Biden described efforts to protect pensions and awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal to a union leader to shore up support from a key constituency.
PHILADELPHIA—Less than four days before the general election, President Joe Biden, on Nov. 1, delivered remarks at a union house in Philadelphia to tout his administration’s record on pensions.
Biden spoke at the John J. Clavin, Jr. Union Hall in North Philadelphia to a supportive crowd of local union members. His remarks centered on the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Relief Act, a law included in the Biden-backed American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021, that sought to prevent union members’ pensions from being reduced by adverse financial circumstances, such as a downturn in pension fund investments.
“When you retire and find out all those years of work and sacrifice are slashed, through no fault of your own … imagine what that does financially and emotionally to your dignity. It’s wrong,” Biden said, referring to union pension cuts.
He said the Butch Lewis Act is “the most significant investment in pension security in over 50 years.”
To contrast his record with Republicans, Biden repeatedly claimed that every Republican in Congress voted against the bill, suggesting they opposed the protections for unions. Biden’s claim is based on Congress’ votes on the full ARPA legislation—in which the bill was included—rather than the specific bill itself. It is unclear whether all congressional Republicans oppose the Butch Lewis Act individually.
“Before the Butch Lewis Act became the law of the land, union workers and retirees faced cuts of up to 70 percent of their retirement benefits,” Biden said. “Because of what [Vice President] Kamala [Harris] and I did in Congress … pensions are protected.” This point was underscored by other speakers at the event, which included Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Pennsylvania Teamsters President William Hamilton, and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.).
The bill in question was named for the late Butch Lewis, a former U.S. Army Ranger and longtime member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters who became a prominent advocate for pension reform.
His wife Rita Lewis spoke at the event, and Biden surprised her by posthumously awarding her late husband the Presidential Citizens Medal.
“A fierce labor leader, Butch Lewis helped to protect the hard-earned pensions of millions of Americans … he spent 40 years as a trucker, Teamster, and union leader, fighting for the dignity of work,” read the citation for the award, which was read out before Biden pinned the medal on Rita Lewis. Biden appeared to struggle with pinning the medal and, at one point, dropped the lapel—before bending down to pick it up.The speech is one of several that Biden has delivered to exhibit his legacy as president before he leaves office. It also highlights the work for a key constituency in Pennsylvania, which is crucial for a Harris victory in the state as the Democratic presidential nominee.
According to the Real Clear Polling averages, Harris is currently polling behind former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, in Pennsylvania by a narrow margin of 0.4 percent, which is well within the margin of error.
Several union workers in the audience told The Epoch Times that Biden’s support for pension reform is the reason they support Harris in the election.
“Thanks to the Biden administration and the American Rescue Plan, we’re gonna get the necessary funds to ensure and secure pensions for many years to come for some of those members that would have been impacted if the fund ran out of money,” said Leonard Purnell, the Field Services Director of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 1776, the largest union in attendance at the speech. “[Harris] will continue the work of the Biden–Harris administration.”
“[We’re doing] GOTV, big time of our members and their families and stuff,” Purnell noted, referring to “get out the vote” operations to turn out supporters for Harris to vote.
“[W]e’ve been engaged in a huge program now for several months now … we’ve already ID’d a number of supporters [and] our job is to make sure they come out to vote on Tuesday,” Purnell added, noting that the union was coordinating with the Harris campaign.
Tom “Tiny” Callan, vice president of the Teamsters Local No. 623, agreed.
“[W]e think that [Harris] will continue Joe Biden’s stance and keep the unions strong … we’re knocking on doors, [we] went out to different parts of the city to knock on doors and put hangers in Harris–Walz’s support,” he told The Epoch Times.
Shoring up union support is especially critical to Harris’s campaign amid Trump’s constant appeals to working class voters, with his plan to impose large tariffs on imported goods to help domestic industry.
The 1.3 million-member Teamsters declined to endorse a presidential candidate in this year’s election—the first non-endorsement since 1996—while its president, Sean O’Brien, spoke at the Republican National Convention, an unusual move for a group that has long backed Democrats.
Over his career, Biden has made support for unions a key part of his political brand to appeal to working class voters—a characteristic that he emphasized during the speech.
“I’m proud to be … the most pro-union president in history,” Biden said, repeating a frequent line. Flanking Biden on stage were two large banners emblazoned with the words “Union Strong.”
Using one of his trademark phrases, Biden said at the event: “The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class,” to applause.