the american presidency is not to glorify the president. It is to unify and empower the American People. And i look forward to partnering with teamsters and organized labor to make that happen every single day. So im asking you to caucus for me for that reason. Im thankful to be with you. I am at your side, and i look forward to what we can do to make history together. Thank you. [applause] alright, we are getting there. Our next candidate is tom steyer from california. Tom is a firsttime candidate who is wellknown in the finance industry, because he set up a company that was very successful. He has taken that money and basically invested in america. He founded nexgen america, a Nonprofit Group that combats climate change, promotes social justice, and increases participation in the democratic process by registering voters. Lets hear it for tom steyer. [applause] leslie welcome. Tom thank you for having me. Leslie you have said that labor unions are a powerful check on corporations. These Union Workers would like to hear how you would do that and why people should vote for you. Steyer i am running for president for a simple reason. I think corporations have bought our government. I think government has failed. And i think it specifically is not even trying to represent the people of the United States. [applause] mr. Steyer it is true, we all know it. So the question is, who is going to take back this government and make it of, by, and for the people . And if we can do that, what does it mean . So for the last 10 years, i have been organizing coalitions of ordinary american citizens to stand up for our rights and beat these corporations. I started in california, running propositions against oil companies. So for the last 10 years, my first partner in everything i have done politically is organized labor. My best partner in everything i have done politically is organized labor. [applause] tom and i promise you that my last partner in anything i do politically will be organized labor. [applause] steyer so together, weve beaten the oil companies. We have beaten the tobacco companies. We have beaten monopoly utilities. We have beaten Drug Companies. I specifically worked in 2012 on three propositions, all of them going doortodoor with California Labor unions. One was to raise taxes on rich people. Passed. One was to prevent a proposition that was taking away the Political Rights of Union Workers to organize politically. I gave it 500,000. We went doortodoor together. Prop 32 lost in california in 2012. [applause] mr. Steyer the other when we the other one we did together was proposition 39, the one i was pushing the hardest. It was to close the corporate taxable of 1 billion per year. Give the money for working people to fix up the public schools. Passed. Mr. Steyer we worked on some thing called prop m, it is called measure m in los angeles. I thought it was going to create 450,000 comparable waived jobs. Comparable wage jobs. But i was told by the mayor of los angeles last night that the new estimate is 700,000 comparable wage jobs in los angeles county. I have also started a Grassroots Political Organization called Nextgen America. It has done two things. One is organize young people. We did the largest youth mobilization in history last year, going into 38 republican districts, more than double the turnout of young people, and flip 33 districts from r to the other thing it does is with National Labor unions we knock on doors of people who do not vote in swing states. With National Labor unions, we knocked on 15 million in 2016, and 10 million doors last year. [applause] when i say labor is my best partner, labor is my best partner. The other thing i will say is this. If we can take back this government, and i am telling you, that is why i am running. Take back the government from the corporations. We will get Affordable Health care. We will get quality publicly education. We will get clean air and clean water. We will also get a living wage for americans. [applause] there has been a 40 year war on working americans, starting with breaking the air Traffic Controllers in 1981 by ronald reagan. Including a strong move for socalled, and i hate these words, right to work across this country. That has been an attempt to take away the rights of americans to organize and represent themselves. I guarantee you, we are going to have to fight that. It is absolutely wrong. You can look at what is meant for people across this country in terms of wages, benefits and the share of national income. If you are asking me why you should support me, because you guys have always been my first, best and last partners. And i will never walk away from the idea of living wage, the importance of organized labor unions to upset American Workers, and the knowledge that what is happened over the last 40 years is how the unfair and we should be fighting it and changing it on day one of an administration. [applause] [cheers and applause] art thanks, mr. Steyer. We have a video question here from crystal pumphrey, a sixyear member of teamsters local 743 in chicago. As a worker for blue cross blue shield. Her issue is pensions. Art hmmm. Lets come back to that in a little