Joe Biden speech in Ann Arbor, Michigan | September 6, 2024

 Auto-transcribed on Friday, September 06, 2024.media and text playback available on this page: https://aliceapp.ai/recordings/fB3X8EKPlnqUeRQyTr6FjCAvJS_bdLpa

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Words: 	4,138 	
Duration: 	00:30:35 	
Recorded on: 	Unknown date 	
Uploaded on: 	2024-09-06 20:55:19 UTC 	
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Speakers:

 Joe Biden - 100.0%

Notes:

Summary by ChatGPT- Union Support: President Biden highlights the crucial role of unions in building the middle class and improving workers' rights, thanking key union leaders and emphasizing his administration's pro-union stance.- Economic Achievements: He touts the creation of 16 million jobs, growth in construction and manufacturing, and investments in clean energy, infrastructure, and American-made products.- Legislative Actions: Biden discusses the Butch Lewis Act to protect pensions, significant infrastructure funding, and the introduction of the "Good Jobs Executive Order" to set high labor standards for federally funded jobs.- Criticism of Previous Administration: The speech criticizes the previous administrationâ€™s lack of support for labor and its policies that hurt workers, contrasting it with the current administrationâ€™s pro-worker approach.- Personal Reflection: Biden shares personal anecdotes about his father and son, highlighting the importance of honoring workers and servicemen through fair labor practices and support for American workers.

[00:00:00]  Joe Biden 
 I want you to know. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. 

[00:00:08]   
 Oh, thanks. Thanks. Thank you. I want to thank the coasties. You know, the coast guard, they're deployed more places around the world than any other branch. 

[00:00:18]   
 And you play with a good outfit, pal. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. 

[00:00:23]   
 I appreciate it, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. Hello, Ann Arbor. 

[00:00:32]   
 Thanks for that introduction. You know, uh, going from the coast Guard to the plumbers and pipefitters is a good move because they know how to ball. Both, not sit down if you have seats. I said that about, uh, eight months ago. I said, sit down. 

[00:00:47]   
 They didn't have any seats. And they said, see, he's too damn old. 

[00:00:52]   
 Look, your general, President Mark McManus. Where? Mark is sitting behind me somewhere. He didn't run, did he? All right. 

[00:01:01]   
 I just want. I tease him. Local 190, President Dan, you're sitting next to him. Where's Dan? 

[00:01:15]   
 Danny, you're allowed to be up with us. You know, man, uh, you're trying to avoid us. I get it. Look, plumbers and pipefitters have been with me since the beginning. For my whole career, I've either been too young or too old, never in between. 

[00:01:31]   
 I got elected when I was 29 years old in a right to work state called Delaware that we changed. And guess what plumbers and pipefitters of the fourth union ever endorsed me. When I was a 29 year old kid running for the senate, Mark flew over from Washington with me on air force one, along with the great national labor leaders, Brent Booker of the laborers. Brent. Thank you. 

[00:02:02]   
 Sean McGarvey, building trades. 

[00:02:09]   
 Brent Mills unite here. 

[00:02:15]   
 There you are. 

[00:02:22]   
 Well, by the way, we were talking about Gwen and I on the plane. Flew out with me. You know, I've heard the word, uh. My dad used the word more than any other adjective. Dignity. 

[00:02:34]   
 All these workers bust their neck. They provide our ability to sleep and walk and work and do anything, and they deserve to be treated with dignity. And that's exactly what she's doing. 

[00:02:50]   
 And Kenny Cooper, ibew. 

[00:02:56]   
 Oh, uh, uh. I'll tell you what, Mandev. Kenny was the first one to stand up for me in 2020. He came out and he said he was going to be for me, and he brought his union along and changed everything. Kenny, you're not only a great labeler, you're a good personal friend. 

[00:03:09]   
 Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. 

[00:03:16]   
 Not that it matters you, but it matters a hell of a lot to me. The first union to ever endorse me as a 29 year old kid when I got elected. I wasn't old enough to be sworn in. I had to wait 17 days to be eligible. But guess what? 

[00:03:28]   
 This guy was, uh, with an outfit called United Steelworkers. First union endorsement. First union. I remember where they brought me in to see iwable was then president. And I could see him looking at the local rep from Delaware going, are you sure about this, kid? 

[00:03:49]   
 You did it, man. Thank you. And we're going to make sure steel workers are backbone of this country for a long, long time to come. 

[00:04:02]   
 Folks, what a great way to cap off of Labor Day week, to be a proud union. State of Michigan. Michigan. Michigan. Michigan. 

