The Vice President was in Philadelphia Tuesday to address union stakeholders as troubling signs emerge regarding Biden’s support with unions.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) held its Quadrennial Convention in Center City on Tuesday with Vice President Harris in attendance.
This visit marked the third trip to the area in the past six weeks, following events in Kensington to tout student loan forgiveness and in Elkins Park to highlight the administration’s support for abortion and codifying Roe.
While her attendance was in her official capacity as Vice President, not as a campaigning official, much of her speech was focused on the administration’s actions that could help them court union workers in November. She focused on her work defending the Affordable Care Act, the Biden Administration’s unprecedented (and potentially unconstitutional) student loan debt forgiveness, her advocacy for a $15 minimum wage, and the Biden Administration’s support for amnesty for ‘Dreamers’.
“We have already canceled nearly $160 billion in student loan debt for more than four and a half million Americans,” exclaimed Harris, proudly. She then vowed the administration’s support for a pathway to citizenship for participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as Dreamers.
While it was a mostly favorable crowd in attendance, there was noticeable dissent within the audience. During the Vice President’s speech, a small, vocal gaggle of anti-Israel union members stood in the back of the hall chanting in support of Palestine, calling for a ceasefire, and voicing their displeasure with the administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza situation.
The Vice President’s speech to the SEIU highlights how important the union vote is to the Biden Campaign. Exit polling saw the Biden-Harris ticket secure 56% of union households compared to 40% for Trump, but if even a few percent defect from supporting Biden, it could spell doom in union-heavy states like Pennsylvania.
In a CBS News interview, James Rapp, a member of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Association in central Pennsylvania, says there’s “doom and gloom” among his fellow union members regarding the economy and inflation. Mr. Rapp believes his union splits 60%-40% in favor of President Biden, but economic fears could drive more members to support Trump.
Recent polling trends show the Biden ticket is underwater on the issue of the economy in PA, and that trend may now be extending to typically Democrat-friendly union members.
After the speech, Harris concluded her visit to Philadelphia with a stop at Jim’s West on North 62nd Street for cheesesteaks. The Vice President ordered one cheesesteak with provolone and one with cooper and wiz, but notably did not denote ‘wit’ or ‘witout’.
