Clinton at IBEW in Detroit

Hillary Clinton elected to appear in Detroit, as part of the AFL-CIO's endorsement decision-making process. She is the latest in a series of candidate appearances at local union halls. The AFL-CIO blog has the report from the event.

When I was asked where I wanted to go, I said one place: Detroit.

One reason Clinton chose Detroit is to highlight the nation’s need for a strong manufacturing sector. As Clinton put it:

If we don’t have a strong manufacturing sector, it won’t be long before we don’t have a strong economy.

She specifically called for the rejection of the Korea-US (KORUS) trade deal.

Clinton also heard from several workers who spoke about their personal experiences with the outsourcing of good American jobs, the difficulties workers face today when trying to form a union and this country’s health care crisis.

Janine Berry and her co-workers told Clinton about their experiences in seeking to form a union to bargain for a better life with AFT, a teachers union. After a long and difficult struggle to form a union, Berry and her co-workers won recognition. However, they remain without a union contract because the company continues to use intimidation and stall tactics to avoid an agreement.

Clinton pledged to sign the Employee Free Choice Act if she became president, legislation that will defend workers’ freedom to join and form unions and require arbitration if workers and a company can’t come to a first contract.

“When I’m president, we will have an Employee Free Choice Act, and I will sign it and I will work for it,” promised Clinton.