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Ed Schultz Calls Teamsters To Action

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Ed Schultz, host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, addressed the 2,000 Teamsters at the Unity Conference Monday morning.

Teamsters were eagerly awaiting Schultz’s address, and he delivered.

“Ed Schultz—he’s a big man with a big heart,” Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said. “He’s made a $20,000 contribution to kids in the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund. I watch him every night at 8 p.m. He’s a friend of labor; he believes in what we’re doing, and it’s my honor to introduce him.”

On stage, Schultz told the story of an 87-year-old World War II veteran he recently met. He called this man’s generation “the unselfish generation” that fought for a better life for the generations to come. Schultz called on the Teamster audience to continue the fight for a better life for working people.

“We’re on the offensive in 2012. We need to tell the truth to our neighbors about the war on workers. Mitt Romney and his crowd have no plan for you or for organized labor. They have nothing on the table for you and your future.

“In Ohio and Wisconsin, there are politicians who want to take away your voice in the workplace. This is their vision for America. They want me to have another tax break. I don’t want any more money. I want my nine grandkids to have a future and to set the table for them.

“ You can live the Romney plan and you’ll see in front of your eyes what you get—not only cuts to veterans, but cuts to Medicare, cuts to public education and cuts to workers.

“They really do love cheap labor. That’s what they want. I know that workers in this country have the resilience, the reason, the heart and the desire to do what has to be done. They can’t take your heart and your passion and I’m not going to let them change the facts. The facts are—we can turn this country around. The same way this country was built by labor, it can be rebuilt by labor.

I’m with you.”