IAFF 57th Convention: Gov. Tim Walz

well good morning I know you got a lot of important business to get through this week but I do want to say how grateful I am and what a privilege it is to stand in front of this group uh thank you President Kelly uh thank you for every single day advocating for the 350,000 Heroes that you know that you represent with passion and to general secretary treasurer Lima thank you uh this is an incredible leadership team I got to use a point of personal privilege and a shout out to your fifth district VP uh from bethl Minnesota resident Tom thornberg Tom it's great to always see you and every delegate in this room representing your 350,000 in your membership look you got busy jobs you got families you travel here to do the important work of understanding I'll often have people tell me look I'm really not that into politics my response to that is too damn bad politics is into you and if you're not here advocating for that if you're not here advocating for the messages it's hard to get it done so uh as a card carrying member of my State teachers union um I feel very proud of that I saw the other day I got attacked by I got attacked by the I got attacked by the Wall Street Journal for being richer than my disclosure says because I have two defined benefit pension plans um I seems like that's a little different than Google stock that was handed to you but um that's what we did so uh maybe a few more of us should be dues paying members but I can promise you this when vice president Harris and I win this election we'll have your back just like you've had ours this entire time and just as I've done as governor and just as the vice president's done I look forward to working hand inand with you to deliver for the locals back home because that's what really matters but if you'd bear with me um it's a privilege to be in front of this group but I have to say it's also personal uh the motans know this and some of you in this room might know last year we lost one of our bravest firefighting Heroes and I personally lost a dear friend Chris Parsons was fire chief fire captain from St Paul he worked closely with us um and was president of the Minnesota professional firefighters Chris was 6'7 stood out in any crowd but it's hard to imagine his personality was bigger than than that 6' 7 he was the most generous and kind and funny individual that I had ever met one conversation with that guy would make your entire day better tragically we lost Chris in the line of duty it's kind of heartbreak that no family and no Community should have to endure because every hero deserves to come home at the end of every shift and know this we see your Noble courage we're forever grateful to you for going above and beyond to keep all of us safe and we're committed to building a future that you and your families deserve as Minnesota's Governors I was proud to bolster resources for firefighter training and education to invest in the equipment and the facilities to keep you safe and to sign the most comprehensive firefighter well-being legislation in the nation the resiliency to do this job is incredible the physical toll it takes on your body but the emotional toll and the time away from your family we understand that and putting the resources into it is absolutely critical that's why I'm honored to be on a ticket with someone else who has long supported your essential work as a native Californian vice president Harris knows explosive dangerous and unpredictable nature of wildfires in that state she's been to the memorials knows the depth of sacrifice that you and your families go through in fact it's a matter of family for her the vice president's brother-in-law Andy mhof has been his career as a firefighter in Santa Cruz California and retired as an IA member in good standing and as as California attorney general and as Frank can attest kamla haris sued the big banks for mismanaging your State's pension fund and when she won she returned hundreds of millions of dollars to Firefighters and other public workers and to their families as vice president she cast the decid in vote on the American Rescue plan which helped keep workers on the job and I'll say this it kept the public safe during the pandemic and it LO let local fire departments higher train and ret retain more of the firefighters that we needed and under her leadership the administration gave much needed raises to more than 11,000 Federal firefighters when we're in office we'll make sure you have all the resources and protections you need to do your jobs and your service is respected and that you come home safe every night we know exactly who built this country it's people like the folks in this room firefighters police officers construction trades teachers and nurses and Veterans who contributed their contributions to our Nations long after they got out of military service it was you who built the middle class and we know that when unions are strong America's strong look this this is the time of year that talk is cheap but that's why vice president Harris is proudly part of the most Pro labor Administration in history unafraid to walk picket lines with workers demanding better paying conditions and that's why she rescued pension of more than 1 million of our Union sisters and brothers workers and retirees and insisted that prevailing wage jobs spring from federal Investments it's your construction brothers and sisters know that one it's that same spirit that animated my fight for labor in Minnesota as Governor I signed one of the biggest packages of pro-worker policies in history in the law making it easier for workers to form unions strengthening worker protections and banning captive audience meetings today Minnesota is one of the best states for workers in the nation and guess what it's one of the best states for business you don't have to choose between protecting workers and protecting business they go hand in hand that's that's vice presidents and my vision for the entire country Donald Trump and JD Vance they have something a little different in mind the only thing these guys know about working people is how to take advantage of them how to not pay them every single chance they've gotten they've waged a war on workers and the ability to collectively bargain when it comes to so-called right to work laws that deprive unions of funds they need Donald Trump has said he supports right to work 100% everybody in this room knows right to MK means Right to Work For Less right to work more dangerously right to work for no pensions it doesn't mean the ability to collectively bargain to fight with the dignity that work brings to each and every one of us look I'll keep saying it words are cheap actions is all you should care about make sure you're counting on what was delivered When Donald Trump was President he blocked overtime benefits for millions of workers he opposed efforts to raise the minimum wage and he even proposed SL ing budgets for federal fire service programs those are just simply facts but look it's not just what they've done it's what they're going to do this is the big thing one of the goals of their project 2025 is to screw the middle class making it harder for workers to collectively bargain allowing employers to drastically cut overtime or eliminate it slash taxes for the ultra wealthy by imposing a national sales tax on the rest of us look I've said this I'm an oldtime football coach if you draw up a Playbook you plan on using it project 2025 is a plan to reshape what America looks like moving away from the middle