Tim Walz and JD Vance Got Very Different Welcomes from Union Firefighters
Both vice presidential nominees spoke at a major union convention this week.
By PJ Evans, More Perfect Union
Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz both spoke to a convention of union firefighters just 24 hours apart—and there was a stark difference in the reception each received from the members.
Both major party vice presidential nominees spoke in Boston this week during the International Association of Fire Fighters’ biennial convention, as they sought to lock down support from a union that represents hundreds of thousands of members in the U.S. and Canada.
The tough crowd started on Vance almost as soon as he was introduced by Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Republican congressman from Miami and himself a retired firefighter. “Semper fi, guys,” Vance said to scattered boos. “Sounds like we’ve got some fans and some haters. That’s okay.”
The largest reaction against Vance, however, came when he claimed that he and former President Donald Trump are “the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history,” which was met with a chorus of boos from union members.
Though Vance has won praise from some union leaders including Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, who spoke at the Republican National Convention, many unions have largely swung their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, the governor of Minnesota and a former teachers’ union member.
After sitting out the 2016 general election, The IAFF was the first union to back President Joe Biden’s candidacy back in 2019. Though the IAFF hasn’t issued a new endorsement since Biden dropped his re-election campaign and Harris became the new nominee, union leadership has previously clashed with Trump over the former president blaming California wildfires on “poor” forest management and threatening to withhold federal aid for fire mitigation.
In his speech, Vance said that “for decades, unions have given support to Democrat candidates without giving Republicans much consideration.”
“I’m not here to judge you or to blame you or to criticize you,” Vance said. “I am here to tell you that it’s a different world now.”
While Vance has publicly supported organized labor—going so far as to join striking auto workers on a picket line last year—his record in Congress tells a different story. For one, he and Trump both oppose the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—landmark legislation that would give real teeth to labor law and protect workers’ right to organize, strike, and secure good contracts.
Vance also co-sponsored the Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act, a bill that the AFL-CIO—who gave Vance a 0% score on labor—criticized as one that "would let employers run their own sham unions to undermine workers’ bargaining power."
And just four months ago, Vance voted for a Republican proposal in the Senate to nullify the NLRB’s joint-employer rule, which would have strengthened workers' bargaining power at companies such as Amazon, which frequently use third-party contractors, by requiring both the primary company and the contractors to engage in labor negotiations.
Vance did receive a warm reception from union members as he recounted multiple memories from his childhood of firefighters and other emergency responders helping his mother, who struggled with addiction. “You make a difference every single day,” Vance said. As he left the stage, Vance was met with a mix of applause and more booing.
‘We have to play in politics’
Just one day prior, Walz had been received warmly by firefighters as he spoke about being a card-carrying member of the teachers union, and laid out Harris’s vision for workers.
"We believe that workers deserve to collectively bargain for fair wages, safe working conditions, good health care, and secure retirement," Walz declared.
Walz highlighted his pro-union track record, which includes signing bills to ban captive audience meetings, outlaw non-compete agreements, and make it easier to form unions while strengthening worker protections. "When unions are strong, America is strong,” he said.
As governor of Minnesota, Walz also signed the most comprehensive firefighter well-being legislation in the nation, providing firefighters with access to “emotional trauma resources, up to $20,000 from critical illness insurance policies, and ongoing health and wellness training, including evidence-based suicide prevention strategies.”
Trump’s first term saw him nominate a union-busting lawyer to run the Department of Labor, after initially nominating a fast food CEO whose company was investigated for wage and safety violations hundreds of times. His administration defended anti-union “right to work” laws, proposed a rule that would have allowed restaurant owners to pocket employees’ tips, and denied overtime pay to millions of workers.
Walz also pointed out that Trump blocked overtime benefits for millions of workers, opposed efforts to raise the minimum wage, and proposed cutting budgets for federal fire service programs. “Words are cheap, actions are all you should care about,” Walz said. “Make sure you’re counting on what was delivered.”
The Minnesota governor also struck a personal note by referencing former Minnesota firefighter and union leader Chris Parsons, who passed away unexpectedly in 2023 at the age of 48. Walz described Parsons as a “dear friend.”
“We see your noble courage,” Walz told firefighters. “We’re committed to building a future that you and your families deserve.”
The IAFF has not said whether it’ll make an endorsement at all this year. "We have to play in politics,” IAFF president Edward Kelly told the convention Wednesday, shortly before he introduced Walz. “We have to play hard, and we have to play smart. Our members that elected us deserve nothing less.”
“Politics is how we identify our friends, and it’s also how we spot our enemies,” Kelly said. He then added that Minnesota’s state firefighters’ association has endorsed Walz “every single time he’s run for elected office — and with good reason.”