Opinion: Nevada’s workers won’t be fooled by Trump’s empty promises

During his four years as president, Donald Trump did little to support America’s workers. As he now faces the possibility of losing his candidacy for president for the second time, this time to Kamala Harris, he’s suddenly making sweeping promises that sound great for thousands of Las Vegas Strip workers who rely on tips for a living.

During a speech in Las Vegas, where roughly 25% of the residents work in the hospitality and tourism industry, Trump suddenly promised to eliminate federal taxes on tips.  As his support among workers wanes, Trump also proposed eliminating income taxes on overtime pay.

My advice to Nevadans would be this: Be skeptical of Donald Trump’s last-minute Hail Mary. He’s betrayed us before, and he will again. 

Remember 2017 when Trump visited Youngstown, Ohio after several factories had shut down? He reassured workers, saying of those lost jobs, “They’re all coming back. Don’t move. Don’t sell your house.”  Those jobs never returned, and Trump did next to nothing to bring them back, leaving many Ohioans feeling betrayed.

In 2016, when Trump first ran, he called for raising the minimum wage. But in his time in office, he didn’t lift a finger to raise the federal minimum wage, which remains painfully low at $7.25 per hour. Once again, many low-wage workers were left disappointed.

Trump also promised to help coal miners. Instead, his administration rolled back safety protections for America’s coal miners, and during his tenure, coal mining jobs actually fell by a whopping 25%.

Trump vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act  and replace it with something better. He failed. Even nine years after first floating this idea, Trump still has no plan.  When pressed during a debate with Kamala Harris, his fumbling response was that he only had “concepts of a plan.”

And the list goes on: He promised a massive infrastructure plan that never materialized. He promised to bring down prescription drug prices — he didn’t. He pledged that Mexico would pay for his border wall — it didn’t. He promised to eliminate the federal budget deficit. He didn’t — it rose by over 60% during his presidency. By now we should all realize that when Donald Trump promises something, it’s important to take it with a grain of salt.

When Trump first sought office, he promised to be a friend of the working class, yet as president, he did the opposite. His administration made it harder for millions of workers to qualify for overtime pay. On tips, he pushed a proposal making it easier for bosses to divert — some might say steal —  their workers’ tips, until Democrats in Congress blocked him.  Trump enacted a law that gave huge tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy and corporations but gave peanuts to working families. Trump scrapped protections that sought to make sure that Wall Street firms don’t rip off workers when handling their retirement savings. And his appointees consistently undermine labor unions, which have played a vital role in improving wages and working conditions for millions of Americans.  

When campaigning for office, Trump talks about helping workers. But as we saw when he was President, he doesn’t walk the walk to truly help America’s workers. Workers, let’s not be fooled by empty promises.

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Frank Alejandre, Community Editor

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