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President Donald Trump hosts a Law Enforcement event from the Oval Office at the White House.

Walz calls for Democratic party to reconnect with working class during area union visit


{p}Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited the Martins Ferry Union Hall with an open discussion with labor/union parties on Monday.{/p}

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited the Martins Ferry Union Hall with an open discussion with labor/union parties on Monday.

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visited the Martins Ferry Union Hall with an open discussion with labor/union parties on Monday.

The United Steel Workers of America Local 1238 gave the governor a standing ovation to open the visit.

"I think trying to understand across the country that the Democratic party, I think it's pretty obvious and the data shows it, that the working-class people simply have lost some of the trust that for generations we've had with them,” Walz said. “Folks that were with good union jobs, public schools, protecting things like Social Security, and I think we've gotten into this point where the presidential campaigns focus on seven states, and we forget about areas. I think it's really important to come here, a historical union area."

Walz spoke about reuniting the Democratic party with the workers, veterans, and the education workforce.

"We have to deliver on policies that improve their lives,” Walz said. “Look, if you ask a working-class person of my age, you clearly knew if someone was a Democrat. They were standing with unions and working people.

“You thought Republicans were with richer people. There's nothing wrong with that, but we have to get back to (where) we're delivering policies like good public school, good health care, protecting these programs. Then they'll come back."

Dissatisfaction with the current administration was shared by participants. Staff Representative John Saunders of The United Steel Workers District 1 said the tariffs came too late for local impacts.

"That's the part that really disappoints me. You lost 1,000 jobs in this region after we shut down coal mines, steel mills, and aluminum, then we lost that. Now tariffs are coming in and we're all supposed to be happy like some fairy tale, we all live happily ever after,” Saunders said. “That's not true. When you lose your job, I call that an industrial death sentence."

Walz and Saunders both shared a message of hope, but they say it comes with accountability.

"There's always hope,” Saunders said. “America has to have hope. The stock market's struggling, health care's struggling, all those things. There has to be hope. Hope means being able to hold people accountable for their actions. Just like people have to hold union officials accountable for their actions, elected officials have to be held accountable at every level."

This was just one stop for Walz as he looks to reunite the democratic party.

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