Nevada DNC delegate: Harris and Walz will fight for organized labor

Unions have grown under the Biden-Harris administration, and a Harris-Walz ticket could further those gains, union worker Matt Kimball told The Nevadan. 

Las Vegas resident Matt Kimball has worked a lot of jobs since first moving to Southern Nevada more than a decade and a half ago. 

Originally from a Maryland town outside Washington D.C., Kimball enrolled at UNLV in 2008 and successfully pursued a bachelor’s degree in political science. But instead of finding a politician or advocacy group to work for, Kimball found himself gravitating toward the types of odd jobs that helped make Las Vegas the entertainment capital of the world. 

Throughout grade school, Kimball had been fascinated by the world of stagecraft and audio-visual technicals; he was involved with several drama club productions while in high school, and those skills translated nicely while working on student-produced television programs at UNLV, Kimball said. 

After a brief stint bartending following his college graduation, Kimball started landing gigs as an Audio/Video technician for companies that produce the seemingly endless torrent of shows and conventions hosted in and around the Las Vegas Strip — a job he still holds today, as a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 720. 

“For a lot of the entertainment that goes on in Las Vegas, this is the union that will provide that labor,” Kimball told The Nevadan during a recent interview. 

But Kimball this week will also have the added responsibility of representing Nevada Democrats as a delegate at this week’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. Kimball for years has also been a state party advocate — during his college years, he volunteered for former President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign as well as longtime Nevada US Sen. Harry Reid’s final re-election bid — and this week will mark his second time attending the DNC. 

Kimball, along with Nevada’s other 48 delegates, will formally pledge their support for Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday — capping weeks of her campaign’s meteoric rise following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek a second term. 

“In 2016, I was really supportive of Hillary Clinton and her campaign, and ended up working on the caucus convention process and was named as an alternate,” Kimball said. “I went to Philadelphia to witness that and help nominate the first woman to carry the nomination for a major party, and I’m very excited that I’ll be in Chicago to nominate the first Asian American to be nominated at the top of the ticket for a major party.” 

Kimball told The Nevadan what excites him the most about Harris is the continuation of pro-union policies. Recent legislation passed under the Biden-Harris administration, like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, contain provisions that require the government to contract with organized labor for construction projects like roads and bridges, and many of the largest labor unions have already endorsed Harris over Republican Donald Trump. 

Union membership is also up, according to the US Department of Labor. The agency estimated roughly 400,000 more union members in 2023 than in 2022, with public support nationally for unions at its highest level since the 1960s. Harris’ decision to pick Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — a former union member — as her running mate, suggests the vice president appears ready to continue the progress made under Biden’s first four years, Kimball said. 

Unions are also largely lining up behind the Harris-Walz ticket. Leaders from seven different labor groups spoke at the DNC Monday, representing workers ranging from service employees and communications workers to skilled trade industries. 

“So for us in the labor movement, it’s real simple,” said United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain, who last week led the UAW to file federal labor charges against Trump and billionaire Elon Musk following a broadcasted conversation the two had in which they talked about firing striking workers. 

“Kamala Harris is one of us, she’s a fighter for the working class. And Donald Trump is a scab,” Fain said on Monday night

Locally, Kimball said, the Biden-Harris administration was instrumental in helping bring to life the proposed Brightline West high-speed rail project that will seek to link Las Vegas to Southern California ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The administration also provided relief dollars that were critical in helping Nevada’s tourism industry rebound after the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kimball said.

Trump might position himself as an ally of blue-collar America, but his labor policies especially during the pandemic kept Kimball at home without many ways to provide for himself, he said. 

“I was out of work for roughly 540 days because of that, and the Trump administration did everything in their power to make it more difficult for me to access services that would allow me to stay in my home and put food on the table,” Kimball said. “There were times where I didn’t know if I would be able to stay in the city or if I had to move back home with my parents, because there was no work and no money coming in.”

Matt Kimball (Photo: Courtesy)

“Contrast this to Biden, who signed the American Rescue Plan, which continued the stimulus checks, rental assistance, and were crucial in helping me stay in Las Vegas,” Kimball continued. “We’ve seen some incredible investments in our infrastructure because of the Biden-Harris team.” 

If elected, Harris could possibly be in position to sign into law the PRO Act, Kimball said, which would expand workers’ rights to collectively bargain, which Kimball added would be a boon for the organized labor movement. Compared to Trump, who crossed a picket line in 2004 while hosting the reality TV show “The Apprentice,” the choice in this year’s election is a no-brainer, Kimball said. 

“As a union member, it’s important that we have candidates who support our values,” Kimball said. “Donald Trump crossed my union’s picket line in ‘04, and that’s something I can never forgive him for and never will.”