bit. [laughter] the American Legislative Exchange council alec the single most malignant forces standing in the way of worker justice in america. It has spawned, strengthened and related to citizens united. How do we answer this seemingly unstoppable dark effort in our National Politics that is bent on denying collective bargaining rights, secure pensions, and Health Care Accessibility . Lets go with crystal. Hi crystal mumphry. How can we guarantee pensions through retirement and for people who do not have pensions and are part of unions, how can you at them a pension and guarantee the pension will not be taken away . Steyer so, crystal, lets go back a little bit and see why these pensions are so underfunded. And why they are such a risk before we Start Talking about butch lewis which i will jump to the chase and say i am completely for. [applause] i know that. What happened was these companies did not put in the money while they were working in order to pay for their workers pensions. They put it off and underfunded the pension companys. As a result, we have a drastically underfunded Pension System, where a group of people who have worked their whole lives, are risking their pensions Going Forward, because companies have underfunded and now people think those pensions, the multi employer pension fund, is only going to be solvent for the next nine to 11 years. Butch lewis is raising money, lending it to the Pension System for the next 30 years. Making sure workers get their pensions. Then paying the money back. It makes a ton of sense. There is absolutely no reason not to do butch lewis. But let me make a different point. This is the same government that bailed out every wall street bank in the country in 2009. [applause] so explain to me how doing something that keeps millions of workers pensions that they have earned through their whole life is not worth doing, but bailing out every wall street bank is worth doing . That makes no sense. [applause] let me say some thing else. I know how much of a threat retirement is to working americans. Three quarters of americans rely on Social Security for most of their income. Most americans do not have a sufficient pension plan, including people who get very good wages, do not have a sufficient pension plan, and really come into requirement without the kind of security they need. One of the things we have said we will do, that i will do as president , is having called universal retirement accounts. Where if you put money aside, the government will match it. And the lower your income, the more they will match it. The idea being, rather than counting on companies to do it, we are also going to encourage but not require copies to do it. But our point is require companies to do it. We give a huge tax break to rich people who save money. That is just money the government is giving them to save. Why are we not doing that to ever buddy . Why are we not doing that to everybody . Why are we not using the governments money to plenty way and then match it, the same way we do for rich people . Do i believe we will use butch lewis to save these pensions . Yes i do. It is absolutely necessary. More broadly, youre going tease money from the government. We are going to use money from the government. And i want to undo tax breaks for corporations and wealth for it when i said there has been a 40year war against working people, take a look at how the money is split up. It is outrageous. 40 years of no raise for working people, two generations. That has never happened in american history. We are going to have to change that and that is why i am for a wealth tax. It is not just income, it is wealth. We need more money coming in to the government so the government can have programs to support working people at every stage of their life. Part of that will be a universal retirement account that will give people much more security when they retire and is going to rely on the government instead of corporations which will not do it. Leslie we have another audience question. Mr. Steyer, this is from sammy, the president of local 320. Mr. Steyer is he here . Leslie yes, he is. A Public Employees local union in minnesota. The issue is a on Public Sector workers, specifically he wants to ask and touch upon. Welcome, mr. Steyer. Im a 35 year teamster. Im president of local 320, which represents Public Service employees across the state of minnesota. This forum is important for me personally i have three granddaughters at home watching us today and listening to these very important future issues. In my home state of minnesota, we felt the impact of the janice decision as it makes it more default for union reps like myself to do my job, to stand a up for members and their rights under contract this is a dangerous overreach by the government to stack the deck in favor of employers. It will not only have detrimental effects but also the communities they live in. The attacks go beyond the janus decision. My sisters and brothers in states across the country are fighting attempts to weaken unions from forced recertification and elections to limiting what we can bargain on at the tables. Public employees in this country deserve to have a voice in