Teamsters Joint Councils Don’t Care What Sean O’Brien Says, Endorse Kamala Harris Anyway, by Rebecca Schoenkopf

Whoops, seems like this is not a gambit that is paying off in any way whatsoever.

Read on Substack

Yesterday, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien announced that the union would not be endorsing either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for president of the United States, the first time the union has not endorsed a presidential candidate since 1996.

Now, in 1996, the union refused to endorse Bill Clinton because of NAFTA, which (sorry) was entirely reasonable. This time is a little different and a whole lot less reasonable. You have one candidate that will be continuing the policies of an administration that — with the unfortunately glaring exception of blocking the rail workers’ strike, which was bad — has been one of the best for labor in decades, and then you have another candidate who previously appointed union-busting lawyers to the National Labor Relations Board, refused to recognize a union at his Las Vegas hotel, and loves to have a good giggle with his union-busting friend Elon Musk about what a fabulous time it is to fire workers for striking.

Naturally, O’Brien stopped by Fox News to explain his reasoning to Neil Cavuto, who was extremely pressed about the fact that the Teamsters did not endorse Trump, even though Trump had invited him to speak at the RNC (and because Democrats told him to pound sand for having done that), and because the polling of rank-and-file members showed that they lean heavily towards Trump. He suggested O’Brien might just be being petty because of the whole “being friends with Elon Musk and having a good laugh about how fun it is to fire striking workers!” thing.

O’Brien said that the primary reason he did not endorse either candidate was because he “couldn’t get a commitment” from either one about Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. This actually would have been entirely understandable, except for the fact that Harris has repeatedly, specifically endorsed the PRO Act and said she would sign it if it got to her desk. Also except for the fact that Tim Walz, who has an incredible record on labor, actually signed into law something of a mini-PRO Act for the state of Minnesota.

Whoops!

Meanwhile, when Trump was in office, his administration literally put out a statement promising to veto the PRO Act.

“H.R. 2474 would also restrict workers’ freedom of association. It abolishes State right-to-work laws, and would thereby make union dues compulsory nationwide,” it read.

Whoops again!

Unsurprisingly (and despite that polling), Teamsters Joint Councils across the US (and particularly in battleground states) are issuing their own endorsements for Harris.

“The Harris-Walz ticket offers a comprehensive vision for America — one that not only prioritizes economic fairness but also stands steadfastly by our nation’s workers,” said Kevin Moore, President of Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43, which represents 250,000 workers. “Their record and future plans are exactly what our country needs to continue growing and prospering. I urge all my Teamster members and fellow citizens to lend their support to this outstanding campaign.”

Teamsters Joint Councils 7 and Joint Council 42, which combined represent 300,000 Teamster members from 39 Local Unions across California, Nevada, Hawaii, and Guam issued a joint statement on Facebook announcing their endorsement.

“Winning fair wages, bargaining quality affordable healthcare, securing strong pensions, protecting good jobs, and growing the middle class through organizing, is at the heart of what we do as Teamsters” the statement read. “Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have demonstrated a commitment to standing with working people through action, such as supporting the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and in the state of Minnesota, Governor Walz signed a bill that would ban forced captive audience meetings. Under a Harris-Walz administration we are confident that we will continue to have proworker appointees to the National Labor Relations Board and the Supreme Court, which directly impacts our ability to organize and win contract fights that benefit all workers.”

“Kamala Harris has long been a champion of working people and Labor Unions. As a Senator, she cast the tie-breaking vote that helped pass the Butch Lewis Act, which saved the pensions of thousands of Teamsters and millions of other hard working Americans,” read the endorsement from Joint Council 396, representing workers in southern California. “This crucial legislation preserved the financial security and dignity that our members earned over decades of dedicated work.”

“As Vice President of the most pro-union administration ever, Kamala Harris worked with the Teamsters and other union workers to pass the historic Butch Lewis Act which has saved the pensions of over a million retirees to date.” said Bill Carroll, President of Teamsters Joint Council 39, which represents roughly 15,000 workers in Wisconsin. “As President, Kamala Harris will build on those efforts and work with Congress to pass the PRO Act, ending some of the most egregious union busting tactics once and for all. In contrast, Donald Trump tried to gut workers’ rights as President by appointing union busters to the NLRB and advocating for national right-to-work. Trump’s Project 2025 would go even further, attacking the ability for unions to even have the ability to organize. This November we will work with millions of union workers across the country to defeat Donald Trump once again, and send Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to the White House. We are proud to endorse Harris-Walz for President and Vice President.”

Joint Council 40, representing western Pennsylvania, also issued an endorsement on its website.

So far, it does not look like any joint councils are endorsing Trump, and those who do lean that way would probably have a difficult time finding any actual labor-related reasons to support him. What would they even say? That keeping trans people from going to the bathroom or banning books will help workers somehow? That they want the famously anti-union, anti-worker corporate attorney Eugene Scalia back as Secretary of Labor?

There’s not a lot to go on there.