‘We are in the fight of our lifetimes,’ Bernie Sanders tells union partisans at Philly rally
The independent senator from Vermont criticized the concentration of wealth in America.
Bernie Sanders, center, takes the stage with Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, and Sean O'Brien, the national president of the Teamsters.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Decrying the power of the “oligarchy that runs this country,” 80-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders told thousands attending a pro-labor rally on Independence Mall that “we are in the fight of our lifetimes.”
To applause from the friendly audience, in a campaign-style speech Sanders attacked the concentration of wealth in the nation, the spiraling pay of chief executives, the crushing weight of college debt, and the lack of universal health care.
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“Brothers and sisters,” said Sanders. “We are in the fight of our lifetimes. We are fighting incredible wealth and incredible power. We’re going to create an economy that works for us, and not just the 1%.”
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, told the crowd, gathered between Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center, that the country was saddled with the largest inequities in income and wealth in 100 years.
“You are not just a cog in a machine. You’re a human being with some rights,” Sanders said. “If we are going to save the middle class in this country, we are going to have to grow the union movement.”
The U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, center, takes the stage at a rally of support for workers with Sara Nelson, left,head of the Association of Flight Attendants, and Sean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, speaks at a rally in support for workers with Independence Hall in the background on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
A group trying to save the University City Townhouses appeals to Bernie Sanders, the U.S. Senator from Vermont, during a rally in support for workers on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
A member of the crowd raises a fist in agreement with one of the speakers at a labor rally on Independence Mall on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
David Zimmer, left, and Walter Hackett of Teamster Local 676 in New Jersey raise up their signs as Sean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks at the rally on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, speaks at a rally in support for workers on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, center, takes the stage at a rally in support for workers with Sara Nelson, left ,head of the Association of Flight Attendants, and Sean O'Brien, President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The U.S. Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, right, raises a fist at the end of a rally in support for workers with Sara Nelson, left, head of the Association of Flight Attendantson Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Sara Nelson, back towards the camera, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, talks with a group following a labor rally on Independence Mall on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
Sara Nelson, right, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, speaks to a group after the rally for labor on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
A group of approximately 25 abortion right supporters march down E. Market St. following a labor rally on Independence Mall on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
A group of approximately 25 abortion right supporters march down E. Market St. following a labor rally on Independence Mall on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The Teamster tractor-trailer sits parked along Market Street during a rally for labor on Aug. 20, 2022.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer
The Vermont senator wore a baseball cap of the area’s Teamsters Local 107 for shade during the hot afternoon.
He was joined at the rally by two stars among labor leaders — Sean O’Brien, the insurgent who became the national president of the Teamsters in March, and Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Nelson urged the audience to support a unionization drive at Delta, the only major airline to have a nonunion workforce of flight attendants.
The trio are to appear at a similar rally in Boston on Sunday, and previously held one in Chicago, in June.
Their tour comes as the long-besieged labor movement has notched some wins of late.
In Philadelphia, workers at four Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize this year, part of a boomlet that has seen baristas at about 200 of the chain’s 9,000 stores vote in favor of unionization since December. Union activists have also been buoyed by a successful union drive at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island.
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