IBEW International President Kenneth W. Cooper issued the following statement regarding President Joe Biden’s departure from the 2024 presidential race:
“The IBEW endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 because he promised to be the most pro-union president in history.
“He promised to invest in our infrastructure and create good, union jobs as we rebuilt an American economy for the 21st century. And he promised to save our multiemployer pension system.
“After less than four years in office, he has kept every single one of those promises.
“I’ve seen presidents come and go in my time. But Joe Biden is the first president who made sure workers were included in any piece of legislation that affected their jobs.
“Vice President Harris has been a pivotal figure in our nation’s leadership, exemplifying dedication and resilience in her role. Her decisive vote in the passage of pro-labor legislation demonstrates her unwavering commitment to the welfare of American workers.”
“Together, President Biden and Vice President Harris have grown an economy that roared back from a global pandemic, creating more than 15 million jobs in the process.
“As he departs the race, the 838,000 members of the IBEW thank him for his leadership and hard work on behalf of working people and union members in every corner of this country.
“Joe Biden cares about working people because he is one of us. His decades in Washington never turned him into the kind of politician who forgot about where he came from, and it showed in every decision he made as president.
“That includes his decision today to step aside. In what I know has been one of the hardest decisions of his life, he chose to put his country and the preservation of our democracy ahead of his own self-interest.
“The working men and women of the United States owe President Joe Biden a great debt of gratitude, and on behalf of the entire membership of the IBEW, I want to thank him for his friendship, his leadership, and his decisive action on our behalf.”
