00:00 - Good morning.

00:01 - Good morning.

00:02 - How about them Pittsburgh Penguins, Let's go, let's go.

00:07 - So you got me cursing before I'm ready to say a prayer, you know?

00:09 - Right. Leave the shit right.

00:13 - You know. Oh. All right.

00:15 - All right. Let us pray.

00:16 - Heavenly father, as we continue our conference,

00:19 - we ask Your Holy Spirit to remain.

00:21 - Remain with us.

00:22 - God. Our thoughts, our words and our decisions.

00:25 - May we stay focused on the purpose that brought us here together.

00:28 - And may you direct us to positive discussions.

00:31 - Help us listen with openness.

00:33 - Speak with respect and continue to work as one body.

00:37 - Please bless and protect our brave men and women serving in the military.

00:41 - Help them be strong and courageous and shield them from harm.

00:45 - May they feel your peace

00:46 - as they carry out their duties, knowing that you are the protector.

00:49 - Honor in your most holy and precious name we pray.

00:52 - Amen.

00:54 - Please remain standing for a moment of silence for all our deceased members.

01:00 - Okay.

01:04 - Thank you.

01:05 - Rocky.

01:06 - Just a little bit of housekeeping before we get into the program.

01:11 - The golf outing tomorrow

01:14 - will be at the Dolphin Highland Golf Course today.

01:18 - I'm sorry. Today.

01:20 - You know me.

01:21 - It's Monday, it's Tuesday.

01:22 - I don't know what day of the week it is.

01:25 - All right.

01:25 - I'll know what time it is.

01:28 - 1:00.

01:30 - Dolphin Highland.

01:31 - Right.

01:35 - Our first speaker

01:36 - today is par representative Arvind Venkat.

01:41 - Representative Venkat, an emergency physician, was elected

01:45 - to serve his first term in the state House of Representatives

01:48 - in November 2022.

01:51 - He is the first Indian-American to be elected to the state House,

01:55 - and the first physician to serve in the general Assembly in nearly 60 years.

02:00 - Representative Venkat is a fighter for accessible, affordable health care,

02:05 - investing in our first responders, protecting reproductive rights,

02:10 - curbing gun violence, expanding access to the ballot box

02:14 - for all voters, and getting more people back into the workforce.

02:19 - His parents immigrated to the United States and was there hard work

02:22 - and commitment to service that inspired him to become a physician.

02:27 - Representative Venkat completed his undergraduate

02:30 - and graduate education at Harvard University.

02:34 - His medical education at Yale University, and his emergency medicine residency

02:39 - at the University of Cincinnati University Hospital.

02:43 - He served as a member of the board of McCandless Franklin Park Ambulance.

02:47 - Authority, as a former president of the State.

02:50 - Emergency Physicians Organization.

02:54 - He sounds very qualified, and he also stands

02:58 - for a lot of the things that we fight for every day in our battle.

03:01 - So let's representative the representative up here now.

03:23 - Good morning.

03:26 - I really appreciate the invitation here.

03:28 - And I want to thank President Hamilton, Secretary Treasurer Bailey, leaders

03:32 - of the joint council, and all of you with the Joint Conference of Teamsters.

03:37 - I wanted when I was

03:38 - coming in today, I was thinking about what I wanted to discuss with you.

03:41 - Because we are in a moment where what you do every day at home

03:47 - to make sure that the men and women of Pennsylvania and organized labor

03:51 - have a fair shot is critically, critically important.

03:54 - And I relate it to the story of my family, because I think it is

03:58 - the Pennsylvania story and the American story.

04:02 - I'm an immigrant.

04:03 - I'm one of two naturalized citizens that is serving in

04:06 - elected office right now in Pennsylvania, at the state or federal level.

04:10 - I was born in India, and we are in a moment

04:14 - where your history is Teamsters, where you provided a ladder up

04:20 - for so many, over so many generations in order to be able to have a fair shot

04:25 - at the middle class

04:26 - and to build a life for yourself and your families is very much under threat.

04:30 - And we see that every day.

04:32 - And I saw that growing up in my life, I was fortunate.

04:35 - My parents are both physicians.

04:37 - I did not struggle economically, but

04:41 - my parents instilled in me the importance of serving others.

04:45 - And that's why I decided to go to medical school.

04:47 - And I became an emergency physician because I knew

04:50 - that I would be able to care for everyone, no questions asked.

04:53 - I still work as an emergency physician.

04:55 - I joke that my career as an E.R.

04:58 - doc parallels Noah Wiley.

05:00 - When he was a medical student on E.R., I was a medical student.

05:04 - Now I'm a grizzled, middle aged physician in Pittsburgh.

05:07 - I worked at Allegheny General, which is the basis for the Pitt,

05:10 - for 15 years before I was elected.

05:12 - And I still do shifts on weekends and nights and holidays

05:16 - when, this, this job isn't pulling at me.

05:20 - When people ask me about working in Harrisburg, I said, sometimes

05:24 - it makes the emergency department look sane, and that's saying something.

05:29 - But we

05:30 - are in a moment where we have to fight every day

05:34 - in order to make sure that health care is affordable and accessible.

05:37 - I've seen my fellow Pennsylvanians

05:40 - come into my emergency department so sick and because they had medical debt,

05:45 - did not have insurance, they weren't able to get the care they needed

05:49 - until it was too late, until they came to the emergency department.

05:52 - And you, as Teamsters, make sure that your members have access

05:57 - to health care, and it should not be the struggle that it is today.

06:01 - And we, unfortunately, are going to see that struggle get worse

06:04 - because of cuts that are happening at the federal level.

06:07 - So as the only physician in our legislature, I take very seriously

06:11 - that we need to build a health care system that is accessible

06:15 - and affordable for all.

06:16 - And I'm proud to partner with you in those efforts

06:20 - because it's something that we desperately, desperately need.

06:23 - The other thing that I see in my community

06:26 - is many people simply can't make ends meet.

06:29 - They aren't able to afford a good life for their family, whether it's housing

06:34 - or food or energy costs or health care or the list goes on and on.

06:40 - They feel like they don't have a fair shot

06:43 - and I was noticing when I came up to the podium,

06:46 - the banners in front of this,

06:48 - in front of this dais,

06:50 - talking about how we're not going to be a right to work state,

06:53 - that we're not going to have a war on workers.

06:56 - And it's really because of unions like the Teamsters

06:59 - that workers do have a fair shot, that they do have a seat at the table.

07:03 - And this is why I say in every forum, this is actually where I met Carl,

07:07 - and we discussed this for the first time that I ran for office,

07:12 - because I honestly felt that government could be a mechanism

07:17 - to help elevate those in need.

07:19 - And unions built the middle class in this country and elevated so many.

07:24 - And that's why in the legislature, I've been very proud

07:27 - to be a pro-union legislator and a pro Teamsters legislator.

07:37 - And that is under threat every day.

07:39 - We we can't kid ourselves.

07:41 - There is an effort every day in Harrisburg and in DC to make life harder

07:45 - for workers to make, to somehow say that they should not have a seat at the table.

07:51 - And I'm seeing it in the health care system.

07:52 - I'm gratified that I'm seeing

07:54 - more of my fellow health professionals who are organizing and saying that

07:58 - we need to be part of unions in order to be able to protect ourselves

08:02 - and our patients and our way of life and that's what we need moving forward.

08:07 - And lastly, we're in a moment, and I think that we're seeing

08:11 - this across the world where we as Americans

08:16 - need to start thinking about what exactly we want our position in the world to be.

08:21 - And I'm a state legislator. I'm not at the federal level.

