Business Manager of Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction Trades Council Greg Bernarding: “Bob Casey is a Strong Ally of Pennsylvania Unions and Workers and Someone We Can Count on to Have Our Backs”
PENNSYLVANIA – In Allegheny County on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council endorsed Senator Bob Casey’s re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate. The Council praised Senator Casey as a champion for Pennsylvania workers who has a record of delivering on protecting the right to organize, supporting workers’ and retirees’ pensions, and creating good-paying union jobs across Pennsylvania.
Read the Pittsburgh Building Trades Council’s Statement Below:
“Bob Casey is a strong ally of Pennsylvania unions and workers, and someone we can count on to have our backs,” said Greg Bernarding, Business Manager of Pittsburgh Regional Building and Construction Trades Council. “He has a proven-record of fighting for workers, including backing efforts to protect union jobs and successfully passing the bipartisan infrastructure law that is creating thousands of good-paying union jobs. Senator Casey is the leader workers in Pennsylvania need right now and we’re proud to endorse him for Senate in 2024.”
ICYMI: Pittsburgh Union Progress: ‘The right to organize is on the line,’ Casey says as he picks up labor endorsement
- “If you and I were having this conversation, say, 15-20 years ago, and you were saying this election would be about women’s rights, workers’ rights and voting rights, I’d have said, ‘Well, that’s not where the election’s going to be because those rights are settled,’” Casey said. “But now those three rights are on the line, in this election.”
- Throughout a 15-minute speech, Casey reminded the audience of the contrasts between him and McCormick and between the Democratic and Republican parties. Casey noted his support for the Protect the Right to Organize Act, which would make it easier for workers to form and maintain their unions. The bill lacks the backing to overcome a Republican filibuster in the Senate.
- Casey listed a few ways in which his work in Washington, D.C., has benefited union members and working Americans. He mentioned his support for the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill, as well as the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, or COVID-19 stimulus package.
- He called out McCormick for his investments in China, which the senator described as a “predatory regime.” He mentioned a bill introduced by him and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would require the screening of U.S. investments in China to determine whether those investments undermine America’s national security or economy.
- After the event, Casey explained the importance of endorsements by unions and labor organizations like the one that offered its support on Wednesday. “A lot of the major issues we’re debating in this country — energy and how to build a clean energy economy, how to create jobs, how to push back against climate change and not leave workers behind — all of those dynamics are at play in the work that they do,” he said. “They bring a level of experience to these debates that sometimes politicians don’t have. So we benefit from learning from and listening to those members and those leaders in the trades.”
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