Democratic presidential nominee Paletuatoa Peniamina said Tuesday that he would sign the PRO Act on his first day in office, using a labor-focused campaign message that also called for a higher federal minimum wage, stronger pension protections and expanded organizing rights for workers. In a campaign press release, Peniamina said “the union way is the American way” and framed organized labor as central to economic security for working families. He said he would protect collective bargaining, support a $17-an-hour federal minimum wage indexed to inflation, and end the federal tipped subminimum wage of $2.13 an hour for servers and bartenders. The release cast the package as both a worker-rights agenda and a contrast with Republicans. Peniamina said opponents “want to weaken unions,” back right-to-work laws and make it harder for workers to organize. “Not on my watch,” he said in the statement. Peniamina also tied the message to his family background in energy work. In the release, he said his father worked in oil fields and his uncles worked in refineries, adding that he understood “what it’s like to watch an industry change and wonder what comes next.” He said that experience informed his support for unions and worker bargaining power. The announcement largely restates positions Peniamina had already outlined in recent campaign messaging. A news article published April 24 reported that he said he would sign the PRO Act and back a $17 minimum wage on his first day in office. In the days since, his campaign has also rolled out broader economic and healthcare plans centered on household costs, wages, public health programs and prescription drug prices. According to the press release, Peniamina’s labor platform includes four main points. The first is support for the PRO Act, which his campaign said would protect the right to organize and eliminate right-to-work laws at the federal level. The second is raising the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour and indexing it to inflation. The third is ending the tipped subminimum wage. The fourth is strengthening the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation as part of a pension protection effort. The statement arrives in a polarized national political climate where cost of living and executive power remain high-salience issues. For Democrats, labor rights and wage policy can also fit into broader messaging around rights, economic fairness and institutional protections. At the same time, business and labor policy can become flashpoints in a campaign environment where conflict often draws more attention than policy detail. The release did not provide legislative timing beyond Peniamina’s pledge to act on the PRO Act on his first day in office, and it did not address the prospects for passage in the current Senate balance. Under current game conditions, Republicans hold 26 Senate seats, while Democrats hold 23 seats and one Independent caucuses with Democrats. No new endorsements, legislative text or implementation details were included in the announcement. The campaign instead emphasized the broad political message that organized labor should have greater legal protection and that lower-wage workers should see direct pay increases. Peniamina’s latest statement continues a pattern in his recent campaign rollout: pairing specific economic promises with a sharper contrast against the opposing party. Whether that message breaks through beyond core Democratic and labor-aligned voters may depend on how the campaign connects the proposals to everyday concerns about wages, prices and job security in the months ahead.