Teamsters union says it won't endorse Harris or Trump in 2024 presidential election

The Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday introduced it won’t formally endorse a candidate within the 2024 presidential election, ending months of hypothesis about whether or not the labor union would again Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris.

The union’s common government board stated in a statement that its member polling confirmed no majority assist for Harris, and no common assist for Trump.

“The Teamsters thank all candidates for assembly with members face-to-face throughout our unprecedented roundtables. Sadly, neither main candidate was capable of make critical commitments to our union to make sure the pursuits of working individuals are at all times put earlier than Large Enterprise,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien stated within the assertion.

“We sought commitments from each Trump and Harris to not intervene in crucial union campaigns or core Teamsters industries — and to honor our members’ proper to strike — however had been unable to safe these pledges,” stated O’Brien.

With 1.3 million members, the Teamsters union is without doubt one of the largest labor teams within the nation. The non-endorsement is a break from the union’s decadeslong custom of backing Democratic candidates. Nevertheless it’s not a whole shock.

O’Brien had signaled in July that the union was open to endorsing Trump when he delivered a speech on the primary evening of the Republican National Convention.

“Because the strongest and most democratic labor union in America, it was very important for our members to drive this endorsement course of. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents proudly name our union residence, and we’ve an obligation to signify and respect each one in every of them,” O’Brien wrote.

“We strongly encourage all our members to vote within the upcoming election, and to stay engaged within the political course of. However this yr, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters’ Worldwide Union,” he wrote.

In a nationwide survey of Teamsters members carried out after the Sept. 10 presidential debate, union members overwhelmingly backed Trump over Harris, 58% to 31%, in accordance with outcomes revealed by the union forward of its formal endorsement.

The newest outcomes are very totally different from these of surveys carried out when President Joe Biden was nonetheless the Democratic nominee. Earlier than Biden dropped out of the race July 21, the union’s rank-and-file members backed Biden over Trump, 44.3% to 36.3%.

The union on Wednesday stated neither Harris nor Trump would promise to not intervene to pressure contracts like these allowed beneath the Railway Labor Act. Such intervention would undermine employees’ bargaining leverage, the assertion stated.

The union praised Harris for pledging to signal the PRO Act, which might strengthen union protections, and criticized Trump, who refused to decide to veto nationwide “proper to work” laws, the union stated.

“‘Proper to work’ legal guidelines solely exist to attempt to kill labor unions,” Teamsters Common Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman stated within the assertion. “It’s a purple line for the Teamsters.”

The announcement got here simply days after union members and management met with Harris, who has acquired endorsements from a number of different labor unions.

Union leaders additionally featured prominently on the Democratic National Convention in August, however the Teamsters — and O’Brien — had been conspicuously absent. After O’Brien appeared on the RNC, a spokesperson for the union confirmed to CNBC that O’Brien had not acquired an invite to talk on the Democratic conference.

“The Teamsters carry plenty of weight,” Trump stated at a marketing campaign cease in New York Metropolis Wednesday afternoon. “It was at all times automated that Democrats get the Teamsters, and so they stated we cannot endorse the Democrats this yr. In order that was an honor for me.”

Harris marketing campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt, in response to the union’s choice, stated, “The Vice President’s sturdy union report is why Teamsters locals throughout the nation have already endorsed her — alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor.”

If Harris is elected president, “she is going to look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file it doesn’t matter what — as a result of they at all times have been and at all times would be the folks she fights for,” stated Hitt.