[00:04:13]   
 I mean, it's always great to be with your dear friend Debbie Dingle, who's a great, great personal friend. 

[00:04:25]   
 When you're in a fight, you want Debbie on your side. And thank God she's been on mine. Thank you, Debbie. We're joined by other members and great congress. Uh, Haley, who's been there, one of the most enthusiastic people I know. 

[00:04:39]   
 Haley, stand up. Stand up, kids. 

[00:04:44]   
 Cherie, who's doing an incredible job. Where is Sheree? She's out there somewhere. There he is. Come on, stand up, man. 

[00:04:52]   
 Because otherwise they'll think your son's a congressman. 

[00:04:58]   
 There are also two members of my cabinet here today. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and acting labor secretary Julie suddenly, you know, when Mahdi left, you know, Mahdi used to be labor secretary. He's, um. I tell you, he's in a comfortable place. He's with guys running around smashing you with hockey sticks. 

[00:05:30]   
 But I tell you what, I think we've changed the Labor Department. They are. They understand the word labor means union. 

[00:05:45]   
 They make this administration the most pro union administration in the history of the United States of America, period. 

[00:05:56]   
 That's why we're growing. It is. 

[00:06:04]   
 Look, a lot of politicians having trouble saying the word union. It ain't worker. It's union. Union. 

[00:06:18]   
 Kamala and I know how to say the word and back to look, we know a simple truth. Wall street did not build America. The middle class built America. When I started saying this years ago, the press looked at me like I was nuts. But guess what? 

[00:06:32]   
 I may be nuts, but I'm right. Not only did the middle class build America, you built the middle class. That's a fact. Labor unions built the middle class. 

[00:06:51]   
 When I was vice president and became president, I got a little heat because I was so pro union. In fact, I asked the Treasury Department to do a study and to show that, uh, when union workers do well, every worker in America does better. Everybody does better. 

[00:07:10]   
 And by the way, it's the biggest reason why our economy is a strong, strongest economy in the entire damn world. And that's not hyperbole. That's a fact. It all comes down to something my dad taught me, and I mean it sincerely. My dad ran an automobile agency in his last 20 years, and he'd come home for dinner before he went back and shut things down. 

[00:07:32]   
 Didn't own it. He was a manager, and he always. Our dinner table was a place we had conversation and incidentally, ate. And my dad had an expression. He said, joey, a job. 

[00:07:42]   
 And I mean, give me my word to this. You say a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about your place in your community. It's about being able to look your child in the eye and say, honey, it's going to be okay. 

[00:07:55]   
 And mean it. 

[00:07:59]   
 I mean, it's not a joke. 

[00:08:06]   
 These guys and other teams don't know what the hell it's all about. They don't understand the word dignity. A good job. A job you can raise your family on, a job you can get. Leaving your hometown without a college degree. 

[00:08:19]   
 I don't know how many times I've traveled across this country as a senator for 374 years. I'm only 40, but I was there 36 years. But look, I'm serious. As I travel the country, how many times did I hear, and all the rest of you here, labor, people working in other parts of the country where, mom, dad, I can't stay. I have no jobs for me here. 

[00:08:44]   
 You got a job, mom, dad, but no place for me. How many times do people have to say that and move? Look at how many communities have been abandoned, left behind, whether they're red or blue, Democrat or republican. A good union job. A good job in a union is building a future worthy of your dreams. 

[00:09:07]   
 My vision has always been, and, uh, I mean it sincerely, since I was a young senator, to grow our economy from the middle out and the bottom up instead of the top down. Not a whole lot ever trickled down on my dad's kitchen table. Not a whole lot ever had. We put workers first. We invest in all of America and all Americans, we do that. 

[00:09:29]   
 We do well. Everybody in America deserves one. A fighting chance. Just a chance. No guarantee. 

[00:09:37]   
 A chance. Fighting chance. 

[00:09:45]   
 And that's why Kamal and I are so proud of our record. The greatest job creation record of any single presidential term in american history. Because of you, earlier today we learned the economy created another 142,000 jobs last month, last, uh, 42 straight months in a row, every single month, increasing jobs to a total of 16 million new jobs since we took office. 

[00:10:18]   
 The fact, and they told us we couldn't do it. 

[00:10:27]   
 Over 1.6 million jobs in construction and manufacturing. 

