Biden praises union workers in Labor Day speech

PITTSBURGH Vice President Joe Biden offered a sendoff for Pittsburgh workers Monday, praising the contributions of unions in a speech kicking off the annual Labor Day Parade.

He spoke from a makeshift stage before a crowd wearing T-shirts of different colors proclaiming an array of union loyalties. Biden put on a United Steelworkers ball cap as the cheers built for his speech. He was introduced by United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard, who described him as the voice of working men.

Biden denounced statistics that have shown worker productivity has increased while wages have declined.

“Something’s wrong, folks,” he said as the crowd cheered. “And let me tell you something, man the tax code is not fair.”

Standing in the hot sun, he took off his sport coat part way through the 10-minute speech as he extolled the value of union labor.

“You built the middle class,” Biden said. “That’s not an exaggeration. And as you’ve declined, the middle class has declined. ... Build labor, we build America. Build labor, we build the middle class.”

Biden also noted the growing gap between the richest and poorest Americans.

“The wealthy aren’t paying their fair share. We used to be one America,” Biden said.

“Today, 1 percent of Americans own 40 percent of all the wealth in America. ... Here’s the deal, folks: It’s set up that way.”

The parade set to set off after Biden’s remarks was expected to draw scores of thousands of marchers. Jack Shea, the president of the Allegheny County Labor Council, estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 would make the march.

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