the workplace. What would you do to stop these attacks are Union Members and support policies that support and strengthen unions . Mr. Steyer sammi, thank you very much. That is a critical question for working people across the United States. Janus, im sure everybody in this room knows about the janus decision, basically allowing people to the benefits of union to free ride in terms of their dues. It was a specific attempt to weaken unions, specific Public Employee unions come across the country. And as sammi said, it is part of that 40 year war on the rights of working people, to organize and stand up for themselves. So lets talk about how we are going to reverse that war. First of all, the nlrb is going to have to be i would say personnels policy. Who is sitting there . Who has access, who is making decisions is critical. The nlrb has to be administered by people who understand the needs of working people and organized labor. [applause] that is one. Look, there has been an attempt in this country to stack the federal judiciary radical, rightwing jurists who are young. So we are seeing something going on, where this came down to a spring court decision. And Mitch Mcconnells ability to prevent president obama from getting and appointing into this up in court is really determinative in so many decisions, including this one. So when i think about, in addition it is not just merrick garland, who is the man that president obama proposed that Mitch Mcconnell blocked from any consideration believe or not, mr. Trump has been able to point a quarter of the federal judges in three years. Because Mitch Mcconnell blocked president obama at every level on federal judges. So there was a huge backlog. In answer to your question, it starts with the nlrb. I would make having concern for my working peoples needs a requirement for any appointment. I would consider more than nine judges on the Supreme Court, it is legal to increase the number. [applause] we are at a place where a radical Rightwing Party has tried to take over the judiciary of this country for a generation. And it has happened. When you think about what has happened under mr. Trumps administration, this is a huge part of it. Radical antiunion rightwing judges who are young. So we are going to have to be very deliberate. The other thing going on to a large extent, right to work is a state issue. I am a grassroots person. We pushed, Nextgen America has worked hard and a bunch of states, including nevada. Nevada flipped both houses and the governor last fall. [applause] it is huge. It is huge. I went to a meeting in january of this year, after the election, and sat down with union organizers. I said, ok heres the question. Minimum wage or right to work, where do we start and what we do second . Because we have got to flip the states. And there has to be a meaningful answer when we flip them. Because we are going to have to go statebystate and do a turnout job. Just like for our future, which is the next gen organized labor doortodoor effort. This is about turning out americans across United States of america, winning, and then changing the rules. Fighting back against this 40 or year war. That is what we need to do. That is what we are going to do. And that is how we are going to turn this around. [applause] art thanks, tom. Back to the question earlier we will go back to it now. Alec, is a cancer on the democratic process and on worker justice. How do we answer this dark effort in our National Politics, organized by the kochs, that is bent on destroying collective bargaining rights, secure pensions, and Health Care Accessibility. The three main issues we are talking about today . If i could reinterpret. It would be this, how are we going to take back our government from the corporations who bought it . How are we going to do that . Look, i have been proposing structural changes to our federal government that no one else who is running will even talk about. Person and senator. 12 years. [applause] look, you want bold change . We need new and different people in charge. You think six words, Mitch Mcconnell, lindsey graham, chuck grassley. We need some changes. In nevada, they have term limits. And they have a majority female legislature. In nevada. [applause] new and different people in charge. [applause] i actually believe the American People are way smarter, way braver, and way more compassionate than the politicians. So im actually for pushing power back to the American People. I am for direct democracy. 