Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is set to address one of the largest unions in the nation, which has yet to make an endorsement in the 2024 race.
Walz is scheduled to address members of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Association on Wednesday morning in Boston, marking his third solo campaign event since he joined presidential candidate Kamala Harris on the Democratic ticket.
The IAFF has yet to support Harris or Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. However, the union endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 race. Biden, in his speech at the recent Democratic National Convention (DNC), described himself as the “most pro-union president” ever.
IAFF says that it supports policies over party affiliation, according to its website.
“We support politicians and policies—regardless of party affiliation—that protect and empower the work of fire fighters, emergency medical workers, and rescue workers in the United States and Canada,” the website states.
Walz earlier this month delivered remarks at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union at their convention in Los Angeles.
“You turn elections. You turn lives. You negotiate contracts. You press legislatures to do the right thing,” Walz said, encouraging union workers to help turn out Democratic voters in November.
Walz was a union member as a public school teacher in Minnesota and said that as governor, he strengthened worker protections and made it easier to form unions. Walz said he banned “those damn captive audience meetings for good,” in reference to meetings that companies mandate workers to attend ahead of union votes to discourage support for organizing.
“Tim is more than an ally,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a statement. “He understands us because he is one of us – a union brother who spent years as a public service worker in his community.”
Walz and Harris both walked on picket lines with striking workers, according to the Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Labor unions historically have backed Democrats. In addition to AFSCME, the United Auto Workers (UAW) recently endorsed Harris, with its president, Sean Fain, saying at the DNC that Trump did nothing for union workers in 2019 when a General Motors factory in Ohio shut down.
Last month, Sean O’Brien became the first Teamsters union president to speak at the Republican National Convention. Although he stated that the Teamsters are “not beholden to anyone or any party” in his remarks, O’Brien praised Trump for “opening the doors” of the RNC and for inviting him to speak on stage.
The Teamsters union has yet to formally make an endorsement of Trump or Harris. The union last endorsed a Republican for president in 1988.
Trump has been endorsed by the International Union of Police Associations and by the Florida Police Benevolent Association, the state’s largest law enforcement union.
According to the Pew Research Center, 55 percent of Americans say labor unions positively affect the country, while 41 percent say they have a negative impact.