IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams Jr. Responds to Harris Defeat
Press Releases
Hanover, MD – While Donald Trump won the election, union members turned out to vote for Kamala Harris – outperforming 2020 numbers – in large part thanks to outreach from unions like the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades’ (IUPAT). IUPAT General President Jimmy Williams Jr. spent the last month talking to union members at meetings and job sites in battleground states Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin to get out the vote for Kamala Harris and other union-endorsed candidates. Overall, union members like, trust, and vote with their unions, and the bus tour was successful in reaching, engaging, and moving members.
But the Democratic Party failed to offer a compelling working class agenda and the election results show as much. Working people en masse did not turn out for the Democratic Party, and either stayed home, or were instead lured by the divisive rhetoric and empty promises of Donald Trump. A second Trump administration will be disastrous for members of the IUPAT and the entirety of the working class.
General President Jimmy Williams Jr. released the following statement:
“Working people deserve a party that understands what’s at stake, and that puts their issues front and center when campaigning and governing. A potential Republican trifecta, along with Project 2025, will be catastrophic for unions, including my own. But if the Democrats want to win, they need to get serious about being a party by and for the working class.”
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The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) represents a growing community of over 140,000 active and retired craftspeople in the United States and Canada. The IUPAT membership extends far beyond the workplace. Recognized as one of the most active unions in the labor movement, IUPAT members help shape their communities in many ways: through an abiding commitment to service, by fighting passionately for workers’ rights that benefit all working families, and through effective worker education and mobilization.
Contact: Ryan Kekeris | (410) 564-5884 | rkekeris@iupat.org