08:23 - You're I know you're going to be hearing

08:25 - from federal candidates later on this morning, but

08:30 - as an immigrant, as

08:31 - someone who's still has family roots overseas,

08:35 - what I see is that the direction that we're seeing from DC

08:40 - is unfortunately causing us to lose, our position of leadership in the world.

08:45 - And if we don't take action at the ballot box

08:49 - to make sure that we are a place that still is the shining city

08:53 - on the hill,

08:54 - and I'd be willing to bet that every person here has an immigrant story

08:59 - and thought about in their family history about being the shining city on the hill,

09:04 - coming to the United States, making a future for yourself and your family,

09:08 - and being a leader in the world, which is what

09:10 - so many generations of Americans have done, that we are under threat.

09:15 - And so my commitment as a relatively low

09:18 - level elected official within Pennsylvania is to make sure that we in Pennsylvania

09:23 - continue to be a welcoming place, that we continue to be a place

09:27 - where families can build a better future for themselves and their families,

09:32 - that life can be affordable, and that we continue to be a beacon of hope,

09:36 - not only in this country, but for so many around the world.

09:39 - And I know that in partnership

09:41 - with you as Teamsters, that's the future that we can build.

09:45 - But it takes effort every day.

09:47 - And I'm proud to stand with you and work with you.

09:49 - Go, pens.

09:50 - Go Pirates!

09:51 - And, and I again, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here.

09:56 - God bless.

10:11 - So much. It's

10:14 - nice to be part of you. Thank you very much.

10:16 - I appreciate your time.

10:21 - Okay.

10:25 - We got some.

10:28 - Oh, I think our PR rep should aspire for higher office.

10:34 - Because he sounds like he has the values to be somebody that can represent us

10:38 - federally and across this country as a senator someday.

10:41 - So hopefully you,

10:43 - reconsider your local position and maybe start looking at hire aspirations,

10:48 - because the words that come out of your mouth.

10:57 - Are what we think and feel every day.

10:59 - So you're thinking just like one of us.

11:01 - Some of us we see as a military veteran, I see our country being destroyed

11:05 - from within.

11:05 - And it's sad and embarrassing for me

11:09 - as, as a veteran, to see our country crumbling and,

11:13 - just not holding the values that our forefathers had instilled in us.

11:17 - So thank you for all you doing.

11:20 - Hopefully you'll step up,

11:22 - but would it be okay if I made a motion to we endorsing yes.

11:27 - Hey, I'd like to make a motion that we as a PA conference

11:31 - endorse out of events that motion, we got a motion a second.

11:36 - Any questions on it?

11:38 - All in favor, say aye.

11:40 - No's. Ayes have it.

11:41 - Thank you.

11:51 - Our next speaker is somebody that we've come to know

11:54 - very well on the Philadelphia and the tri state area.

11:58 - He's an attorney.

11:59 - He serves our members so well.

12:03 - Jason Krasno, who has his own law firm, Krasno.

12:06 - Krasno.

12:07 - And I'm not saying no ginger.

12:13 - But, I'm telling you, he goes.

12:16 - He goes out of his way to tell members

12:20 - what their rights are and what they need to do.

12:24 - He's an advocate.

12:25 - He's always looking and helping people,

12:28 - and, he's not just an attorney looking to make a dollar.

12:32 - He's a guy that cares, gives a damn about working people,

12:36 - and wants to make it safe for them.

12:39 - Come on up, Jason.

12:40 - Where you at?

12:56 - Good morning everyone.

12:59 - As I start every meeting, if you don't have my cell phone,

13:02 - take your phone out. Now.

13:03 - I'm going to give it to you and I'm going to say it slow.

13:05 - Hopefully you all have it.

13:06 - At this point, though, it's (215) 287-5737.

13:13 - The reason I give that to you is because I want to be the first call

13:17 - that any member has when they get injured.

13:20 - The minute someone gets injured, they are a liability to the company,

13:23 - and the company sets up pitfalls all along the way.

13:27 - I'm like Google. I'm like ChatGPT.

13:29 - I am right there for everybody and I have the answers that they need.

13:32 - That's why it's important to call.

13:34 - I'm happy to call even if they don't hire me as their lawyer.

13:38 - I still want to guide them the right way because we are facing more

13:42 - and more complicated situations every day because of advancements in technology,

13:47 - because of AI, and because everybody Googles everything.

13:50 - I'm going to tell you the straight truth.

13:52 - I'm going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

13:55 - And that's what's most important.

13:58 - So thank you for having me every year.

14:00 - I feel blessed to be a part of this community and I will do right by you guys.

14:06 - Thank you.

14:16 - That was the

14:16 - shortest commercial I ever heard.

14:20 - For he gets right to the point.

14:23 - He means it.

14:23 - And, I don't know how many people that he's helped over the years.

14:28 - He just.

14:29 - He doesn't care about the abuse the company puts on people.

14:33 - He stands up and he gets right in front of the fight immediately.

14:36 - And it's it's disarming to a company

14:41 - when our members possess information.

14:44 - Information is a tool.

14:46 - And it's a powerful tool that we can use.

14:49 - Companies don't want you to know your rights, especially when you get injured.

14:53 - They want to shuffle you off to emergency ward.

14:55 - They don't want you talking to nobody.

14:58 - They'll put you on light duty to shut you up.

15:00 - But the mere fact that you got hurt on the job is somebody's fault.

15:06 - It's not always your fault.

15:08 - It's somebody else's fault.

15:10 - Usually equipment or something like that.

15:12 - So call him once they.

15:15 - Once they know he's involved, the nonsense stops. So.

15:21 - I know it's a little early, but we're going to take a quick

15:23 - ten minute break because we're waiting for some other speakers and,

15:28 - no time like the president to go catch a cigaret.

15:30 - Go ahead.

15:34 - Ladies and gentlemen,

15:35 - it's our honor today to, introduce to you Representative

15:39 - Joanna McClinton, the Democratic Speaker of the House.

15:43 - Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton was first elected in 2015

15:48 - to serve communities in West and southwest Philadelphia,

15:51 - as well as the Aden and Darby in Delaware County.

15:55 - A lifelong resident of Southwest

15:56 - Philadelphia and a graduate of Grace Temple Christian Academy,

16:00 - she became active in her community while completing an internship

16:04 - with radio station.

16:05 - Days later, she studied political science

16:08 - and leadership and global Understanding at LaSalle University.

16:12 - After earning her degree, she enrolled at Villanova University School of Law,

16:16 - interning at regional House Legal Services, the Philadelphia District.

16:20 - Attorney's Office, and a defender Association of Philadelphia.

16:24 - As a state lawmaker, she has made history three times

16:28 - first in 2018 when she became the first woman

16:31 - and first African-American to be elected

16:35 - as House Democratic Caucus chair,

16:37 - and again in 2020, when she was the first woman elected House

16:41 - Democratic leader in the institution's 244 year history.

16:46 - In 2023, McClinton was elected speaker of the Pennsylvania House,

16:51 - the first woman to serve in that position and the nation's oldest legislator,

16:56 - and she was reelected speaker on January 7th, 2025.

17:01 - Quite an accomplishment.

17:03 - As a member of the House of Representatives, McClinton

17:06 - championed voting reform, equality measures, and violence prevention.

17:11 - During her tenure as speaker, the House adopted the most robust

17:15 - set of operating rules, and more than a generation, ensuring

17:19 - that all voices are heard on the issues.

17:21 - The constitutional amendments

17:23 - are vetted through a public hearing before ending up on the ballot,

17:27 - and expanding anti-discrimination and anti-harassment

17:30 - protections for everyone who does work within the legislature.

17:34 - Later, she has been a true leader of Pennsylvania.

