'The Trade Union Movement Made It Happen': Bernie Sanders Celebrates Reforms Won By Trade Unions

During a May Day rally speech on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) promoted trade unions and called for expanded healthcare for all.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Philadelphia!

00:06Let me thank all of you for coming out this afternoon.

00:17Let me thank Danny Bowder and the Philadelphia AFL-CIO.

00:23And let me thank all those who have spoken and will be speaking in a few moments.

00:33Brothers and sisters, what we are celebrating today, in May Day, is in a sense a sacred holiday.

00:46And all over our country, workers are coming out demanding justice.

00:53And all over the world, in dozens of countries, workers are standing up to oligarchy

01:01and demanding a world in which all people have a decent standard of living.

01:13Today, we remember the struggles and the sacrifices of workers for hundreds of years

01:24who have stood up to powerful, special interests to create a better world.

01:30And today, today we thank our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement for continuing that struggle.

01:39May Day, as you know, was established way back in 1886.

01:53And workers then stood up to their very powerful forces and said,

01:59You know what? We don't want to be slaves.

02:01We don't want to work 60, 70 hours a week.

02:05We want an eight-hour day.

02:08And throughout our history, workers stood up and they said,

02:18You know what? Children should not be working in factories or in the fields.

02:24They should be in good schools.

02:30And throughout the years, workers said,

02:32We don't want our brothers and sisters dying in factories.

02:37We want safe working conditions.

02:44And workers in the trade union said that when people work more than 40 hours a week,

02:51as so many millions in our country do, they deserve and must have time and a half.

02:58And as a result of the struggles of the trade union movement, we have come a long way, not quite far enough,

03:09to end discrimination so that all people have an opportunity for a decent job,

03:15no matter what the color of their skin, where they were born, or their sexual orientation.

03:22And when we think about history, I want you all to remember the fact that we have a social security system today,

03:37which guarantees benefits to our older people and disabled, did not happen by accident.

03:45The trade union movement made it happen.

03:48And the fact that senior citizens today, through Medicare, can get the health care they need, did not happen by accident.

04:02Trade union workers made it happen.

04:05And today, the fact that millions of lower income people and elderly people in nursing homes

04:17get supported by Medicaid, did not happen by accident.

04:21The trade union movement made it happen.

04:24So my point is, is that because of the trade union movement, this country has come a long way over the last 150 years.

04:39But let me tell you something that you're not going to see in corporate media,

04:46and something that you're not going to hear much about on the halls of Congress.

04:51And that is that while we have accomplished much, we still have an enormously important road forward,

05:01if we're going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just a few.