26 states have the ability for citizens to gather signatures, put it on the ballot, and enough law. E vote for it, it is a i am for direct democracy on a federal level, so that if the congress will not do it for whatever reason than the people can do it. [applause] i am for it. Obviously, i will say two more things. Corporations are not people. [applause] i know the Supreme Court said it. I dont care. It is ridiculous. It is ridiculous to say a corporation is the person and deserves the rights of an american citizen. That is what the kochs and corporations and all these people hang their hat on. That is how they get to use the dark money. We have to change that. And that is a Supreme Court decision. [applause] but also, you know, this is going to be a question of how we describe this. This campaign, to a large extent, every president ial campaign is about what matters. What do the American People, it s what do you sitting in this room care about . And what are you going to vote on . My argument is, and the reason i am running for president is, everybody in this roomever but everybody across america wants Affordable Health care and quality Public Education and clean air and clean water and a living wage. The question is, how are we going to get it . I believe this election has to be about taking back the government. That is what is at stake. We have to expose the a. L. E. C. s of the world. The only reason they get away with it is that you do it in the darkness. They do it secretly. Corruption flourishes in the darkness. As president , i would change every one of these laws. The first thing i would do is expose these people. I would charge them so much money you cannot believe. Fine them for breaking the law and taking advantage of the American People. [applause] leslie how would you invest in apprenticeship and Training Programs to meet the technological needs of a our changing economy . As president not as a businessman because you have already done it as a businessman. Mr. Steyer one of the things that is going to be true, and the reason i talk so much about the quality, Public Education, is to let everybody get a chance to go as far as i want in the way they want. [applause] that includes Skilled Labor and training for real jobs. One of the things where i have seen this work really well in my home state of california, is in Community Colleges. They are basically free. 48. They really are, 48 bucks for a unit. My point is this. We need a societywide effort to train young people for quality, skilled union jobs. [applause] we need it. I dont know if you know this, i am a climate bug. We need to make it priority one. If we are going to rebuild the United States america on an accelerated basis, which we have to do, it is going to create literally millions of high paid union jobs across this country. [applause] and we are going to have to train people, so they can do those jobs, and so we can rebuild the middle class of this country. And how is echoing to happen . And how is that going to happen . Through a combination of things. Apprenticeships and the Community Colleges and unions have to be part of this. We will build the labor force by having people come up, get their training and get a real job and get paid along the way. This is critical for us. This is going to be, we have to go back to the idea of a way for young people to see a path that includes training, that includes work, that leads to a real career of a living wage good job, one job supports a family union work. This will give us the chance to do this and everything a place and we are going to do it. [applause] art thank you. Why dont you wrap up for us and tell us your closing argument. Mr. Steyer i know art. He is a dangerous man. Look, we all know where this is going. I do not know if ever but he has seen this. We have seen in the last day, the last one he for hours, where this election is going. Because what mr. Trump is going to say, is the following. You know im a criminal. You know i hate 80 of americans. You know your mother would never let me come to the dinner table. [laughter] but you cannot get rid of me because i am good for the economy. That is what he is running on. And as democrats, we are going to have to beat that. Whoever the democrat is, is going to have to talk not just about justice, but we need a course to restore justice in this country. We are also going to have to be able to talk about growth, prosperity, and a strong, vibrant, competitive private sector. We are going to have to be able to take this guy on. To go right at his strengths. And show that in fact, as a businessperson, he failed. He was a fraud. He was a failure as a businessperson. Then we are going to have to go and show that as the steward of the american economy, he has once again using us as his latest Atlantic City casino. [applause] tom look, i spent 30 years building a business from nothing. I did not inherit anything from my verparents. I started in one room with no windows. I can take this guy on on the economy because he is a fake. If you thing about what prosperity is in this country, think about the people in this room. The prosperity in the United States of america is the people of the United States of america succeeding together. That is investing in you. It is investing in people like you across this country. That is how, over time, you build prosperity. You educate people, you provide health care. You have a living wage so families can continue to prosper. You clean up the air and water. You have a country that leads the world morally. That is success. If you look back, they would tell you it is successful, but it is not. Whoever leads they will talk about justice and about redistribute in wealth. They will have to be able to talk about growth and the ability of america to do new things better. And to put people to work at good paying jobs in the real world of the 21st