17:38 - She has challenged

17:41 - people on both sides of the aisle.

17:43 - We are proud to have her representing us here in Pennsylvania.

17:47 - She fights tirelessly for working people and she never gives up.

17:51 - Joanna, come on up.

18:08 - Yes, yes.

18:13 - It's it's.

18:26 - Good morning.

18:28 - Good morning.

18:30 - Are we ready to reelect Josh Shapiro?

18:36 - I saw the sign bigger.

18:38 - I start there.

18:40 - It is such an honor to be here.

18:42 - Of course, I never come to the Teamsters without my best teamster.

18:47 - The good chairman from Delaware County.

18:49 - He leads intergovernmental affairs.

18:51 - Please give it up for your brother in labor, Dave Delo. So.

19:02 - And this morning, I've got a sister.

19:04 - I don't know if you all know this, but she's got a first class ticket

19:07 - to the United States House of Representatives with your support.

19:10 - Her name is Mayor Paige Continetti.

19:13 - Let's go.

19:20 - We're here today, gathered again.

19:23 - But it is quite a wild time in our history.

19:26 - Gentlemen and sisters.

19:29 - A wild time in our history,

19:32 - with no exaggeration.

19:34 - Just in time for our big 250th birthday.

19:38 - Every principle that we hold close to our hearts, from democracy

19:44 - to voting to representation, is at risk every single day in this country.

19:51 - I'm not exaggerating.

19:52 - It's much more than the price of gas.

19:55 - We are seeing the things that our founding fathers

19:58 - and mothers sat down in Philadelphia thinking about

20:02 - and contemplating 250 years ago be put at risk.

20:07 - But I'm here to tell you that at least at the statehouse,

20:11 - we're on the front line with you guys every single day.

20:20 - For more than 100 years,

20:22 - you all have been at the intersection

20:25 - of hard working families trying to just put food on the table

20:30 - to take care of their loved ones, retire with dignity.

20:34 - And the 100,000 of you, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,

20:37 - I don't need to tell.

20:38 - You are in so many different sectors.

20:41 - Sectors from I saw my favorite principles here.

20:46 - So of

20:46 - course all those who are actually moving

20:50 - Pennsylvania and America back and forth with your goods.

20:53 - You all have so much great work that you're doing.

20:57 - And in Harrisburg, I understand that because of all that you've done for us

21:02 - in 2022 and in 2024, it is in fact,

21:06 - our one seat majority that stands in the way of nonsense like automation.

21:10 - But it will not happen as long as I have that gavel.

21:19 - It's been our pleasure

21:20 - to stand up for OSHA and safety standards, for making sure

21:25 - that you continue to have the union way of life,

21:28 - to also doing good things like cutting taxes for everyday

21:32 - working people, for our senior citizens, for those who are taking care

21:37 - of their young children, paying those daycare bills.

21:40 - We've been able to cut taxes seven times in four years, and that is,

21:45 - of course, thanks to you all being with us in the corner of every fight.

21:49 - Thank you.

21:56 - But understand that

21:57 - while we see so much to hang into the balance, it's the work that we'll do

22:01 - when we leave this convening together, getting ready for May the 19th.

22:07 - And of course, Tuesday, November the 3rd.

22:09 - I don't know about you, but I'm counting backwards.

22:12 - The five months in which we will get to stand up

22:15 - and really make a stake for where we want this country to be headed,

22:20 - which direction we want the nation to be headed

22:23 - for stability, for peace, for us to be able to afford things

22:27 - when we go to the supermarket with our grocery carts.

22:30 - This is not a joke.

22:32 - We have decisions to make.

22:34 - But understand, I'll tell you all on behalf of the entire

22:38 - Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus, we cannot win alone.

22:42 - But with you in our corner,

22:44 - we've got a fighting chance and we'll be victorious.

22:47 - Thank you all. God bless.

23:06 - Thank you.

23:06 - Thank you.

23:21 - Thank you.

23:42 - I our next speaker

23:46 - is running for mayor of Scranton, Mayor Paige Canetti.

23:50 - Paige cognate.

23:51 - He is the mayor of Scranton, known for our focus on government

23:54 - reform, fiscal recovery, the rooting out of corruption.

23:57 - She previously worked

23:58 - for the Pennsylvania Auditor General and served on the Scranton School Board,

24:02 - where she pushed to uncover waste and improve accountability.

24:06 - Elected mayor.

24:07 - In 2019 after a corruption scandal, she became the first woman

24:12 - to hold the office and later won reelection with a large majority.

24:17 - As a mayor, Paige has taken on special interests and fought for reform.

24:21 - She turned down a city car, eliminated cash payments and cut costs, leading

24:26 - to budget surpluses and a credit rating that went from junk to investment grade.

24:31 - She has secured over 155 million in federal and state

24:34 - grants, and in 2022,

24:38 - Paige alleged Scranton, that of a 30 year distressed financial status period.

24:43 - Paige work to make government serve the people,

24:45 - focusing on improving quality of life and reducing costs.

24:49 - She fought for more homes, more small businesses, more restaurants

24:53 - and more parks.

24:54 - She streamlined the city's permitting process, slashed permit fees,

24:58 - cut red tape.

25:00 - Her efforts resulted in almost a thousand more homes.

25:03 - More than 250 new shops and eateries

25:06 - and over 10,000 building permits in three years.

25:10 - She focused on local infrastructure, remove blighted structures, held

25:14 - absentee landlords accountable, replaced thousands of street signs across the city.

25:20 - She is now running for Congress and eighth district

25:23 - on a platform centered on transparency, accountability and reform.

25:28 - She lives in Scranton with her husband and two daughters.

25:31 - And she does a great service for the state of Pennsylvania.

25:35 - We want her to continue to do that.

25:37 - Paige, would you please come up?

25:59 - Thank you.

26:01 - Good morning everybody.

26:02 - It is really fun to be here.

26:04 - I really appreciate you all inviting me,

26:08 - to your, conference and appreciate the leadership.

26:12 - Bill. Thank you.

26:13 - It's wonderful to see you again, Danny. You as well.

26:15 - Thank you.

26:16 - I also want to recognize Teamsters 229

26:19 - from Scranton Dunmore and 401 from Wilkes-Barre.

26:22 - They have been working to fight for northeastern

26:25 - Pennsylvania families for generations as well.

26:28 - My name is Paige Cognito.

26:30 - I, as Bill said, I am the mayor of Scranton.

26:32 - I'm in my seventh year.

26:33 - I am the daughter of parents from small towns in Montana.

26:39 - My family ranched and farmed, and my grandfather built

26:42 - the roads that his sons, my uncles then drove logging trucks on for years.

26:48 - My uncle, this is a great this is nice music.

26:50 - You know,

26:52 - it doesn't really fit the vibe of the logging stories, but.

26:55 - But it's okay.

26:56 - So my uncle, my Uncle Mick, has these crazy stories

26:59 - that I'm sure share with all of you.

27:01 - These are just, you know, he's he's logging.

27:03 - He's going up these steep mountain roads in this awful weather.

27:06 - I mean, turned over the truck many different times. Always walked away.

27:09 - I don't I don't know how. He always walked away.

27:11 - Always walked away and always lit his truck up for the holidays

27:14 - and would always, show us the pictures proudly and have them displayed

27:17 - in his garage, in northwestern Montana as we speak.

27:22 - It's a legacy of hard work that my family always instilled in us.

27:26 - I didn't grow up in Montana, but every single summer we went

27:29 - and we drove those roads that my grandfather built.

27:32 - We drove those curvy roads

27:33 - between the little towns that my my parents grew up in.

