(James P. Hoffa, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, issued the following statement on November 9.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Working families across the nation, from New Jersey and Virginia to California, have sent a strong message to Congress and the White House; it’s time to stand up for the American middle class.
The political leadership of our great nation has continued to fail working people. America’s working families are under attack — including increased fuel prices, efforts to reduce Social Security, tax cuts for the wealthy, trade deals that send good jobs overseas, skyrocketing health care costs and reductions in real wages.
The Teamsters Union and our coalition partners, particularly the unions of the Change to Win federation, stood together to defeat the anti-worker proposals of Arnold Schwarzenegger and his corporate cronies, elect Jon Corzine, a labor champion, as Governor of New Jersey, and Tim Kaine, a moderate voice for working families, as Governor of Virginia.
In this off-year election, our get-out-the-vote effort generated record turnout for worker-friendly candidates and to defeat the anti-worker agenda of Schwarzenegger. Thousands of Teamsters and Change to Win volunteers worked for months to ensure that voters understood the stark differences they were presented.
I urge the Washington establishment to take the results of yesterday’s elections to heart as they consider implementing policies that continue to harm working people while enriching their corporate backers. We must implement policies that build our nation and economy by creating good jobs in America that sustain a strong middle class.