century. [applause] [applause] we are going to win this. Seriously. We are going to take these guys down. [applause] art now, last but not least, senator Bernie Sanders is here. [cheers] senator sanders has been a member of congress for three decades. In the house and into thousand seven in the senate. He has a great message and he is involved in making sure we save our pensions. Is a sponsor of the Butch Lewis Act. Lets hear it for senator Bernie Sanders. [applause] [cheers and applause] art senator sanders, welcome to cedar rapids and to the teamsters forum. Tell the folks in the house why the teamsters should vote for Bernie Sanders. Sen. Sanders first of all, congratulations on staying awake all day. [applause] i gather that i am the last and im sure you are delighted to hear that. [laughter] let me say this. There are some very good candidates running for president of the United States. Many of them are friends of mine. But i think at the end of the day, if you study the record, you will find that there is no candidate running for president of the United States, who is more prolabor than Bernie Sanders. [applause] i have been in the congress, the house and the senate for a long time. I have a pro labor voting record of one hunter percent. [applause] but it is not just how you vote. I have been on more picket lines with striking workers then i suspect all of my opponents combined. That is what i do. [applause] some of my friends and colleagues talk about being pro worker and that is good. But they voted for some of the worst trade agreements in the history of this country. Im proud to tell you that not only did i vote against nafta and p ntr, but i led the effort against those disastrous trade agreements. As president , we are going to have a policy of fair trade, not unfettered free trade. [applause] [cheers] that means we are not going to have American Workers forced to compete against desperate people around the world, who are trying to make another dollar or two dollars per hour. And by the way, when large corporations decide to throw American Workers out on the street, when they give their ceos 100 times more in salary than they pay their workers, and then they get online to try to get a federal contract, well, they have another guess coming. It aint going to happen. [applause] if we are going to end the 45yearold declined of the american middle class, or today, in the midst of massive income and wealth inequality, where three people on the top own more wealth than the bottom half of american society. If we are going to do that, we are going to have to rebuild the trade Union Movement in this country. [applause] there are millions of workers in America Today who want to join a union, but are unable to do so, because of the illegal acts of their employers. That is why i have introduced the workplace democracy act, which is the strongest prolabor legislation ever introduced in the modern history of this country. [applause] what it says, briefly, what it says, is a 50 of workers in a bargaining unit plus one sign a clause saying they want to join a union, they will have a union. Sign a card saying they want to join a union, they will have a union. And if the employer refuses to negotiate a first contract, there will be serious penalties against that employer. [applause] an hour legislation ends section 14b of tafthartley, which will end also called right to work laws in this country. [cheering and applause] and i know all of you are concerned about the multiemployer pension plan. I want you to know, working with jimmy, we had meetings in the capital, we are trying to stop that disastrous provision in the omnibus bill. I ended up voting against the bill because i will not tolerate workers losing pensions when they are paid into that pension plan for their entire worklife. In recent years, we have taken on amazon, and i have taken on disney, to raise them in them a wage to at least 15 per hour. We have introduced legislation an houress for a 15 minimum wage, and equal pay for women. [applause] sen. Sanders so im here just to say this. To me, being proworker, prounion is not a new idea. Ive been doing it my whole life. My my job as president on one hand, we have corporate interest. On the other, we have corporate interest. That aint my style. If im elected president , we will have a workers government in washington, d. C. Thank you. [applause] senator, we have a question from one of our members via video. This question is posed by trish muir. They are on strike at a mining at the Mission Complex in arizona. And her question is about trade policies that work for workers. Senator, you can watch it right there. Hi, my name is trish and im coming to you from the strike line. How will you enforce trade agreements that protects collective bargaining rights, especially as they pertain to the u. S. Mexicocanada trade agreement . [applause] sen. Sanders those guys have been on strike now for several months, is that correct . Theyve been on strike a while. Sen. Sanders all right. As i indicated earlier, current trade agreements have been written behind closed doors by the ceos of large corporations. Thats just a fact. And unions and workers have been kept