SCRANTON — Ahead of former president Donald Trump’s visit to Northeast Pennsylvania on Saturday, labor leaders and elected officials held a news conference in Scranton to slam Trump for “failing them as President, including killing over 275,000 jobs in Pennsylvania and shipping thousands of other jobs overseas, undermining workers and unions, and giving billionaires handouts at the expense of working families.”
The speakers underscored how Trump’s “extreme, anti-worker Project 2025 agenda” would be even worse for union workers and middle-class families across Pennsylvania.
The Democrats said while Vice President Kamala Harris “will continue fighting to lower costs and create good-paying jobs across Pennsylvania, Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda will jack up prices, help big corporations rip off workers, and weaken the middle class.”
The local leaders and workers made clear: “Northeast Pennsylvanians know Trump’s failed economic policies because they lived them — and they are not going back.”
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti said, “When Trump was here [in Pennsylvania], he killed over 275,000 Pennsylvania jobs. He shipped jobs overseas. He presided over factory closings. He was the most anti-labor President in recent memory — instead of giving working families a leg up, he handed out massive tax cuts to the rich and stuck the rest of us with the bill. We’re going to elect Vice President Harris because we know she’s looking out for us. She’s talking about her economic plan that centers on lowering costs for folks here in Scranton and all across Pennsylvania. We are just 81 days out from Election Day, and here in Scranton, we are fired up for Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz.”
Luzerne County Democratic Chair Thom Shubilla added: “[Donald Trump] told us factories, steel plants would be reopened and thrive under his watch. They did not. Under Trump, we lost more than 275,000 jobs in Pennsylvania alone. We didn’t see new factories open. In fact, they closed. He destroyed over 2,500 U.S. iron and steel mill jobs, while Vice President Harris helped create 2,500 of those jobs. Under Trump, Pennsylvania lost over 23,000 manufacturing jobs, [and he] shipped jobs overseas. When Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz win, they’re going to continue to fight to deliver jobs for unions and working families here in Pennsylvania and across the country, because they believe in a country where everyone has the opportunity not to just get by, but to get ahead again.”
Carpenters and Joiners Local 445 Regional Manager Drew Simpson added: “There is no getting around that Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about protecting the rights of workers, and he has not done a damn thing to deserve our trust. Project 2025 is roughly a 900-page document, and on page 167, it talks about decertifying labor unions. On page 591, it talks about making it easier to misclassify workers as independent contractors. Project 2025 isn’t just a wish list, it’s a checklist that will be used if Donald Trump gets back into office. This November, we’re going to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz — the only people who have our backs. They are going to protect our rights as workers and strengthen Pennsylvania unions.”