[00:10:33]   
 Where in the hell is it written that America can't lead the world again in manufacturing? We are leading the world in manufacturing. And we'll continue to. Unemployment is down, wages are up. We place this way down and continue to come down. 

[00:10:47]   
 I predict it's going to come down this month a little more. And just last year, we added 250 new energy jobs. Clean energy jobs growing twice as fast as any other sector of the economy. Clean energy. I know the other team doesn't think there's any such thing as global warming. 

[00:11:04]   
 Well, I like to put the other nominee for president, the former president, like to put him in the middle of Arizona for a while. 

[00:11:13]   
 Clean energy workers are joining unions at the highest level in history. Double, double any other portion of the workforce. 

[00:11:24]   
 I've said it before. When I think climate, I think jobs, good paying union jobs. 

[00:11:38]   
 I tried for years. One of the first things I did when I became president was protecting the pensions of 1 million union workers and retirees when I signed the Butch Lewis Act. Butch Lewis. 

[00:11:53]   
 So far, over 62,000 workers and retired across Michigan are benefited from that signing. Yes, I am. Before we acted, workers face cuts in their pensions. Now they're not only restoring the full amount of their pensions, but they're getting back pay as well. 

[00:12:18]   
 Where I come from, my family are making them m whole again. It's a big deal. But let's be clear. Every Democrat in the Michigan delegation voted to protect those pensions, led by Debbie and others. 

[00:12:35]   
 But hear me now. Every single Republican in your delegation voted against protecting those pension. Every single one. No, I'm serious. Not a joke. 

[00:12:45]   
 Everyone I've been around a long time in politics used to be Democrats, Republicans. We'd argue like hell, but we'd work out compromises. But everyone, Vice President Harris had to cast a tie breaking vote in the United States Senate to make this pension bill real. Folks, I've been talking about it a while, but we followed up with another big deal Barack used to kid me about. I call it investing in America agenda. 

[00:13:20]   
 It's a simple proposition that includes our law, rebuilding America's infrastructure, fixing, as your governor said, the damn roads. 

[00:13:36]   
 My predecessor is seeking office again. Promised infrastructure week every week in the four years he was president. And he never built a damn thing. Not one thing. Not a joke. 

[00:13:48]   
 Not one. But Kamala and I have, uh, made sure Michigan received so far. So far, $10,900,000,000 for 2000 projects so far, roads, bridges, removing lead pipes from homes and schools, clean drinking water, delivering affordable high speed Internet to every michigander. And the number is still growing. We're just getting started. 

[00:14:15]   
 That bill I got passing said Biden couldn't do it. Guess what? A trillion $300 billion over ten years, and we reduced the budget at the same time. 

[00:14:32]   
 And guess what? With your support, I signed an executive order to make sure that the most, the largest federal construction projects that are being built in America are built with project labor agreements. You all know what that is. But for folks at home who don't know what a project labor agreement is, the contractor, the subcontractor, the unions put in place the conditions for the construction before it begins. Before it begins, these agreements make sure construction is top notch, on time, on task, and on budget. 

[00:15:12]   
 It's a big deal for a big project like Sioux locks in the upper peninsula that your two great senators, Debbie and Gary Peters, are instrumental in delivering. We're investing $693 million to build better locks, accommodate bigger shipping vessels, carry more products to market, get them there cheaper. And throughout the great lakes, it's already created hundreds of jobs, hundreds of union jobs, and more to come. But here's another big buy american. It's been the law of the land since the thirties, when the Republicans at the time, under Roosevelt, were trying to break unions and allow the companies to come in and crush them, prevent them happening. 

[00:15:58]   
 They passed laws relating to union movements and m how they could not be interfered with. Well, but it also had a provision that no one paid much attention to, that every penny a, uh, president is authorized to spend on any project that the Congress gives the money for has to go to doing two things, hiring an american worker and using the american product. Only time you could do not use an american product or an american worker is when there was one available. They didn't have the particular product. Well, guess what. 

[00:16:34]   
 Guess what? It was honored. In the alternative, only about 20% of all the money we spent went to hiring union labor. Uh, forget union hiring. American labor and hiring, using american products. 

[00:16:51]   
 Past administrations, including my predecessor, failed to buy american. You know why they went overseas? For cheaper labor. They supported companies sending. No, I'm not joking. 

[00:17:02]   
 Think about it. Well, you said it better than I can. 

[00:17:08]   
 But here's the deal they did. They sent it overseas because labor was cheaper and they import the product. Not anymore. Not on my watch, not on Kamala's watch. Either we buy Americans and we're making sure federal projects building american roads, bridges, highways was made with american projects built by american workers, creating a good living in american job. 