out of those negotiations. And the theory behind unvented freetrade is that its just wonderful. Isnt it just terrific that we have a great Global Economy . But behind that theory is the understanding that corporations can make a hell of a lot more money by paying workers two bucks an hour rather than 30 an hour. Ill never forget when i was in the house. Theres a special place near the border in mexico, where they welcome foreign factories. I went down there. Ill never forget this. You go down there, these beautiful factories, general electric, you name it. And then you find beautiful, stateoftheart, modern factories. And then you walk a halfmile to where the workers were living. They were living literally in cardboard shacks. As president of the United States, im going to stand up for workers of the United States of america. We dont believe in a race to the bottom. [applause] sen. Sanders right now, right now if you can believe this, the average worker in America Today, after 45 years of an increase in worker productivity and explosion of technology, every one of you is producing far more than workers did 45 is ago. And yet the average worker is not making a nickel more in real inflation accounted for wages than he or she did 45 years ago. It is time that we had a government that stood with the working class of this country, and not just wealthy campaign contributors. And i will be that president. [applause] senator, you talk about workers rights and you say youve done more for labor than any of the other democratic candidates. If you are elected president , how do you reverse the demonization of unions and Union Workers that is taking place, especially by the right and this Current Administration . Sen. Sanders well, the truth is, youre absolutely right. For 45 years, weve seen an effort to break unions, weaken unions, to demonize unions. But despite all of that, because so many workingclass people in this country are struggling, economically. Despite all of that, unions today are more popular than they have been for many, many decades. And what you are also seeing now is workers standing up and fighting back in a way that i have not seen for a very, very long time. [applause] sen. Sanders you have teachers, teachers in conservative states, who are saying to their governors, dont give tax breaks to billionaires and cut education in our states. [applause] sen. Sanders you have nurses standing up, fighting for their own patients. So i think, despite the demonization and the attack against the Union Movement by the right wing and Corporate America, the American People understand one very simple fact. You dont need a phd to understand it. If you are a member of a union in America Today, you make a hell of a lot more than a nonunion worker. And you have Better Benefits and you have brought dignity on the job. [applause] sen. Sanders and the legislation that we have introduced anticipates that we will double the number of people in unions in a fouryear period because were going to open the door for workers to be able to join the union and stop the illegal activities of their employers in preventing that. [applause] thank you, senator. Im especially delighted to call on a questioner here from cedar rapids. Stephanie griffin is a member and employee at teamsters local 238, and her father is a member and retiree of local 238. And her issue is pensions. Sen. Sanders hi, stephanie. Hi, senator. Thank you for being here. I am a proud teamster member. This handsome man is my dad, teamster retiree. [applause] he has 30 years of service as a truck driver. He first started working to deliver animal feed to various customers over a four state area. When i was a little girl, there were times i got to ride along with my dad, and it was awesome to ride in that truck. I still remember the smell of the animal feed. I love that smell. I dont know if anyone else here in iowa feels that way, but i do. It meant a lot to watch him work so hard and have pride in his work and i will never forget those experiences. Hubbard seed eventually closed and he worked for a Bread Company as a driver and he retired as a cement truck driver. Over those 30 years, he paid into the Central States pension fund so he could retire with pride and dignity, and that is no longer the future that he sees. I too pay into the pension fund and have been for 18 years. I should probably be concerned with myself and what i will do to make ends meet if i dont have that pension, but my concern is solely with my dad. Um, sorry. This truly is a crisis for our family and hundreds of thousands of other families who are looking to lose their pensions and their incomes. Please show your plan to shore up the pension fund so that my dad, and thousands of other retirees, including many other people sitting in this room, can stop worrying about losing their income and their livelihoods and get back to enjoying their retirement. [applause] sen. Sanders thank you so much. [applause] sen. Sanders all of you have been involved in negotiations with your employer. You sit down and you negotiate a contract. Sometimes you get what you want. Sometimes you dont get what you want. But you know what the deal is. You know