AFL-CIO unanimously endorses Kamala Harris for president

Washington—The AFL-CIO, representing 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, has unanimously endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election.

“From day one, Vice President Kamala Harris has been a true partner in leading the most pro-Labor administration in history,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler.

“At every step in her distinguished career in public office, she’s proven herself a principled and tenacious fighter for working people and a visionary leader we can count on. From taking on Wall Street and corporate greed to leading efforts to expand affordable child care and support vulnerable workers, she’s shown time and again that she’s on our side,” Shuler said.

“With Kamala Harris in the White House, together we’ll continue to build on the powerful legacy of the Biden-Harris administration to create good union jobs, grow the Labor Movement and make our economy work for all of us.”

UNION ENDORSEMENTS

The AFL-CIO’s endorsement was quickly followed by a growing number of national union endorsements including:

• American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (ASCME).
• American Federation of Musicians (AFM).
• American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
• American Postal Workers Union (APWU).
• Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
• Communication Workers of America (CWA).
• International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
• International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE).
• International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).
• Laborers Internation Union of North America (LiUNA)
• National Education Association (NEA).
• National Nurses United (NNU).
• National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).
• Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
• United Autoworkers (UAW)
• United Farm Workers (UFW).
• United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW).
• United Steelworkers (USW).
• And numerous other locals and state level federations.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In announcing its endorsement, the AFL-CIO cited some of Harris’s career accomplishments.

As vice president, the Federation noted, Harris:

• Played a critical role in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, investing in good-paying union jobs, bringing manufacturing back to America, lowering prescription drug costs and raising wages.
• Saved the pensions of more than one million union workers and retirees through the American Rescue Plan.
• Led the administration’s efforts to increase access to affordable child care and expand the child tax credit
• Championed worker organizing and chaired the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, where she championed for new worker organizing and training to create pathways to good union jobs.
• Stood with striking Hollywood writers, refusing to cross a picket line for a previously planned event.

As a U.S. senator:

• Harris fought to expand Labor protections and fair wages for agricultural and domestic workers and walked the picket line with International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) workers.
• Was a vigorous advocate for workers’ freedom to form or join a union, including strongly supporting the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to reform broken Labor legislation that stacks the deck against workers.

As attorney general of California:

• She cracked down on corporate greed and took on the big banks after the 2008 financial crisis to deliver relief for struggling homeowners and protected the most vulnerable workers by tackling wage theft and other corporate crimes.

“The AFL-CIO is proud of our early and steadfast support for the Biden-Harris administration, and now we’ll ratchet up our mass mobilization of union workers to elect Vice President Harris as president,” Shuler said. “Like Harris, the Labor Movement doesn’t back down—and we’ll never shy away from a tough fight when the future of workers and unions is on the line. Together, we will defeat Donald Trump, J.D. Vance and their devastating anti-worker Project 2025 agenda in November.”