27:36 - And every, every curve, I swear, it's like, well, that's where uncle Bob

27:39 - flipped his Camaro, and that's where Clint's flipped the El Camino.

27:43 - They all walked away.

27:44 - I don't know how it happened, but they all walked away unscathed

27:47 - from all of these things.

27:48 - But it instilled in us, you know, the really hard work

27:51 - was what needed to happen.

27:53 - I work very hard as mayor.

27:55 - My husband owns a small business. He works seven days a week.

27:57 - If we didn't grow up with this, this idea that hard work is just what you do,

28:02 - we wouldn't make it.

28:03 - So we're proud to be instilling hard work in our little girls.

28:06 - Just last week, we took our girls to the Brooks Mine in Scranton.

28:10 - The dog park is a big park in Scranton. It's beautiful.

28:13 - There's a mine that you

28:14 - can take kids into, and they can walk in, and they can see for themselves

28:17 - what what those conditions are. And what's that?

28:19 - What that's like?

28:20 - My six year old has so many different questions.

28:23 - She has so many questions.

28:25 - But it's it's really fulfilling for me to be able to tell her

28:29 - the history of our city, the history of our families.

28:32 - Going back to my family in Montana, my husband,

28:35 - you know, being right from Scranton to show them what it is

28:38 - to make a living for your family and be proud of that work.

28:41 - And that's what drives me as mayor of Scranton.

28:44 - I've been mayor for seven years.

28:47 - We, you know, thank you for for noting all of our progress, Bill,

28:50 - we have gone from a junk credit rating to a minus we have built.

28:54 - We're almost at 1100 homes that have been built during our tenure.

28:58 - We slashed permit fees and made it easier to build in Scranton.

29:02 - There are cranes and bulldozers all over the city.

29:05 - We are building new roads.

29:06 - We are fixing the bridges with Governor Shapiro's help.

29:09 - We are making the streets safer.

29:11 - And it's all with local labor.

29:13 - It's very important to us in Scranton that that is local labor that we are using.

29:17 - So that's what Scranton is built on.

29:19 - And that, though, is is what's at stake is we have all these opportunities right

29:24 - now, all this infrastructure that's supposed to be coming online,

29:27 - all these jobs that are supposed to be able to be there for people

29:30 - so that they can raise their kids knowing that their future is secure.

29:34 - And a lot of that is in jeopardy right now.

29:36 - Just last week, folks at Tobyhanna Army Depot, some of them got notices

29:40 - that their contract is null and void, just null and void.

29:44 - And we all know stories like that.

29:46 - We are in a time when there are so many folks

29:48 - in power that don't want the union way of life to continue.

29:52 - We also see with Gen Z a lot of folks that want to join unions.

29:55 - So we have to keep fighting.

29:57 - We know the kids understand it.

29:59 - We know that they are in a situation where,

30:01 - you know, their parents probably didn't have pensions.

30:03 - Their parents retirement is not secure.

30:05 - The power of unions, the power of that secure retirement.

30:09 - I think it's something that can be as powerful as ever with these young people.

30:13 - But we're going to have to work very, very hard to make sure they understand

30:16 - the power of that.

30:18 - And then of course, make sure that we are in a situation

30:20 - where the large companies aren't winning, the large companies that are fighting

30:25 - unions are not winning, and that we continue to have each other's backs.

30:29 - I is very concerning.

30:30 - We have a lot of work to do to make sure that AI doesn't destroy our way of life

30:36 - and doesn't destroy the career opportunities, not just for us now,

30:40 - but for our kids.

30:42 - So I want to go to Congress to fight for us

30:44 - and fight for the generation that is after us.

30:48 - We have a lot of work to do to fight against a Washington

30:51 - that is literally there, giving tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires,

30:55 - proliferating these corporate tax breaks for these companies

30:58 - that if we had those tax dollars restored, we could be building

31:02 - more of those bridges and those roads that we so desperately need.

31:05 - We could be funding our schools.

31:06 - We could be funding the health care that we all need to make sure we need.

31:10 - There's so much that's broken in Washington.

31:13 - There's a lot of folks in Washington that just want to tell you what you want

31:17 - to hear.

31:17 - The informal name of our campaign, as ever since 2019,

31:21 - when I ran as an independent for mayor, has been Paige against the machine.

31:25 - I didn't name it that. That's

31:28 - it's, it's stuck with me for seven years.

31:31 - We embrace it, though, because I have spent seven years as mayor

31:34 - telling a lot of people that aren't used to being told, no, no,

31:38 - and I don't bullshit.

31:39 - I will tell you what I can do and what I can't do and how we can work together.

31:43 - But I'm not going to just tell you what you want to hear,

31:45 - because that doesn't help us meet our goals.

31:47 - And it's just bad business.

31:49 - So I'm hoping to earn your endorsement because I will be fighting for you.

31:53 - I will work with you.

31:54 - I won't bullshit you.

31:55 - I really know that we can work together to make sure

31:57 - that we keep Pennsylvania moving, as you guys have for generations.

32:01 - Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for all you do.

32:06 - For. She said a magic phrase at the end of that sentence.

32:19 - I'm hoping for your endorsement.

32:22 - There's a motion in the back.

32:23 - Is there a second?

32:25 - All in favor, signify by saying I.

32:28 - Anybody against? The ayes have it.

32:30 - We'll have our.

33:17 - We do what we want here, Danny.

33:19 - Okay, I agree.

33:23 - I don't need permission.

33:25 - I'm, She.

33:28 - Bob Brooks here.

33:31 - Bob Brooks is running for seventh district.

33:35 - He has spent his entire life fighting for working families,

33:37 - whether behind a bar, behind the wheel of a snowplow,

33:40 - or on the floor of the Pennsylvania state Capitol.

33:43 - Advocating for first responder.

33:45 - Bob has never lost sight of where he comes from or who he's fighting for.

33:49 - In 2005, Bob joined the fire department and immediately

33:52 - got involved in his union to help his fellow workers.

33:55 - Over two decades, he helped negotiate fair contracts,

33:59 - fought for better health care, livable wages and safe working conditions,

34:03 - and became a voice in Harrisburg for working families across the state.

34:08 - Bob spent 20 years as a firefighter in the city of Bethlehem.

34:12 - He's held nearly every position on the truck and every post in his union.

34:17 - As a union president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association.

34:22 - Bob took on the politicians

34:23 - for higher wages, better health care and benefits for all workers.

34:27 - Among Bob's proudest victories is helping lead

34:30 - the fight to pass mental health coverage for firefighters struggling

34:34 - with PTSD, a ten year battle he refused to give up for him.

34:38 - Bob was raised primarily by a single mom

34:41 - who worked as a bartender to keep food on the table.

34:44 - By the time he turned

34:45 - 30, Bob had already held more jobs than most people do in a lifetime.

34:49 - Dishwashers. Short order cook.

34:51 - Bartender. Landscaper.

34:52 - Warehouse worker, pizza delivery driver, and more, and moved

34:56 - to Pennsylvania more than 30 years ago and never looked back.

34:59 - Bob lives in Nazareth with his wife, Jan, with whom

35:02 - he has a family of four children.

35:04 - Keith, a volunteer firefighter himself, no shot Austin,

35:08 - Hunter and Mason as a proud grandpa of two granddaughters.

35:13 - Bob would like to come up and say a few words and the big round.

35:34 - Thank you sir.

35:35 - Well.

35:46 - Thank you all for having me.

35:48 - I got to tell you, these are the most humbling experiences for a union guy.

35:52 - Union leader

35:53 - is when you get to speak to your peers, your brothers and your sisters.

35:56 - I just did this in DC for our legislative conference for life.