class and putting it right back on the oligarchs and the wealthy at the top he said he's going to repeal the Affordable Care Act that thing is pre-existing conditions those are things that make sure that our family gets health care and for many of our families and I know you don't get to participate in it but your families do my mom does Social Security and Medicare are life-saving programs for them instead of funding those those programs they talk about cutting them so here this is what I always say if you got a billion dollars you don't give a damn if your social security check shows up but if you're like my mom that's how you pay for your food that's how you pay for your heat that's how things get done so that check pretty damn important to protect it again use their own words this is a guy who told his friends down at Mar Lago and this is a direct cloth look all of you are your rich as hell we're going to give you a tax cut while telling workers that wages are too high that says it all and again if you're confused on where you're going to go think about what impacts you your life and your family the most so let me tell you exactly what vice president Harris will and I will do when we get elected as president then president Harris will sign the proa making it easier for unions to organize will protect safer grant program it it's good to see you say this if you have to spend any time thinking if you want to support the proact that pretty much tells you where you're at because that's a pretty easy one same thing with the safer grant program we know it's essential to helping Serve and Protect communities especially as we uh starting to see intensive heat waves we'll keep fighting to protect your retirement benefits lowering taxes for working families and finally making corporations just pay their fair share they're doing fine they're doing fine they can pay their fair share and again things like Social Security things like the GI Bill programs that make a difference Paid Family and Medical Leave affordable child care so you can go do your job that just makes sure that families aren't just surviving and getting by but they're thriving and getting ahead I talked about that idea of defined benefit pension plans they complained that I had two defined benefit pension plans in 1960 or in 1980 60% of people had find benefit pension plans the middle class was strong today 4% have it and they're trying to take those away from us you change the middle class by investing in the middle class we're proud of the plan that we put forward again Donald Trump trying to hide from that uh that project 2025 plan they're going to use it they're going to use it it's written out they know what's there and look they're not going to wait a few years to do it they're going to get an opportunity to do it so we know what it is Donald Trump doesn't want to tell you what's in there you you can look for yourself you can see what they're trying to do they go on TV they deny it they say that he's not being treated fairly these are their words they put it on paper they're telling you what they're going to do KLA Harris she's ready to hold him accountable on the debate stage tell me you're not looking forward to that look I know you're busy you're going to be watching Monday Night Football or something but it's going to be good it's going to be good because again as I said this this is going to impact you the things that are said on that debate stage are going to impact your retirement they're going to impact your kids education they're going to impact infrastructure these are things that matter to us so look some of you in here and I'm going to say this cuz I know we're bipartisan some of the gray hairs in here I know what you're thinking and I remember it too CU it's my family when Republicans used to talk about Freedom they meant it they meant it not anymore these guys over there they want government to have the freedom to invade every corner of your life from our union halls to our kids schools even our doctor's offices vice president and I we got a little bit different vision of this we believe that you not politicians should be made free to make your own health care choices we believe that workers deserve to collectively bargain for fair wages safe working conditions good health care and Secure Retirement no interference from government as a union member as a union member our union halls are the purest form of democracy the opportunity to speak your mind elect leadership speak what you want on your platform and then go adverti or go advocate for it that's how democracy supposed to work these are folks that want to make it difficult to do that little things we should be able to make sure that government is there to make sure that corporations have to keep our air and water clean you can make money and still protect water and protect air we believe that people should be free to get a good education that puts them into the middle class not crippling debt for a lifetime and we believe that our kids should be free to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in their Halls now I want to say something about this I want to say something about this I know guns I'm a 24e veteran I'm a Hunter I was one of the best shots in Congress and I got the trophies to prove it I could outshoot them every year but I'm not going to stand by and let someone say that this is about the Second Amendment when our first responsibility protection of our kids it is not a false choice we can have and protect the Second Amendment and keep guns out of our schools that are killing our kids and do things right that stuff's Common Sense vice president Harris brings that to the White House that's a future we can build together we don't have to go to every damn family gathering and fight about things that we mostly agree on we don't have to find ways to divide us and we can have legitimate policy discussions that differ on issues but come to Common goals and on issues of Labor rights of middle class rights of paying your fair share of cutting taxes for the middle class we're going to need you with us to win that fight so I'd ask all of you I am a former football coach and I give halftime speeches all the time but I do have to admit this I know I'm in Red Sox country go twins um so I'm going to try a baseball analogy people so bear with me game seven of the World Series we're down a couple runs but we got the rally hats on we got Runners on base and our Heavy Hitters are on Deck we got the hometown going wild sisters and brothers in labor it's time for you to step up to the plate we've got 69 days to win this thing 69 days to protect labor rights 69 days to do things that we know people who have laid their life on the line like Chris Parson to protect this as a public service and are simply asking to be treated fairly that's what we get to do on that 70th day we wake up and know that the policies that positively impact you are going to become law that's what we have to believe so I'll tell you what our hitters are coming up it's you this is a vision about the possibility of America this is the vision about a positive America this is a vision about what we can do together and the reason that I feel so good is knowing that the Heavy Hitters in this room are coming up next is you know how to fight that's all you know how to do that's all you've had to do every step of the way to improve this profession and to bring people into it so as the next president of the United States always says when we fight we win thank you all [Music] [Applause] not [Music]