Joe Biden Tells Union Workers: 'We Build Labor, We Build The Middle Class'

Vice President Joe Biden celebrated labor unions Monday in remarks at a rally organized by AFL-CIO in Pittsburgh.

At the Labor Day event, Biden credited unions with securing basic rights for America's workers, like the 40-hour work week and sick leave.

"You built the middle class, that's not an exaggeration," Biden said. "And as you've declined, the middle class has declined. So there's a simple correlation: We build labor, we build America. We build labor, we build the middle class."

Biden lamented that there isn't a "level playing field" for America's workers.

"I hope everyone in America has a chance to become a billionaire," he said. "The tax code's not fair, it's simply not fair."

Wearing a United Steelworkers hat, Biden told the crowd of union workers that he owed the start of his U.S. political career to support from steelworkers.

"I won because of the steelworkers," he said of being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. "We have an expression where I grew up: 'You go home with them that brung you to the dance.'"

Biden, well-liked among labor groups, has not decided whether he will pursue a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. In the meantime, Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have secured endorsements from major labor unions.