36:02 - And before I walked out of the curtain, I was nervous,

36:05 - more nervous, and talking to a thousand, you know, room, a thousand people.

36:09 - I don't know is standing in front of you.

36:12 - So just before I walked out the curtain, our general president,

36:15 - Ed Kelly, looked at me and said,

36:16 - hey, kid, just go run the union meeting and you'll be fine.

36:20 - So my name is Bob Brooks, and as so eloquently put, I my history's been there.

36:26 - My stump speech is already run out.

36:28 - And this is not a place for a stump speech.

36:30 - But I do have to give you a little history.

36:32 - I've been working for I was ten years old.

36:35 - I was born and raised in North Adams, Massachusetts.

36:37 - As you said to a single mom.

36:39 - She was a bartender, so I guess I followed in her footsteps for a little while.

36:43 - But, I've done everything from a paper boy

36:46 - prep cook in delivering pizzas.

36:49 - And at the age of 18, my house burned down

36:52 - to the ground in Stamford, Vermont, where I then turned in.

36:56 - My mom said, I'm heading to Pennsylvania.

36:57 - My grandfather been here since the 60s.

36:59 - He was a union truck driver out of bath, Pennsylvania, where I went trucking.

37:03 - He was a teamster.

37:04 - My aunt was down here.

37:05 - She was a truck driver, a teamster.

37:07 - So my life was set up.

37:09 - Is this is where I was going to go? So as,

37:13 - I got myself here, I

37:15 - went right to work immediately and doing all kinds of things.

37:18 - I worked in gas stations, more prep cook and more pizza delivery.

37:20 - You name it, we've done it.

37:22 - So I got a job with Raymond Burke.

37:23 - Lots of sons.

37:25 - And that was a teamster local.

37:26 - Eight over 838830.

37:29 - Sorry, I on my head had me a 773, which I am proud

37:32 - to have the endorsement of my friend Dennis down there.

37:37 - So, it was a long time ago.

37:39 - Guess of getting old stuff, you know, numbers, numbers disappear, but.

37:42 - So I was a teamster, and then I got this great opportunity

37:46 - to get hired by the City of Bethlehem Fire Department.

37:49 - I was doing it for free.

37:50 - We won't talk about that a whole lot.

37:52 - As we said, my son, still, he was a volunteer fire chief.

37:55 - But his goal was to get on the job.

37:57 - And a lot of times, that's a stepping stone to get into

37:59 - our profession is to be a volunteer somewhere, take a test, get in the job.

38:05 - Guys, I took the Bethlehem test,

38:07 - and I became a firefighter, and I was there for 20 years.

38:09 - I've held every position except for the treasurer role.

38:12 - They didn't let me touch the money. I can't figure it out.

38:14 - I still, but, I probably better off. But,

38:18 - then I took a job as a state president.

38:21 - And this is where things change for me.

38:23 - Is taking the job as a state president.

38:25 - It adds new responsibilities, new opportunities,

38:30 - new places to work and new things to do.

38:32 - And we have gotten some legislative legislation passed over

38:35 - the past few years.

38:37 - We all know how things move in Harrisburg.

38:39 - Slow and stop. Right?

38:40 - Right, Dave? Slow stop.

38:42 - But but I was able to make relationships, and those relationships came in heavy

38:46 - to my decision to jump into this race for Pennsylvania seven.

38:50 - And it starts with this guy in this banner right here.

38:52 - And that's governor Josh Shapiro.

38:53 - So I'm very proud to have his endorsement.

38:56 - I'm very proud to have a bunch of endorsements in this race.

38:59 - Senator Bernie Sanders, who's, working class union union supporter,

39:03 - he wants us to help pass the Proact, and we're going to go get it.

39:07 - I'm going to do this with a bunch of friends.

39:09 - I, I implore you to look at the website.

39:11 - I mean,

39:13 - the support that we have.

39:14 - We just announced Elizabeth Warren today.

39:17 - The endorsements that are behind this is great.

39:19 - I'm running with page against the machine, but the machine seems to like us.

39:23 - I don't know, they're tired of people claiming

39:28 - to be union people claiming to be labor guys and gals.

39:32 - There's a difference between being a labor guy and being a laborer.

39:36 - You are looking at the opportunity to send a state union leader,

39:39 - a lifetime union member, a labor or

39:44 - to US Congress where we can be represented and we can go to work for us.

39:48 - That's my claim.

39:56 - This this was not on my bingo card.

39:58 - Wasn't something I had in mind till I got a few phone calls again.

40:01 - Governor Shapiro, Christy Lucio, and,

40:05 - what I

40:05 - decided was I was tired of being kicked in the teeth.

40:09 - I was tired of watching the NLRB get decimated.

40:12 - I was tired

40:15 - of people showing up at our Labor Day picnics

40:17 - for pictures and not showing up for us when we needed it.

40:20 - So I'm in the game. We're ready to run.

40:23 - I do have the endorsement of 773.

40:24 - I'd love to have the endorsement here.

40:26 - Page six for show me how that gets done. Right?

40:27 - We hope right.

40:29 - But, guys, thank you very much for having me.

40:31 - I appreciate the opportunity. Just to speak to you.

40:34 - And, I'm working to get this done, and I love it.

40:36 - Thank you.

40:39 - Stay right here.

40:40 - All right?

40:42 - I thought we just.

40:45 - In the future.

40:46 - I was up three shots

40:48 - from the director.

40:49 - Well, we're two for two on your motion to endorse.

40:54 - Is there a second?

40:55 - All in favor, signify by saying I, anybody against.

40:59 - I didn't think so.

41:01 - He got the endorsement. Thank you. Thank you.

41:03 - I appreciate that very much.

41:07 - Good.

41:11 - People

41:12 - that are willing to go bat like that and fight.

41:16 - They say the right things, but they mean it.

41:18 - You can tell it manifests itself over their feelings.

41:21 - And, it's it's good to have young,

41:25 - hardworking people going at Congress like this and, and wanting

41:28 - to represent us in Washington because Washington is a mess, as we know.

41:33 - And, I'm proud to have endorsed these two candidates.

41:37 - I think they'll do well in the primaries. And,

41:41 - do well in the election.

41:43 - My next guest

41:45 - is my own pain in the ass.

41:48 - Dave Dela Rosa.

41:51 - Spirit.

42:09 - Girl.

42:11 - Billy, thanks for.

42:11 - And I'll get you guys on the way out.

42:17 - Listen, another home game, I, I can't

42:21 - I you know, I've been a delegate to this body since 2002.

42:24 - Is the first time I ever appeared not as a delegate.

42:28 - And when I sat out there, you know, I used to look up, and I used to

42:31 - go, man, I wonder what it looks like up there from the dias.

42:34 - Well, let me tell you, from here I can tell Teamsters.

42:37 - Health and Welfare has good dental, but doesn't pay for elective cosmetic surgery

42:43 - because there's there's a room full of good teeth and ugly people. Oh.

42:49 - Listen, I worked on that all night.

42:52 - I worked on that all night.

42:54 - I am so proud to be.

42:56 - Yeah, I'm so proud to be part,

42:59 - part of the Pennsylvania Conference of Teamsters for so many years.

43:02 - And I am so proud that this the most courageous conference

43:07 - in the country, is nominating

43:10 - winner after winner after winner.

43:13 - You know, Brooke, she called me about six months ago,

43:15 - I met Brooke, she out at the state capitol.

43:17 - He was president of the firefighters.

43:19 - He found out I was a union guy, and he's been telling me forever.

43:23 - You know, he, you know, one of the, you know, wanted to be, had been a teamster

43:28 - and everything else he calls me, says, Dave, I could really use your help.

