Tim Walz makes case to union workers at first solo campaign stop in Los Angeles

When Minnesota Governor Tim Walz took the stage at his first solo public appearance since joining Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, he did so to the tune of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.”

His message to a crowd of unionized government employees struck a similar chord to the song itself: a humble man with modest roots who was one with the small town audience he was speaking to.

Just one week after being put on the now Harris-Walz ticket, the former educator spoke at the 46th American Federation for State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Convention. Throughout his speech, he presented himself as one of them: a Midwesterner from a small town, a public employee and a community member.

“I happen to be the first union member on a presidential ticket since Ronald Reagan,” Walz said. “But rest assured, I won’t lose my way.”

AFSCME President Lee Saunders endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket last week, commending Walz as a former member of the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, both of whom also endorsed Walz the same day.

“For his first stop, he’s picking the green, mean machine: AFSCME,” Saunders said in his opening remarks. “He understands us because he is one of us — a union brother.”

Today, Walz emphasized the wins he has made for public workers in Minnesota over his tenure as governor. These include a free meals program for students, banning captive audience meetings where employers can dissuade unionization and increasing paid sick leave, among others.

“Today, Minnesota’s one of the best states for workers in the country,” Walz said. “[Harris’s] vision is to take those worker protections to every state in the union.”

AFSCME represents about 1.3 million workers in the public sector, making it the largest trade union of government employees in the country. Its members span from police officers and firefighters to sanitation workers and those who paint the Golden Gate.

One of those members is Vanessa Satterthweite, a psychiatric nurse from Warren, Ohio.

Satterthweite said she’s hoping Walz will implement nationwide benefits for hospital personnel similar to the ones Minnesota nurses receive.

“Wages, I believe, need to go up for our nurses. Maybe that’ll bring more [personnel] back, because staffing is absolutely horrendous,” Satterthweite said. “COVID took them away … Kamala and Governor Walz, maybe they’ll bring more back to us.”

She also said Walz’s presence as a family man and attitude towards workers swayed her vote.

“Thank you for believing in workers. Thank you for believing in family,” she said.

The energy was high throughout the early afternoon, with many AFSCME members in strong support of Walz for vice president. That came to the governor’s advantage as he spoke to issues of social security and the minimum wage from a collective perspective, to the tune of local talent and soul music.

Walz continued his us-versus-them attitude when criticizing former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance’s stances on workers’ rights.

“The only thing those two guys know about working people is how to work to take advantage of them,” Walz said.

“As president, he cut overtime from millions of workers and opposed raising the minimum wage,” Walz said, referencing a Trump administration rule that made about 8.2 million workers ineligible for overtime pay.

Both Walz and Vance were chosen with hopes that they could win the organized labor vote for their tickets in November. Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” describes his childhood growing up in a working-class, union family in Ohio. But as a senator, Vance has voted on the side of businesses or abstained voting at all, a fact Walz used to criticize Vance.

Walz, who joined the National Guard at 17 and served for 24 years, also used the speech as an opportunity to respond to Vance’s criticism of his military record.

Last week, Vance accused Walz of avoiding deployment to Iraq in 2005, calling it “stolen valor garbage.”

In response, Walz said he was “damn proud” of his military service.

“To anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice,” Walz said.

Since announcing his run for vice president, Walz and Harris have gained the endorsement of almost every major union in the country, including that of electrical workers (IBEW), service employees (SEIU), auto workers (UAW), operating engineers (IUOE) and his fellow educators (NEA). Only the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has not endorsed either presidential ticket.

With momentum building after Walz’s resonance with government workers today, union members are now planning large-scale voter mobilization efforts.

Latonya Reeves, a Minnesota representative for the Democratic National Convention, said she feels personally motivated to get the vote out for Walz by speaking to those who are on the fence about voting.

“We have a governor that truly wants to see the middle class and the worker’s class succeed,” Reeves said. “We do Black political action … we’re working with marginalized communities to help them understand, ‘This is who the choices are, which one’s going to be the better [choice] for your community?’”

Walz ended on a quote he said Harris shares with him frequently; “When we fight,” Walz said to a crowd cheering back to him, “we win.”

After speaking at AFSCME today, Walz headlined a campaign fundraiser in Newport Beach. He is also traveling to Denver and the East Coast later this week to speak at other fundraising events for the Harris-Walz ticket.