Description

Leslie is joined by Roxanne Brown, the USW’s International Vice President at Large, who oversees the union’s public policy and legislative agenda as well as its political work. She has spent more than two decades advancing policies on Capitol Hill and with regulatory agencies on behalf of USW members. She has extensive experience in manufacturing, environmental and energy policy.

The two discuss how Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate Tim Walz, have been delivering wins for workers throughout their public service lives. It comes down to values:

• Working people need a candidate who will fight for them.
• USW members told their leadership that they most value retirement security, affordable health care, labor laws that support their ability to form Unions and negotiate strong contracts, alongside safe, healthy workplaces, worker-centered trade, and a strong industrial policy that supports American manufacturing.
• Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, have a strong record delivering on all these issues.

Vice President Kamala Harris serves as a crucial part of the most pro-labor administration of our lifetimes, which breathed new life into domestic manufacturing and established the nation’s first industrial policy in decades. 

• This includes infrastructure and other investments rooted in strong 'Buy America' provisions.
• Policies to build stronger, more resilient supply chains.
• She took charge of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, breaking down barriers for workers forming Unions.
• She also walked the picket line with striking UAW workers.

Harris was also the tie breaker on a number of key votes that advanced the interests of working families.

• The USW worked for years to pass the Butch-Lewis Act and protect the pensions of more than a million workers whose retirements hung in the balance through no fault of their own. Not a single Republican voted for the American Rescue Plan, which included Butch-Lewis, but thanks to VP Harris, it passed.
• Her work as a tie-breaker also enabled the administration’s efforts to return the National Labor Relations Board to its mission of empowering working people, rather than serving the interests of wealthy corporations.

Even before she was the Vice President, Harris fought for workers.

• As a Senator, Harris fought for legislation to address workplace violence in health care and social service settings.
• As California's Attorney General, she cracked down on corporate creed, took on the big banks, and defended vulnerable workers against wage theft.
• She fought for labor protections and fair wages for agricultural and domestic workers.

Harris’ choice of running mate also shows that she prioritizes workers and shares their values. Tim Walz was himself a Union educator, who over his career:

• Paved the way for more workers to have access to paid sick and family leave;
• Made major strides in protecting workers’ health and safety on the job;
• Improved standards for patients and workers at Minnesota’s nursing homes;
• Strengthened Union organizing and collective bargaining rights;
• Expanded unemployment benefits and took steps to protect workers from wage theft and other abuses.

The choice is clear. Workers need elected officials who will fight on their side, and both Harris and Walz have clear, pro-worker records.

You can follow Roxanne on X, where her handle is @BrownRox. Follow the USW on X, Facebook and Instagram, using the handle @steelworkers, and visit their website at USW.org.