43:32 - And I said, well, Brooke, she I would, I wouldn't listen.

43:34 - I would jump in front of a train for you, except that.

43:38 - I don't get in front of my union.

43:41 - I said, so you good brother, you need to call Dennis,

43:45 - and you need to have Dennis take you down to see Billy.

43:48 - And then you need to do the appearance

43:50 - in front of the executive board of a Pennsylvania conference of Teamsters.

43:53 - And then when you get that endorsement,

43:56 - then I'm no longer in front of my union saying, what a good guy you are.

43:59 - I wait for my union and I listen to my union when they endorse.

44:04 - And I'm so proud of this courageous Council of Teamsters.

44:08 - Conference of Teamsters endorsing winners like Paige

44:11 - against the confetti, doing great things up in Scranton.

44:16 - Bob Brooks done great things.

44:17 - Josh Shapiro doing great things.

44:21 - Now here I sit in the Pennsylvania legislature,

44:24 - and we do have a dynamic group of bills, right?

44:27 - The seven Teamsters and the Pennsylvania Conference.

44:31 - In the Pennsylvania legislature, we shot we met with Brother Doyle

44:34 - from the international.

44:35 - We have a package of seven bills that we are slowly rolling out.

44:40 - One of them got captivated by an SEIU guy, right?

44:43 - The no captive audience. Bill,

44:46 - you know, brother, con SEIU member, he he's running no captive audience.

44:51 - So we are pushing forward the teamster agenda

44:55 - and the way.

45:00 - The way these things get done

45:03 - is by real people.

45:05 - Real people like Brookside.

45:07 - Real people actually put out fires.

45:09 - Real people like me that actually whole cars, real

45:12 - people like me that actually jumped out from behind dumpsters with signs

45:16 - and stopped trucks and been thrown around by sheriffs

45:20 - because there needs to be real people in our legislature.

45:24 - And this conference, this conference of Teamsters, these two joint councils,

45:31 - 53 and 40, have the courage

45:34 - to send people that actually get the job done.

45:39 - Right.

45:39 - Because if you remember what was it nine years ago, 2017.

45:45 - I Principal Officer local 312 I get talked into running for state

45:49 - representative and I get up here and I say to you guys, eight years,

45:53 - somebody's got to do something about this, these automated trucks.

45:56 - And that's one of the reasons I want to go to Harrisburg,

46:00 - because remember this,

46:02 - the only true capital in this world

46:07 - from the time we were trading

46:10 - with each other, skins, is labor.

46:14 - Labor is the only true capital in this world.

46:19 - We must fight

46:21 - anything that will take work away from these hands.

46:26 - We cannot continue

46:29 - to allow the military industrial complex

46:32 - to impress upon us and take away our work.

46:36 - President Eisenhower warned us in the 1950s

46:40 - that the appetite of the military industrial complex is insatiable,

46:45 - and it will swallow us whole as it is doing right now.

46:49 - Now we can't say no to efficiency or can we?

46:54 - We can't say no to automation.

46:57 - Or can we?

46:59 - We must start saying no

47:03 - to replacing these hands with the machine.

47:22 - Now I've broken these fingers,

47:24 - I've disjointed these shoulders, I this jointed and I ankle.

47:28 - I've done all kinds of things on that truck

47:32 - that cannot be traded

47:35 - for, some type of military industrial complex automation.

47:39 - It is great in America that we can send a robot in to defuze a bomb.

47:45 - It is great in America that we can fly drones so that we don't

47:50 - suffer casualties amongst the men and women who served this great country.

47:54 - All that is great,

47:57 - but we don't ever want to reach the point where the wealthy

48:04 - have taken away our skill,

48:07 - where the wealthy have relegated us.

48:09 - And this Trump Democrats are going to hate me saying this,

48:13 - but that's what a lot of Democrats hate me anyway.

48:15 - But more Republicans do.

48:18 - But you know, when people talking about universal

48:21 - basic income, universal basic income, why?

48:25 - Because they're going to replace your labor.

48:28 - Well, let me tell you something.

48:29 - I've taken a lot of dignity in what I've done for a living.

48:34 - I've taken a lot of pride in what I've done for a living.

48:38 - Now, granted, I've never built a building, but I could ride

48:41 - past a car dealership on Saturday and said, you know what?

48:44 - I delivered about 50 or 60.

48:46 - Those cars damage free.

48:49 - I never got the ride past the stadium and say I helped build the stadium,

48:52 - but I've taken a lot of pride and a lot of dignity.

48:56 - But as we allow automation to come in, or human instinct or human instinct

49:01 - to use these hands, to use these feet to use this edge is being stripped from us

49:08 - now. Eight years ago, I came here and I said, I'm going to work against a AI.

49:13 - It's gotten bigger.

49:15 - It's gotten so much bigger.

49:18 - And I hate to say

49:20 - I think we're going to lose the fight

49:23 - because we can't

49:26 - we can't we can't be relegated out of existence.

49:30 - You know,

49:30 - I said it last year and I'll say it again when we transitioned, when the Teamsters

49:35 - transitioned from driving teams of horses to driving trucks,

49:39 - we did not go around the country killing every goddamn horse.

49:45 - They atrophied out of the system.

49:47 - Now, as AI is impressing upon us,

49:50 - we have a duty as the legislature to protect labor, to protect these hands,

49:56 - and to allow those jobs that are going to ultimately be lost

50:01 - to those in the corporate world to slowly atrophy their way out.

50:06 - But I beg you, I beg you, to send real people

50:10 - to the legislatures in your state, in your Congress, in your country.

50:15 - People like page, people like Brooks

50:18 - because they've actually made a living with their hands, as I have.

50:22 - And I get to stand there every day

50:25 - and say, no, no, that's not the way it works.

50:28 - No, no, you'll never get me on that one.

50:31 - Does everybody just everybody remember the movie Braveheart,

50:36 - right?

50:36 - You remember what was it, Ironsides or Art heals or whatever

50:39 - we send in the Irish, they're expendable.

50:43 - Let me tell you something.

50:44 - When we don't drive the trucks,

50:46 - when we don't bang the nails, when we don't dig the ditches.

50:51 - Where the Irish in that movie,

50:53 - where the Irish in that movie.

50:56 - So stand up, make no deals,

50:59 - make no deals to trade our labor for automation, not gyro.

51:04 - We're there,

51:06 - we're there, they're coming to get us all

51:09 - in the name of corporate profit.

51:12 - When they're 16 or 17 people in this country that have enough wealth

51:17 - to buy the rest of us something is seriously gone wrong.

51:23 - Now, when they have all that money, what are they going to do with us?

51:27 - They're going to put us out in the pasture.

51:30 - They're going to treat us like the Irish.

51:32 - They're going to send us to fight the Scots because we're expendable.

51:36 - It's going to be billionaire Zillionaire Owens, west of Montana.

51:41 - One billionaire Zillionaire owns eastern Montana, and he's going to send

51:44 - people like us, like our kids in to fight these wars.

51:49 - You know, there's something recently happened at news.

51:51 - The, special operations guy made a ton of money betting on Maduro

51:56 - not being the boss

51:58 - come April 1st or whatever the number was.

52:01 - Well, you know what?

52:03 - Good on you, man.

52:04 - Good on you.

52:06 - Because let me tell you something.

52:07 - The oil tycoon, you make millions.

52:10 - They made millions.

52:12 - Trump's family made millions.

52:15 - That guy put his life on the line

52:19 - and he made 400 grand.

52:21 - And they want to run him up the flagpole.

52:23 - He ought to make 400 grand a day in combat.

52:26 - Right?

52:26 - Because it's our kids to go to combat.

52:29 - It's our kids that fight those wars.