[00:17:43]   
 In fact, I'm requiring many of these kinds of projects to pay Davis bacon prevailing wage, increasing pay, increasing pay for $1 million workers over time. 

[00:17:57]   
 And many of these jobs don't require a college degree. In fact, Kamala and I expanded registered apprenticeships. Remember when the company said, we'll take care of the apprenticeships program? As I say, you've done good with that. Didn't you register as apprenticeship, resulting in hiring over just since we did it? 

[00:18:14]   
 Remember all the heat we got for doing it? Well, guess what? Hiring over 1 million apprentices since we came off 1 million just since we came to office. 

[00:18:29]   
 A lot of folks who aren't in the industry don't realize that apprenticeship is like earning, uh, a college degree for real. Some of you apprentice have to, journeymen have to be journeymen for four to five years. You get paid to learn a trade, and you're the single best workers in the world. Not a joke. Like Andrew and his fellow plumbers and pipefitters. 

[00:18:52]   
 Not a joke. It's not a joke. You know, when I. We invented the computer chip about the size of a little to tip my little finger, which we invented it. We modernized. 

[00:19:03]   
 We did all the work. And guess what? Other teams started to export them overseas because labor was cheaper to build them, make them. Well, we ended up in a situation where I decided I was going to go start off. I went to people thought, even some of my staff thought I was crazy. 

[00:19:19]   
 I said, I'm going to South Korea, and I'm going to talk to them about. Because they're making a whole hell of a lot of these computer chips. And I met with Samsung. They ended up investing over $15 billion in the United States to build the fabs. First to construct the facility. 

[00:19:40]   
 A lot of work there, a lot of prevailing wage of for construction work. And then the so called fabs, they're about as big as a football field. Not a joke. And they, uh, in fact, where you actually make the computers, you don't need a college degree. And the average salary is over $102,000 a year. 

[00:19:58]   
 Well, guess what? 

[00:20:06]   
 Samsung. Why were they coming in that, by the way? It's, well, overdose. $50 billion being invested coming from abroad. I said, why are you coming back to the United States? 

[00:20:16]   
 Said, simple reason, not a joke. This is from the president, the chairman of the board, because you have the most qualified workers in the world. 

[00:20:26]   
 No joke. That's real. Not a joke. And it's the safest place in the world for me to invest my money. But here's the deal, guys. 

[00:20:38]   
 We're not going to see it for a little bit, because it takes time to build those factories. None of them are open yet, but there are going to be millions of people working in those factories. And guess what? Once that starts, you're going to create entire communities around them. When you build a factory that has 500,000 people working in that factory and they're making good money, guess what you end up building. 

[00:20:59]   
 Drug stores, movie theaters, supermarkets. You end up building communities around it. A small. I really mean it. And by the way, 50% of all the business in America is small business. 

[00:21:12]   
 Small business. So look. 

[00:21:17]   
 Common alive command. We always believe that the National Labor Relations Board should be pro labor. Well, that's why one of the most significant things we've done, appointing national labor relations board members who actually believe in unions and the right to negotiate. 

[00:21:39]   
 Look what's changed. When Trump was president, he appointed union busters. Union, uh, busters in that organization. It's designed to promote unions. And by the way, you think he has any damn idea what we do? 

[00:21:55]   
 No, no, I'm m not being a wise guy. I mean, I wonder whether he has any notion, any notion what a hard day's work is. I mean, all he did was lose his father's money and then get in trouble, huh? Have to owe a lot of other people money and then borrow a lot of money and give tax cuts to the super wealthy and end up with the largest debt any president has left behind, unfortunately, years. He has an incredible record. 

[00:22:23]   
 An incredible record. You think I'm kidding? Look at the numbers, man. And by the way, he and, ah, um, a guy, uh, who was maybe the worst republican president ever, before him, ended, uh, up with. He's the only one, other than a republican president, who, when he came to office, had more jobs than when he left office, lost jobs. 

[00:22:53]   
 Look, Kamala and I are focused on what Michigan is known for as well, the auto industry. I got through school with my dad managing an automobile dealership. That's how I got through school. I was proud to be the first president to walk the picket line and do it with the UAW. 

[00:23:20]   
 Walk the picket line with UAW workers here in Michigan. Kamala walked in as well. 