what happens when you leave the bargaining table and when you sign the contract. What is particularly outrageous and disgusting about what happens from five years ago, in terms of legislation that allowed for massive cuts to peoples pensions, is that a promise, a sacred promise made to thousands and thousands of workers, that promise was broken in an incredibly callous way. In other words, if i negotiate a contract with you and i negotiate 2 and you get 5 . Youre unhappy but you get the deal. You and your father are paying in year after year, giving up wage increases, giving a benefits, youre paying in because he want to know when you retire, youre going to be able to retire with security and dignity. And then through no fault of your own, one day you learn in the middle of the night, as part of a big omnibus spending bill, a provision was put in there that says that pensions could be cut, 30 , 40 , 50 . That is disgusting. That is outrageous. That is not acceptable. You dont make promises to workers. You dont have workers paying in year after year and then suddenly have the rug pulled out under them. You asked me what i will do, we have introduced legislation. Here is a promise and make to you without the slightest hesitancy. My secretary of treasury, under which this whole thing lies, will never, will never allow for a cut to a pension when that worker was promised that pension. It will not happen. [applause] sen. Sanders and this is a promise that is not that hard to keep. Remember, couple of years ago, trump and his friends gave a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1 and large corporations. What were talking about here is a gap of some 30 billion. 30 billion is a lot of money. Compared to a 1 trillion tax break to the rich, aint so much money. That is 30 billion we can come up with to make those pensions whole, and i will, in fact, do that. And the reason that i voted against that omnibus bill was precisely because that provision was in there. [applause] thank you, senator. In iowa, the rightwing legislature, funded by alec, has gutted collective bargaining laws and used to negotiate over 17 categories. Now they reduced it to one, pay only. Also in that bill, it makes negotiating for Health Insurance actually illegal, even if the local school board or city council wants to negotiate Health Insurance. Its illegal. Doesnt that really obviate the need for singlepayer, as you propose . Sen. Sanders well, two things. Number one, the labor law legislation that i have introduced will allow any worker in america to go on strike when the union wants to go on strike. [applause] sen. Sanders now, do we want federal workers to be striking . Do we want state workers, teachers to be striking . Of course not. We want negotiations to take place, by which workers can get a decent contract. But if you take away the right to strike, what leverage does a worker have . [applause] sen. Sanders second of all, in terms of health care, let me just say this. And somebody here can tell me if im wrong, but i have the strong feeling that every time you sit down at the bargaining table, the key issue that comes up is the cost of health care. Is that right . All right, so the employer will say well, i cant afford this wage increase because the cost for health care will go up. So you got a choice, which increase or we cut your health benefits. We are the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people as a human right. I believe, given the fact that we have been talking about, universal Health Health care in this country, since Teddy Roosevelt 100 years ago, fdr, truman, kennedy, lyndon johnson, obama, weve been talking about it and talking about it and talking about it. And right now, the function of our Health Care System is nothing less than to make the Drug Companies and the Insurance Companies huge profits. It is time, in my view, to understand that health care is a human right and i will fight and pass a medicare for all singlepayer system. [applause] senator, you talked about your goal for workplace to democracy plan. You talked about it doubling Union Membership. We want to do it in your first term as president. You talked earlier about how you go about achieving that. I want to hear what affects you think it will have on our workforce if it is successful. Sen. Sanders right now, in the richest country in the history of the world, with a socalled strong economy, have of our workers are living paycheck to paycheck. You know that . Paychecktopaycheck, people worried about whether they are able to put food on the table, go to the doctor when they are sick, pay the rent. We have millions of people working two or three jobs. I was here in iowa, talking to a guy who works, who collects food to give to an emergency food shelter. I asked them, who goes to the emergency food shelter . It turns out 90 of the people are employed. But here in iowa, you have a minimum wage of 7. 