LOS ANGELES – As the countdown comes to a close, Tim Maddox is trying not to let his nerves get the best of him as he rehearses his question over and over.

“Hello Sen. Harris, my name is Tim Maddox. I’ve worked at LAX for 25 years,” said Maddox, a 25-year Los Angeles International Airport employee.

An airport wheelchair attendant, he was been selected  by his union, Service Employees International Union, to ask presidential candidate Kamala Harris a question about climate change and the Green New Deal at the “Unions for All Summit” in Downtown Los Angeles.

“It’s an opportunity for us to turn these jobs into green jobs and union jobs,” Maddox said.

The summit comes just two days after Maddox and about 1,500 of his fellow LAX co-workers marched down Century Boulevard to protest what they say is a threat to their livelihood, after Southwest and American Airlines started hiring non-union contractors last year.  

“We’re ready to show, send a message to the airlines that we will not accept them taking our jobs non-union,” Maddox said.

The summit is a chance for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to prove they are not taking unions for granted.

Labor union endorsements brings in an infusion of money and resources. In 2016 the labor sector donated $217 million into races nationwide.

For Maddox it’s a chance to meet the candidates and ask a question in front of more than 1,000 of his fellow union members

Maddox said he is still undecided, although he is leaning towards Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who cancelled his appearance after undergoing heart surgery.

“I think that he has shaped the debate,” Maddox said. “People are just catching up to what he was talking about years ago.

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