[00:23:29]   
 But Trump, Trump would much rather cross a picket line than walk one. Look, the UAW's historic wage increase have led to virtually every automaker across the country to raise wages as well. They're not only unions with recent hard work and success. From the SCIU to the writers and actors, doc workers, healthcare workers, baristas, warehouse workers, and so many more, we made a lot of progress, but we still have more to do. That's why we're here today. 

[00:24:01]   
 In a few minutes, I'm going to sign another groundbreaking executive order. It's called the good Jobs executive order. For the first time in our history, the official policy of a presidential administration is to specify a clear list of higher labor standards for jobs created through my investing in America agenda. And here's why. My. 

[00:24:23]   
 What my executive order will do for jobs created using federal dollars. Good jobs. The executive order will call on, uh, a federal agency to protect the workers, the power of the workers, to encourage the free and fair choice to join a union. 

[00:24:40]   
 My executive order goes on to call on federal agencies to include high labor standards and grants that we give, prioritizing projects that pay wages. You can raise a family on, uh, and provide benefits like childcare. Right now, Davis making prevailing wage only applies to construction jobs, and construction jobs are booming. My executive order, though, promotes federal policies to raise wages beyond construction, all across the manufacturing sector. Because manufacturing is booming. 

[00:25:17]   
 My executive order will also strengthen the pipeline of good jobs. It will promote policies to create more registered apprenticeships, pre apprenticeships, and other job training programs that don't require a college degree to put young people on a pathway to getting the skills for good paying union jobs. 

[00:25:38]   
 And finally, my good jobs executive order will level the playing field for underserved communities, ensure everyone, everyone, gets a fair shot of the job. That means elevating the best practices to prevent discrimination and bias and hiring. Protect the safety of workers. It all matters. Kamal and I are going to hold federal agencies accountable by creating a task force, led by the secretary of labor, by the director of the National Economic Council, to make sure we fully implement this new job order. 

[00:26:10]   
 Uh, create jobs executive order. Excuse me? The ideas are just fake. Common sense economists have long believed that these good job standards produce more opportunities and better outcomes for workers and more predictable outcomes for business as well. It turned out to be a win win situation for everyone, including business. 

[00:26:31]   
 In fact, presidents of both parties have recognized this. Prevailing wage laws date back to President Hoover. Registered apprenticeships date back to Franklin Roosevelt. But too many presidents, like my predecessor, have looked the other way, as companies trample on the rights of workers while cashing in, uh, big government checks. But not anymore. 

[00:26:57]   
 With today's executive order, Kamala and I are setting a policy across the board in support of good job standards. And from this point onwards, um, any president who disagrees with that is going to have to say so out, uh, loud, say it to your face, and repeal that order. And I want to see them try to do it. 

[00:27:19]   
 Let me close with this. In 2020, I said one of the reasons I was running was to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class. Nearly four years later, we've done just that. In thousands of cities and towns across the country, we're seeing the great american comeback story. My predecessor believes America is a failing nation. 

[00:27:44]   
 He's a failing president, a failing man. He's wrong. America's a failing. We're winning. We're the indispen. 

[00:27:51]   
 We are the indispensable nation in the world. We're the nation of dreamers and doers that led to the greatest advances in human history over the last 200 years. That's who we are. But my predecessor doesn't get it. He refused to visit an american cemetery in France that I was just near because, according to his own chief of staff, a four star Marine general Trump said, those service men buried there are suckers and losers. 

[00:28:21]   
 My son died because of a year in Iraq. 

[00:28:31]   
 I'm just happy, and I mean this in front of my heart. I'm glad I wasn't there. I think I would have done something. No, I, uh, think you would have, too. They're heroes. 

[00:28:44]   
 He's the sucker. He's the loser. 

[00:29:11]   
 I'm sorry. I'm sorry to get emotional about that, but I. But I miss him. Uh, he was the attorney general of the state of Delaware. Volunteered to go anyway. 

[00:29:26]   
 Our servicemen and veterans are heroes, and you, the american worker, are heroes in this comeback story. You're the reason for the comeback story. Because of you, all those who came before, we're the only nation that's always emerged, every single time. Check it out. Always emerge in american history. 

[00:29:49]   
 We've always come out of a crisis stronger than we went in, stronger than we went in, because of you. And I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I've never been more optimistic about America's future. We just have to remember who we are. We're the United States of America. 

[00:30:07]   
 There's nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. When we work together, when we fight. When we fight. I'm now going to go over and sign that good jobs executive order and keep it going, guys. You're saving the country. 

[00:30:23]   
 God bless you all. God bless America.