52:31 - It's guys like Billy Hamilton.

52:32 - They jump out of airplanes in Vietnam.

52:36 - So all I'm saying is use the power

52:38 - of this conference, the 90 some thousand Teamsters

52:42 - that belong to this conference to send straight talkers to power.

52:48 - Send us in.

52:50 - We're ready to fight. I've signed up before.

52:52 - I signed a card to become a marine that they can't take away from me.

52:57 - I signed a card to become a teamster that they can't take away from me.

53:02 - And I got a family.

53:03 - There's three places in this world you don't want to be.

53:06 - That's between me and my country.

53:08 - Me and my members and me and my family.

53:11 - And you all fall under that umbrella.

53:13 - Send me in the fight.

53:15 - I'm ready to go.

53:22 - To fight.

53:30 - Want one more thing?

53:31 - And we all miss him dearly.

53:33 - Mark Roque took much better pictures than Jack.

53:38 - And those of you old heads in here, Bobby.

53:41 - He took a lot of pictures,

53:42 - but nobody ever seen him bring back Bobby Kennedy from 384.

53:48 - Okay.

53:49 - Thank you.

53:50 - David. That was inspiring.

53:53 - We have one more speaker

53:54 - that she's not quite here yet.

53:58 - So we'll take a quick break for 15 minutes.

54:01 - Don't leave and don't go far.

54:03 - Thank you.

54:04 - And, congratulations to the new candidates that have been endorsed.

54:07 - It's our pleasure.

54:08 - And let us know what you need now.

54:13 - Well, welcome.

54:15 - Our next guest is here.

54:18 - Janelle Stillson, candidate for Congress in the 10th district.

54:22 - Janelle was born in Fairbanks, Alaska.

54:24 - That's interesting. It's pretty cool.

54:27 - She received a bachelor's of arts degree in politics and government

54:30 - from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

54:33 - She's a former news anchor at WGAL

54:36 - TV, a reporter and weather anchor.

54:39 - Before her broadcast career, her first job was writing

54:43 - speeches for the Egyptian Embassy in Washington, DC.

54:46 - Very interesting.

54:47 - For more than 30 years, central Pennsylvanians.

54:50 - I relied on Janelle to tell the truth.

54:52 - I trust her to shine a light on our problems

54:55 - and counted on her to get answers and hold the powerful accountable.

54:59 - Whether she was with small business owners,

55:02 - riding along with local law enforcement,

55:04 - or covering the rising cost of housing and health care,

55:08 - Janelle has been listening and telling the stories

55:10 - of countless families across the district.

55:13 - She has heard over and over how people in central Pennsylvania

55:17 - are sick and tired of career politicians who have been ignoring them

55:22 - and their problems. Sounds familiar.

55:26 - Danielle will fight for.

55:27 - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and a woman's right to choose.

55:31 - She will work with Republicans and Democrats to lower cost

55:34 - and invest in small business and family farms.

55:37 - And sure, we have access to affordable housing and child care.

55:41 - She supports term limits, banning members of Congress from insider stock

55:46 - trading and prohibiting members of Congress from becoming lobbyists

55:50 - when they retire, exploiting their former relationships.

55:54 - If you are looking for someone who will listen to you,

55:56 - who will work for real solutions, who will fight for term limits,

56:01 - and who will sit down with anyone who has a good idea

56:03 - that have a make life better for all of us in central Pennsylvania,

56:07 - then Janelle is your only choice.

56:09 - Please come on up and say a few words. You.

56:31 - As well.

56:32 - Thank you so much.

56:33 - Thank you.

56:34 - I just.

56:46 - Well, thank you everybody for being here.

56:47 - Fantastic to see you all.

56:49 - The last time I addressed you, we were in new Jersey.

56:52 - I think it's, Atlantic City.

56:54 - Yeah, it was really great.

56:55 - But good to see you all today.

56:57 - I will say you learn a lot about a place when you spend decades

57:01 - telling its stories.

57:02 - I was a broadcast journalist for more than 30 years,

57:05 - and living here, I've had the honor of being invited into people's lives.

57:09 - I've seen a lot of joy.

57:10 - I've seen a lot of heartbreak, and I've seen a lot of resilience.

57:15 - After some of that heartbreak, I've also spent decades

57:18 - asking tough questions of politicians.

57:21 - My job was not to answer to a political party.

57:24 - It was not to defend the rich, the powerful.

57:27 - It was to shine a light on the truth and hold those

57:30 - on the other side of my microphone accountable

57:33 - on behalf of the community that relied on me to get answers.

57:37 - But over time, as some of the stories got worse,

57:40 - and I'm sure you could imagine what some of them were,

57:42 - just being a reporter and news anchor was not enough.

57:45 - And I thought, I'm going to run for Congress.

57:47 - That's that's why I'm running.

57:49 - And when I talk to people

57:50 - across the district, as I have done for more than 30 years,

57:54 - what I hear more than anything right now is why

57:57 - is everything so expensive?

58:00 - And why doesn't Washington listen to me and do something about it?

58:04 - The cost of living is crushing central Pennsylvanians like it is.

58:09 - Much of the rest of the country.

58:10 - And our Congressman Scott Perry, seven term

58:13 - incumbent former head of the Freedom Caucus, makes it worse.

58:18 - You feel it at the gas pump these days.

58:20 - You feel it at the grocery store.

58:21 - You feel it if you have a roof over your head and your utility costs

58:25 - the pharmacy.

58:27 - I hear it from small business owners in Harrisburg who know we went and visited

58:31 - a laundromat with the governor's office and learned, she said.

58:34 - She used to order everything.

58:35 - It used to come back and she a great community member.

58:37 - She does, family dinners

58:40 - on, every week for people who don't have enough food.

58:44 - So somebody who really gives really, a lot to the community,

58:48 - and she told us, now we have to buy the detergent over here

58:51 - and the bleach over here, and we don't get it picked.

58:53 - It doesn't get delivered anymore with to go and pick it up,

58:56 - because the costs are so exorbitant.

58:58 - And part of that is the tariff taxes, which we'll talk more about.

59:00 - We also visited a food pantry during the government shutdown and served breakfast.

59:05 - And the gentleman who was hosting us said, it's never this full

59:08 - until the end of the month when people run out of there Snap benefits.

59:12 - But they didn't have Snap benefits and there were a lot of hungry children,

59:15 - not a hungry old folks.

59:16 - The kind of struggle that you hope you never see.

59:19 - And I have to say,

59:20 - Republican Congressman Scott Perry supports the tariff policies that

59:24 - are driving up the prices on groceries, building materials, household goods.

59:30 - And these tariffs are taxes.

59:31 - The Chinese are not paying for them.

59:33 - We are paying for them.

59:34 - Your families are paying for them.

59:37 - Small businesses, you know, he voted to kick millions

59:39 - of Americans off their health care, all to pay for massive tax giveaways

59:44 - to corporations and billionaires at the expense of us, the middle class.

59:49 - It adds $4 trillion in new debt.

59:53 - We have enough debt already, $4 trillion

59:55 - in new debt, basically mortgaging our children's future, he said.

59:59 - 465 Lowering health care costs here at home by extending the ACA,

01:00 - 08.080 subsidies, would be a colossal mistake.

01:00 - 11.274 That's a quote, a colossal mistake to bring your health care prices down.

01:00 - 14.711 And some people are talking to me about health care, that if you have a job

01:00 - 17.056 that supplies it, fantastic.

01:00 - 20.392 But those who are hustling around for it are telling me that premiums are up

01:00 - 23.419 as much as 300% in some places.

01:00 - 27.690 So people are really having to struggle everywhere, you know that.

