Unions cheer Walz pick as Harris VP
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Tim Walz at the White House earlier this summer. Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Just last year, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed a package of legislation considered one of the most sweeping pro-worker laws seen in the U.S. in decades.
The big picture: The battle over the labor vote is key to capturing the White House in November and Walz's selection as Kamala Harris' vice president seems aimed right at that constituency.
- Union leaders and advocates for pro-worker and family policies like paid parental leave and childcare cheered Walz's selection on Tuesday.
State of play: Though the United Auto Workers took some time before endorsing Harris, they wasted none in boosting Walz.
- "Tim Walz doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk," the UAW said in a post, soon after Walz was announced the winner of the Harris veepstakes. "From delivering for working-class Americans to standing with the UAW on our picket line last year, we know which side he's on."
- "He is a labor champion who will take pro-worker values with him to the White House," AFSCME president Lee Saunders said in a statement. The Service Employees International Union also put out a statement of support.
- United Steelworkers also praised Walz, saying in a statement that Harris "couldn't have chosen a stronger champion of workers to be her running mate."
The big picture: Labor leaders had been less enthused about another one of Harris' prospects, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), because he hadn't signed on to what's considered a key labor reform bill, the PRO Act. (After those reports Kelly affirmed his support for the legislation.)
Between the lines: The Walz pick also excited advocates for the "care economy." Harris has made policies like child care support and paid family leave a pillar of her campaign.
Zoom in: The Minnesota legislation Walz signed into law last year includes paid family leave that provides workers with 12 weeks partial pay to care for a newborn or sick family member; plus another 12 weeks to recover from a serious illness (with time off capped at 20 weeks a year).
- Walz also signed a law banning noncompete provisions in employment contracts — which prevent workers from taking jobs with competitors for a certain amount of time. A similar rule proposed by federal regulators is embroiled in a court fight.
The legislation included lots more: Including protections for meatpacking workers and rules reining in captive audience meetings (mandatory gatherings where employers typically talk down union efforts).
- The president of the Minnesota branch of the AFL-CIO called the package "the most pro-worker policy agenda Minnesotans have seen in more than a generation."
Go deeper: GOP breathes sigh of relief over Tim Walz pick as Harris VP nominee
