CWA President Larry Cohen condemned job-killing corporations and the government policies that allow them to get away with it during a fiery speech Tuesday in San Francisco’s historic Union Square.

Cohen was a keynote speaker during the biennial convention of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. Delegates from throughout California came to the event, including a big crew of CWA members, most of them hard to miss in their militant red CWA t-shirts.

Pacific Media Workers Guild delegates included Niesha Lofing, president of the San Francisco-based TNG local, and Carl Hall, executive officer.

California Governor Jerry Brown stopped by to trumpet the merits of high-speed rail. Union backers liken the project — and the controversy that dogs and delays its construction —  to the Golden Gate Bridge, built 75 years ago and also the focus of relentless attack.

Brown called on labor to mobilize for the sake of California’s future. That same message was carried to the CalFed convention by U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who spoke to a dinner crowd about the need for unions to make stronger connections with youth.