For the first time in decades, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters declined to endorse a Presidential candidate, becoming the only one of the 10 largest unions not to endorse Harris.
“Under our leadership we brought every single candidate to the table in front of our rank and file members and our general election board,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. “Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats so we have to serve all of our membership equally.”
The Teamsters represent roughly 1.3 million workers in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico. After Harris was appointed Democratic nominee, the union commissioned two separate independent polls of its members. Both times Trump defeated Harris carrying nearly 60% of the rank-and-file member’s support.
“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables,” said O’Brien. “We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters’ International Union.”
Earlier this year, O’Brien became the first Teamsters president in the Organization’s 121 year history to speak at the Republican National Convention.
“The American people aren’t stupid, they know the system is broken,” O’Brien said in his address to the RNC. “We all know how Washington is run — working people have no chance of winning this fight. That’s why I’m here today. Because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did… At the end of the day, the Teamsters are not interested if you have a ‘D,’ ‘R’ or an ‘I’ next to your name. We want to know one thing. What are you doing to help American workers?”
Despite a majority of the membership endorsing his campaign, a major stumbling block to the Union potentially endorsing Trump was his support for right-to-work legislation, which the union called a “red-line for us.”
Right to work legislation allows employees to work regardless of union membership. Opponents say this legislation harms unions while supporters say it empowers individual workers.
“It’s a great honor,” said former President Trump during a NYC campaign event. “They’re not going to endorse the Democrats. That’s a big thing.”
The last time the Teamsters endorsed a Republican Presidential candidate was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
