A good friend of mine once told me, “there’s no such thing as a bad short speech” so I will try my best. My name is Andrew Rivas. I have been a delivery driver at UPS for 11 years. I am a proud second generation member of Teamsters Local 533 here in Reno, and the Executive Vice President of the National Teamsters LGBTQ+ Caucus which I am a proud to say just endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket for 2024 because we believe in fighting for Solidarity, Equality, and Respect.

 

During my years as a Teamster and Union activist, one thing has been clear to me: unions build strong communities. Union workers are building roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals, delivering goods across the nation to grocery stores and your front door. Unions build strong local economies and a stronger American economy.

 

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz know that middle class workers like us are the backbone of our society and they respect the right of workers to organize.

 

Throughout her life, Vice President Harris has fought in the court room and the legislature for workers’ rights. Governor Walz was a union member himself. Their administration would prioritize expanding the middle class – creating more job opportunities and make good paying jobs more accessible for everyone like their vision for a New Way Forward.

 

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will eliminate the barriers for workers who don’t have a degree from holding federal jobs that will succeed in and support their family with a livable wage.

 

I know how transformational this will be –

 

I attended community college but had to enter the workforce without a degree after the housing collapse of 2008. Without a Union job I would be in the daily routine my friends have, working 2 or 3 part time jobs with no overtime, no benefits, no plan for the future – just trying to stay afloat.

 

Vice President Harris helped pass the largest infrastructure package in our lifetime creating more opportunities for the building trades and investing $750 million into our apprenticeship programs at a time when every 5 retiring master craftsmen are replaced by just 1 apprentice.

 

 

On the other hand, Donald Trump and the MAGA movement believe our economy works best if it works for those who own the big skyscrapers. Not the workers who build them. Not the people who work in them.

 

Whether its his tax plan that disproportionately gave more tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations or his new agenda that would raise taxes for middle class Nevada families by nearly $4,000 extra a year, it’s clear he wants middle class Nevadans who were left behind – to make up the difference.

 

Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda also threatens not just my rights as an LGBTQ+ American, but the rights of millions of others. Including our right to have a family, to have a home or even a job.

 

As a Nevadan. As a Union Member. As a proud gay man, I choose safer communities, a stronger middle class and a stronger Nevada. I choose Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. I choose Equality. I choose Opportunity.

 

I choose Joy.

 

When I cast my ballot I choose to step forward with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because we are not going back.

 

I could not be more proud to welcome back to Northern Nevada former teacher, veteran, union member, ally and the future Vice President of the United States,

Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Tim Walz.