01:00 - 31.861 But he doesn't mind spending $200 billion on a war in Iran.

01:00 - 34.873 So I think he

01:00 - 38.001 consistently votes against us, not for us.

01:00 - 40.446 The spike prices at the gas pump.

01:00 - 44.316 You talk to any farmer who needs diesel or truckers who need diesel to get us

01:00 - 47.510 the goods we need, and people are really struggling with that as well.

01:00 - 49.521 Surviving from paycheck to paycheck.

01:00 - 52.224 That is not the American dream, as you all know,

01:00 - 54.693 because you've been working for a long time.

01:00 - 55.761 You know, we want to thrive.

01:00 - 58.788 You want to build something, you want to leave something for your children.

01:00 - 01.891 And and that's the promise of this country.

01:01 - 06.262 And let me remind you, Scott Perry is not your typical bad politician.

01:01 - 10.843 His record before this year was atrocious, especially on labor issues

01:01 - 12.177 that involve you.

01:01 - 16.615 He voted against the Proact to protect collective bargaining rights,

01:01 - 20.853 and he repeatedly voted to roll back Davis-bacon wage protections.

01:01 - 24.456 He's voted eight times against raising the minimum wage,

01:01 - 27.617 which is 725 here in Pennsylvania.

01:01 - 30.920 725 every state around us is nearly double.

01:01 - 35.191 West Virginia is a lot more, and it costs a lot less to live there.

01:01 - 38.671 Scott Perry claimed that legislation to make employers

01:01 - 43.566 provide breaks for their employees was not necessary, saying, quote,

01:01 - 47.970 we have been able to survive and thrive for hundreds of years without this,

01:01 - 51.808 and someone would have to convince me why they're needed.

01:01 - 55.954 He is attacking the very freedoms we fight for the freedom to raise

01:01 - 59.058 healthy children, the freedom to care for your aging parents,

01:01 - 03.028 and for you to retire with dignity here in central Pennsylvania.

01:02 - 05.798 I like to think we've really helped shape the American story.

01:02 - 07.533 From our places of worship

01:02 - 11.370 and our small businesses to our factories, the gorgeous family farms.

01:02 - 13.238 You see, we believe in hard work.

01:02 - 15.808 We believe in doing right by one another.

01:02 - 20.803 And I think we deserve leaders who conduct themselves in a similar fashion.

01:02 - 24.116 I'd like to thank you for all you do to fight for the needs

01:02 - 27.143 of our working men and women, our families in Congress.

01:02 - 30.656 I will stand with you shoulder to shoulder in fighting

01:02 - 33.683 for your needs and for the broader needs of working families.

01:02 - 39.088 I will fight for the right to organize and stop union busting practices.

01:02 - 44.227 Thank you.

01:02 - 49.065 Thank you.

01:02 - 51.777 I'm going to be supporting prevailing wages.

01:02 - 55.047 I'm going to be advocating to expand project labor agreements

01:02 - 56.081 on the federal level.

01:02 - 59.175 And I will reinforce good apprenticeship programs

01:02 - 03.312 as we train not only for current jobs, but for the jobs of the future as well.

01:03 - 05.090 So thank you for all you do.

01:03 - 08.193 And I will say, this seat does not belong to Scott Perry.

01:03 - 10.763 It does not belong to the insiders.

01:03 - 12.731 It belongs to us.

01:03 - 15.501 And you deserve more than just survival.

01:03 - 19.128 You deserve to thrive in your jobs, in your homes, your communities,

01:03 - 22.207 and you deserve to feel safe.

01:03 - 25.444 I'm going to listen to you and your needs and bring your voices

01:03 - 29.047 to the halls of Congress, and make sure that you're at the table

01:03 - 33.285 when there is any decision being made about you and your future.

01:03 - 36.746 And I would submit that starts with beating Scott Perry.

01:03 - 39.491 Last November, we came closer than ever.

01:03 - 43.829 We got second place across the country in terms of coming close

01:03 - 47.432 for a Democratic challenger to winning one of the closest races,

01:03 - 50.860 and I'm looking forward to taking on this fight with you.

01:03 - 54.540 I'm honored to have the support of the Teamsters, and I look forward

01:03 - 57.609 to standing with you and fighting for working rights.

01:03 - 58.633 Thank you.

01:04 - 13.193 Thank you.

01:04 - 14.760 Now. Fantastic.

01:04 - 17.729 Before you sit down,

01:04 - 19.765 Scott Perry doesn't do a thing for us.

01:04 - 22.601 You've heard that. You've heard this for the last ten years.

01:04 - 23.802 You guys are problem.

01:04 - 26.829 But at the end of the day, I'll take an endorsement.

01:04 - 29.541 A motion to endorse Janelle.

01:04 - 31.777 Motion second.

01:04 - 34.746 All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye.

01:04 - 36.448 Anybody against that or not?

01:04 - 38.717 Be an

01:04 - 40.919 expert on federal

01:04 - 41.654 graduations.

01:04 - 44.680 You have one great year.

01:04 - 49.895 So fantastic.

01:04 - 50.530 All right, that's good.

01:04 - 52.497 We'll be reaching out and let us know what you think.

01:04 - 54.099 Appreciate it. Thank you very much.

01:04 - 57.093 Okay.

01:05 - 49.345 Well, nice work today, trifecta.

01:05 - 53.191 A couple reminders.

01:05 - 55.360 There's a buffet lunch

01:05 - 58.096 at noon down the stairs here.

01:05 - 02.591 So the golf outing starts at one correct?

01:06 - 03.835 1:00.

01:06 - 07.029 So you still have time to eat and run over to the golf outing?

01:06 - 10.809 Tomorrow's start is a little later.

01:06 - 12.411 It's at 10 p.m.

01:06 - 15.414 10 a.m. 10 p.m..

01:06 - 17.349 You all be home in bed.

01:06 - 20.343 You'll be home in bed at 10 p.m

01:06 - 21.620 10 a.m..

01:06 - 24.489 We? We're usually in and out pretty quickly.

01:06 - 27.516 We've just got some housekeeping items to do and, some

01:06 - 31.863 some passages of some, motions that we need to do.

01:06 - 34.566 But, I think it's been a great conference.

01:06 - 39.271 We've had great speakers here and, the governor sends his best again today.

01:06 - 40.239 We talked to his office.

01:06 - 44.133 He was very happy that we could come through and endorse these candidates

01:06 - 46.678 that are really going to make Pennsylvania stronger.

01:06 - 49.905 And this is the kind of election year, a watershed year,

01:06 - 53.709 that can make a difference in these down primaries. And,

01:06 - 57.947 I'm very confident that the candidates we've endorsed are going to do well.

01:06 - 00.282 So that's another thing

01:07 - 02.495 they don't do well

01:07 - 05.521 unless we get our people out to vote.

01:07 - 07.833 When you leave here,

01:07 - 11.360 you can't just go back and say, we endorsed these three candidates.

01:07 - 13.939 We've got to get our members to understand,

01:07 - 16.141 get their names across their ears

01:07 - 19.602 and make sure they get off their asses and go to the polls.

01:07 - 22.481 That's the key to winning elections.

01:07 - 25.741 When you're a labor back candidate, we got to mobilize our people.

01:07 - 29.745 So it's important that each and every one of us, as leaders,

01:07 - 33.015 tell our members to get out and vote,

01:07 - 36.285 okay, we can do that.

01:07 - 40.122 I'll take a motion to motion to adjourn.

01:07 - 44.493 All in favor signify by saying I,

01:07 - 47.105 I will see you in the morning and,

01:07 - 50.132 enjoy lunch.

01:08 - 18.828 And. Be.