WASHINGTON (PAI): The AFL-CIO, the Building Trades and the Communications Workers, praised former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after she announced she would retire from Congress at the end of her present term, on Jan. 3, 2027, 40 years after she came to the House.

They particularly lauded her role in pushing through pro-worker legislation, including the Jobs and Investment Act, the Affordable Care Act and—going back to her first tenure as Speaker, from 2007-11, getting the last increase in the federal minimum wage through Congress.

The wage, now $7.25 an hour, hasn’t risen since 2007 due to Republican and corporate opposition, particularly from exploitative low-wage retailers such as Wal-Mart.

In addition to those achievements, Building Trades President Sean McGarvey lauded Pelosi for standing up to despots, plus presidents. Though McGarvey didn’t name him, that roster includes Donald Trump.

In one White House meeting during Trump’s first term, Pelosi rose out of her chair, pointed directly at Trump and lectured him about how off-base he was. And her reaction to his last State of the Union Address during his first term, in 2020, was classic: She stood up and ripped her copy of his speech into pieces, in full view of a national television audience. Her second tenure as Speaker was 2019-23.

“Her accomplishments for working people are impossible to list, and her impact will be felt for generations. As a very high-ranking member of the Republican Party told me on multiple occasions, lawmakers across party lines believe she is the greatest Speaker in modern history,” McGarvey said.

Pelosi also helped push through the Lilly Ledbetter Act, allowing victims of sexual and racial wage discrimination great rights to sue for equal pay for equal work, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said.

Shuler called Pelosi, who grew up in a political family in Baltimore—her father had been mayor—”a trailblazer whose historic tenure as the first woman to serve as Speaker reshaped our nation. She wielded power with clarity of purpose and an unwavering commitment to working families.” She also was an inspiration to other women reaching for the top, including herself, Shuler said.

Besides the minimum wage hike and the Lilly Ledbetter law, “Following the Great Recession, she helped steer the country out of the crisis, protecting more than a million auto industry jobs, passing the Affordable Care Act to bring health care access to nearly 50 million Americans, and shepherding Dodd–Frank reforms to stop big banks and financial institutions from gambling on the backs of working people,” Shuler said.

“Throughout her career, she championed women’s equality, the needs of children and workers’ rights, including fair wages, safe workplaces and the right of every worker to join a union.”

McGarvey cited all of Pelosi’s achievements for workers, including construction workers, along with her humanity and understanding, even of her foes. McGarvey also said Pelosi “wasn’t afraid to stand up to despots,” or to call out her allies when she felt they were wrong. That included Joe Biden.

Pelosi, whose political instincts and clout were notable, said in so many words that after the Democratic president’s sorry debate performance against Trump last year, Biden should go. Her statement was the coup de grace for the physically failing president.

And she knew when an issue pushed by a particular constituency would alienate voters. In one instance, she told a TV interviewer who pushed her on why she didn’t endorse Medicare For All that not only would it lose on the House floor, but that it would brand the Democratic Party as too radical. Instead, she shunted it to a committee that held hearings but had no power to report the bill.

She also often took stands for groups and causes which at the time were out of favor. LGBTQ people found Pelosi—whose San Francisco constituency is one of the centers of gay culture and life—an early champion and friend.

“She was unafraid of anybody, especially the world’s worst despots…At home, she worked with presidents of both parties on issues they agreed on, and when she thought the issues weren’t in the best interest of her constituents or working people in this country, those presidents wouldn’t have to read about it in a newspaper or see it on TV. She would tell them face-to-face–a rare quality in politics today,” McGarvey said.

“She was never afraid to tell friends when they were wrong; I speak from experience, having been invited for discussion in her office a few times myself.”

The Communications Workers added more reasons for applauding Pelosi. Besides the Affordable Care Act, Pelosi “protected the health, safety, and jobs of essential workers during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and ensured thousands of…workers and retirees who participate in multi-employer pension plans will receive the full benefits they earned through a lifetime of work.”