25 an hour. How does somebody live on eight dollars, nine dollars, 10 an hour . So when we strengthen the trade Union Movement, we are raising wages in the country. When we raise it to 15 an hour, well go along long way to ending poverty. Well be raising the salaries of women all across this country. When health care is a human right, everyone of us will be in better shape. [applause] sen. Sanders when we make public colleges and universities tuition free, it means that all of our kids, regardless of the income of our families, will be able to get a higher education. Not just college, but trade schools to learn the skills they need, as well. What we have got to do, openly, ultimately is understand that we are living in a nation that has more income and wealth inequality than at any time since the 1920s. We have a political system, which is largely corrupt, because it is dominated by billionaires who can make unlimited amounts of campaign contributions, and in fact are electing candidates who represent the wealthy and the powerful. What our job is right now in this moment in history is to demand that we have governmental policy that works for all of us, the elderly, the children, the working people of this country, not just a 1 and wealthy campaign contributors. [applause] senator, lastly, would you grace us with your Closing Remarks . Sen. Sanders not to get you nervous, because you already know it, we are living in an unprecedented moment in american history. We have a president who is a fraud, who is a pathological liar, whos a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a xenophobe, a religious bigot. A president who went to the American People three years ago and he said, you know, im going to stand with the working class of this country. Im a different type of republican. Im not going to cut Social Security, medicare, and medicaid. You remember he said that . Take a look at his budget. Massive cuts to medicare, medicaid, and cuts to Social Security, as well. Hes a president , a candidate four years ago, he said i, donald trump, im going to provide health care to everybody. And then he pushes legislation which, if he had gotten one more vote, would have thrown 32 Million People off their health care they have today. This is a president who lambaste s undocumented people. Oh, my god, terrible undocumented. Undocumented. He is a guy who has hired undocumented people in all of his resorts. [applause] sen. Sanders this is a guy who says i want to create jobs in america. And yet his own companies are manufacturing trump products in turkey and all over the world. Hey, mr. Trump, you want to create jobs in america, bring your own production back to the United States. [applause] sen. Sanders we need to do so much in this country. And its not just defeating trump. Obviously weve got to do that. Weve got to rebuild the middle class. Weve got to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. And when we do that, i were roads, bridges, water systems, we create millions of good paying jobs. We have to create Affordable Housing our people desperately need. We have a deal with the Global Crisis of climate change. When we do that, we create millions of jobs, as well. Bottom line is, and what this campaign is about, is telling the billionaire class that their greed is unacceptable and we are going to take them on. We are going to create an economy that works for the vast majority of the people, not just the people who have the money and the power. So our campaign is about beating trump, its about winning in iowa. Its about all of those things. But its about something more. Its about transforming our country. The wealthiest country on earth, so that all of our people have a decent standard of living and can live in dignity and security. And in that goal, i look forward to working with the trade Union Movement to make that happen. Thank you all very much. [applause] wasnt that great . We can do this all the time i really enjoyed it. I want to thank everyone here in cedar rapids and all the people who joined us online. Its been a tremendous effort here. The caucuses are two months away. Be sure to participate. People here, be sure to play the role you do. And most importantly, go out and vote, vote, vote. Thats more important. If you want to know where everyone stands, just go to teamstersvote. Com. All of the positions are there. I want to thank jesse case, his entire team for making this possible. His people have helped us make sure this works. And i want to thing our moderators, Leslie Marshall and ernie cohen. I also want to thank the guardian and the times for their participation in this. Thank you all for coming. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] it is my honor to announce cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you are coming up this morning, we are getting your reaction to yesterdays house judiciary meeting. Join the conversation all morning with your Facebook Comments and tweets. Watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 this morning. Join the discussion. Trumpay, president travels to pennsylvania to speak at a cuba American Campaign rally in hershey. We will have live coverage starting at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan two. President ial candidate Tulsi Gabbard spoke to supporters at a house party in jaffrey, new hampshire. The hawaii democrat is currently in fifth place. New hampshire holds its primary on february 11. [applause] t y