This Labor Day, Let’s Double-down to Help Veterans Find Good Paying Union Jobs

During this COVID induced recession, increasing numbers of veterans have lost their jobs. This has stressed thousands of families, increased mental illness, suicides, and homelessness. Veterans stepped-up to serve our country and they deserve the steady, well-paid jobs that union contracts provide.

When workers join a union, they become stronger together than they are on their own. Through collective bargaining, they can fight for fair workplaces, pay, and benefits. As proud veterans of the United States Air Force and Navy, and union members of the Air Lines Pilots Assoc., Int’l, we’ve witnessed firsthand the collective power of unit cohesion and mission success.

Veterans and labor unions share a symbiotic relationship that vaults teamwork into solidarity, which provides for better lives. When working people come together, the sky is the limit; unions enable workers to negotiate for higher pay, better hours, more affordable health care—and control over their own destinies.

America’s economy has been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately affected working families. During this time, it is more important than ever for our veterans to continue to form alliances with the American Labor Movement.

With our economy under stress, now is the time to double-down and help more veterans find good paying union jobs. Veterans are unique because they bring leadership, management, and discipline learned from their military experiences. Many veterans have successfully taken their military skills and applied them to good paying jobs in medicine, logistics, transportation, and other fields.

Labor unions help workers gain better pay and benefits, which helps to protect their families during economic downturns. Important union veteran programs including: Helmets to Hardhats (Construction), SMART Heroes (Sheet Metal), Veterans in Piping (United Association), Veterans Electrical Entry Program (IBEW), United States Postal Service, Painters and Allied Trades all have veteran entry programs.

This recovery is going to be a long road, and it is going to take leadership. That’s why we weren’t surprised that such a large number of labor leaders and unions endorse Joe Biden. Biden understands the working class, he understands the destruction that job loss can have on a family, and he understands what veterans need as they transition from military service to the work force. Joe Biden’s economic plan puts American workers and their families first.

Joe Biden has been a close friend of workers and labor unions throughout his life. He has walked the walk with Labor and stepped-up to support the rights of working men and women to organize, gain decent wages and benefits, and helped get state and local laws increasing the minimum wage. Biden/ Harris support increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 and many other worker protections, including workplace safety and health.

This Labor Day kicks off the final stretch of the Presidential campaign. Only one team has stepped-up to make unions, veterans, and their communities a priority, and can be counted on to fight for our best interests. We urge our fellow veterans, workers, and Americans to join us in supporting the Biden/Harris team to strengthen unions, repair the middle class, and move all of America forward during these challenging times.

Michael G. Donatelli, Former Pilots’ Union Chairman and US Air Force fighter pilot Donald C. Stanton, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and US Navy patrol pilot