Vice President Joe Biden rallied hundreds of union workers on Monday, saying he believes all American workers deserve a "fair share" as corporations grow.
Speaking at the annual Labor Day parade in Detroit, Biden lamented average Americans' limited access to fair wages.
"A job's about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity, it's about your place in the community, it's about who you are. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be OK.' That's what a job is about," Biden said. "You can't do that unless you get a fair wage."
The speech was Biden's second appearance at Labor Day festivities in Detroit in the last three years. During his impassioned address, Biden credited labor unions for building the middle class, and thus "building the United States as we know it."
"If the middle class is doing fine, everybody does fine," he said. "The wealthy get very wealthy, and the poor have a way up."
Watch the full speech above.
Biden said members of the middle class are not defined by their wages, but by a set of values.
"Middle class ... means you get to own your home. It means you get to send your kid to a decent school, that if they do well and they want to go to college, you can afford to send them to college. It means being able to take care of your parents if they get sick. it means maybe being able to save enough so you hope your kids never have to take care of you."
The vice president responded to "pollsters" who he said claim the middle class no longer cares about owning a home or sending their kids to college.
"The American people have not stopped dreaming. The American people have not walked away from what they believe they are entitled to. Just give them a chance -- no handout, just give them a chance," Biden said. "Once you give Americans a chance, they have never, never, never, never ever let their country down."
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