PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council pledged their support to Vice President Kamala Harris Friday and made a strong pitch for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to be her running mate.
Trades Council President Ryan Boyer began the endorsement event with a moment of silence for a worker who died on the job to underscore why unions are for Harris.
“It just lets you know how important worker safety is, and we can't have those other clowns eradicate OSHA,” he said.
Boyer asserted the Biden-Harris administration has been the most pro-union in history, protecting the right to organize, stabilizing pensions, and even walking a picket line.
“This isn't what they said they were going to do, like Trump and empty promises, this is what they did,” Boyer said.
This is an important endorsement because of the council's track record of getting their candidates in office, like Mayor Cherelle Parker, who noted she was an underdog before the council backed her.
“I know what it's like to be counted out and I know what happens when the Building Trades says 'we're going to make an investment,'” Parker said.
Boyer and other speakers promised to put their weight behind the Harris ticket, regardless of who else is on it. But, like Parker, they couldn't resist advocating for Shapiro.
“There is no other candidate in this nation positioned to help us win the White House [better] than our Governor Josh Shapiro,” Parker said.
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Democratic City Committee Chair Bob Brady said Shapiro had asked the speakers not to talk about the role. Brady spoke about it anyway.
“The road to the White House goes through Pennsylvania, and to put this guy as vice [president] is a slam dunk,” he said.
Shapiro looked slightly uncomfortable through the accolades and declined to discuss his reported candidacy, saying Harris has a “deeply personal decision to make.”
“She'll make that decision when she's ready based on the factors that she thinks are the right ones.”
Shapiro will be campaigning for Harris again on Monday along with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a rally in Montgomery County.
Shapiro said he hasn't spoken to Harris since she became the presumptive presidential nominee.