Biden visits Phila. union hall to tout pro-labor record, present Presidential Citizens Medal

President Joe Biden, a former Penn professor, visited a union hall in Northeast Philadelphia on Friday.

On Nov. 1 — just four days ahead of Election Day — Biden spoke to a crowd of union members at UA Local 692 Sprinkler Fitters about his administration’s support for organized labor. During the event, he also presented Rita Lewis — the widow of late Cincinnati Teamster Butch Lewis, the namesake of the Butch Lewis Act — with the Presidential Citizens Medal.

A number of union leaders and politicians spoke before Biden took the stage, including United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 President Wendell Young, Teamsters Eastern Region Vice President Bill Hamilton, acting United States Secretary of Labor Julie Su, and Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.).

While the visit was not a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris, speakers noted the crucial role that workers could play in determining the presidential election. Several speakers criticized former President and 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump as they contrasted the Republican Party's policies with Biden’s support for organized labor. 

“Donald Trump is no friend of unions or labor. Our president, Joe Biden, with Vice President Kamala Harris and their administration, is the most labor and union-friendly administration in the history of our country,” Hamilton said. “We are eternally grateful for their leadership and will forever revere President Biden as the best of the best of working men and women of America. He represents what we go to work for every day.” 

The crowd chanted “Thank you, Joe!” as the president jogged on stage. 

During Biden's speech, he drew on childhood anecdotes and spoke about the “dignity” of work, the American Rescue Plan, and the importance of the middle class. 

“Every damn penny I've been sent by the United States Congress has been going to American products and American workers,” Biden said to applause. 

After his speech, Lewis was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest civilian honor, by Biden on behalf of her late husband. Butch Lewis — the namesake of the Butch Lewis Act, a provision of the American Rescue Plan — was a Teamster and pension-protection advocate. 

Biden described the legislation as the most impactful pension security measure passed in over 50 years, noting that it affected 65,000 people in Pennsylvania alone.

In her emotion-laden remarks, Lewis noted the significance of the provision and asked the audience to remember ahead of Election Day that “not one Republican voted to save your pension.”

“President Biden, he had our backs every step of the way. And in this day and age, when somebody gives you their word, especially in the field of politics, that's a rarity,” Lewis said. “The Democrats walk the walk, and they talk the talk, because they believe and they know that the middle class, we drove this country, we built this economy, and we deserve the credit.”