Event in partnership with the Storm Lake Times to feature Biden, Buttigieg, Harris, Klobuchar and Sanders ahead of Iowa caucus

A Democratic presidential forum that will focus on workers’ rights is being organized by the Teamsters union in partnership with the Guardian and the Storm Lake Times in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The event on Saturday 7 December, two months before the critical Iowa caucus, will feature candidates Joe Biden, Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders. All the Presidential candidates who agreed to sign the union’s three-point pledge and participated in an on-camera interview were invited to attend the forum.

Workers’ rights are a key election platform for the Democratic candidates as they look to appeal to working and middle-class voters who have seen labour rights eroded, minimal wage increases and the rise of an increasingly precarious working environment. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that CEO compensation in the US has grown 940% since 1978. But typical worker compensation has risen only 12% during that time.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters general president, James P Hoffa, said: “Our members are fully engaged and ready to make a difference in the 2020 election. This forum is a prime opportunity for candidates to tell Teamsters directly why they are the leader who will effectively push for retirement security, stand up for union rights, and go toe-to toe with world leaders on advocating for fair trade policies.” “

Hoffa said that pension protection is the Teamsters’ top issue right now.

“This affects so many people – millions of people – and we don’t have forever on this,” Hoffa told the Guardian. “To these candidates, I say, we want a bill that saves our funds and does not affect healthy funds. The Republicans are bucking us.”

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Multi-employer pension funds are on the brink of collapse as companies dissolve or move overseas. Hoffa noted that a bill protecting the funds from collapse passed the Democrat-controlled House but is languishing in the Senate. Hoffa said the issue affects as many as 10 million retirees.

The longtime union leader said collective bargaining rights is the Teamsters’ other leading issue. In Iowa, public employee bargaining rights were gutted in the Republican-controlled statehouse – bargaining over health insurance has been made illegal, and unions may now only bargain on one issue: pay.

The Guardian US editor, John Mulholland, said: “America faces a momentous political choice, against a backdrop of escalating inequality and the ongoing erosion of workers’ rights. The fact that CEO compensation has risen by 940% over the last 40 years while workers’ pay has risen by 12% in the same period is an outrage. Workers are getting a terrible deal and this type of capitalism simply isn’t working for millions of workers.

“We are pleased to partner with the Teamsters union to host an event where their voices will be heard and to partner with the Teamsters union to host a special town-hall.”

The event, which takes place at 2pm on Saturday 7 December in Veteran’s Auditorium, Cedar Rapids, will be hosted by James Hoffa, general president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The candidates will appear onstage individually, answering questions from union members and the moderators. The event will be live-streamed at www.theguardian.com. Moderators are Art Cullen, Pulitzer prize-winning editor of the Storm Lake Times who is an opinion contributor to the Guardian, and Leslie Marshall of the Leslie Marshall Show.