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Teamsters Decline to Endorse in 2024 US Presidential Race
"The vice president's strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already endorsed her—alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor," said a spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sep 18, 2024
For the first time in decades—and in a break with other major unions and many of its own local bargaining units—the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday announced it would not endorse a candidate in the U.S. presidential election.
The union's decision came two months after its general president, Sean O'Brien was widely criticized by labor proponents for speaking at the Republican National Convention, with advocates noting that GOP candidate Donald Trump had spent his presidential term from 2017-21 appointing anti-union federal judges and key agency leaders, undermining collective bargaining rights, and making it harder for workers to hold their employers accountable for unfair labor practices.
The Teamsters General Executive Board said its 1.3 million members had expressed no majority support for Vice President Kamala Harris and no universal support for Trump.
Prior to President Joe Biden's announcement in July that he was stepping aside in the presidential race and endorsing Harris, the Teamsters' rank-and-file members had backed Biden over Trump, 44.3% to 36.3%.
Harris met with the union's leadership earlier this week, reminding officials that Trump had named anti-union members to the National Labor Relations Board, while the vice president had cast the Senate's tie-breaking vote on the American Rescue Plan, which shored up the Teamsters pension fund with $35.6 billion. She also pointed to Trump's comments in an interview with billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk that striking workers should be fired.
"Listen to the guy when he's told you who he is," she reportedly told union leaders.
O'Brien said Wednesday that the union "sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members' right to strike—but were unable to secure those pledges."
The union objected to Harris "not preemptively saying the White House would play no role in settling the Teamsters' dispute with [the United Postal Service]," according to The New York Times.
But a number of union locals and the Teamsters National Black Caucus endorsed Harris before the union's announcement Wednesday, and the California Teamsters Public Affairs Council announced its support for the vice president shortly afterwards.
"The 250,000 who work across California are fundamental to the American economy, not only producing and transporting goods, but also providing essential services throughout the private and public sectors," said Joint Council 42 president Chris Griswold. "They deserve an administration that will put working people first."
Harris has won endorsements from the United Auto Workers, the Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and other key unions.
"The vice president's strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already endorsed her—alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor," Harris campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said Wednesday. "She will look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file no matter what—because they always have been and always will be the people she fights for."
John Palmer, a vice president at large for the union and member of its executive board, acknowledged that Harris had sent that message in her meeting with the Teamsters this week, telling the Times that she said, "I want your endorsement, but if I don't get it, I will treat you exactly as if I had gotten your endorsement."
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Trade Unionism vs. the Oligarchy on Labor Day and Every Day
The working people of our country are increasingly aware of the unprecedented level of corporate greed and power we are now experiencing, and the outrageous level of income and wealth inequality that exists.
Sep 02, 2024
As we celebrate Labor Day, 2024, there is some very good news.
Public approval of labor unions, at 70%, is higher today than it has been in decades. Over the last year major unions like the UAW have won some highly publicized strikes, while many other unions have negotiated trail-blazing contracts for their members. Young people at Starbucks and on college campuses are now more involved in labor organizing than ever before. And, for the first time in American history, a president of the United States, Joe Biden, walked a picket line with striking workers.
It is not an accident as to why we are now seeing more militancy and growth in the labor movement. The working people of our country are increasingly aware of the unprecedented level of corporate greed and power we are now experiencing, and the outrageous level of income and wealth inequality that exists. They understand that never before in American history have so few had so much, while so many continue to struggle. And they are fighting back. They know that workers in unions can negotiate contracts that give them better wages, working conditions and benefits than non-union workers. They appreciate that when you’re in a union you have some power against the arbitrary decisions corporate bosses.
On this Labor Day, let us redouble our efforts to grow trade unionism in America and create the kind of grassroots movement we need to take on the power of the Oligarchy.
Working people today are more than aware that, over the last 50 years, there has been a massive transfer of wealth from the bottom 90% to the top 1%. They are disgusted that, despite huge increases in worker productivity, real inflation-accounted for wages for the average American worker are lower now than they were over 50 years ago as 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. They are insulted that CEOs of major corporations make almost 350 times as much as their average employee. They are concerned that the American dream is ending and that their kids may have an even lower standard of living than they do. And they worry that with the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence and robotics, they have no power as to what will happen to their jobs as the economy undergoes major transformations.
The average American worker also understands that his/her political power has been significantly diminished as billionaires pour huge amounts of money into both political parties as they undermine our democracy. It is no great secret as to who now has the clout in Congress. It is the billionaires, the corporate CEOs, the campaign donors and their well-connected lobbyists.
Bottom line: The average American worker is sick and tired of status quo economics and politics. He/she knows that in the richest country on earth we can and should have an economy and political system that works for all, and not just the wealthy few, and that a strong union movement is the vehicle for bringing about the changes that we need.
On this Labor Day, as we reaffirm our support for the trade union movement and for labor solidarity throughout the world, as we continue to fight the day to day struggles against corporate greed, it’s important that we not lose sight of our vision for the future and what kind of country we want to become. Here, in my view, are just a few components of the agenda we need to fight for.
We must establish a vibrant democratic political system. One person, one vote. We must end the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and the billionaire funding of campaigns through super-PACs. We need to move to the public funding of elections and give political power back to ordinary Americans.
We need to pass the PRO Act and end the ability of companies to illegally intimidate and fire workers who want to join a union. Corporate interests spend an estimated $400 million a year on anti-union consultants who do everything possible, legal and illegal, to fight the right of workers to join unions.
We need to end starvation wages in America and raise the $7.25 an hour federal minimum wage to a living wage. People should not have to work two or three jobs just to pay the bills for their families.
We need trade policies that benefit workers in the U.S. and abroad, not just the CEOs and stockholders of major conglomerates. We need to rebuild our manufacturing sector and create good paying jobs here.
We need to join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all people as a human right through a Medicare for All, single payer system. No one should go bankrupt because of a hospital stay. Everyone in America, regardless of income, should have the right to see a doctor.
We must finally guarantee paid family and medical leave to every worker in America. New moms and dads should be able to spend the first few months after delivery with their newborn child. Family members should be able to care for a loved-one who is sick without having to worry about missing a paycheck.
Like health care, education and job training must be considered a human right from childcare to graduate school. At a time when, in a highly competitive global economy, we need the best-educated workforce in the world, no one should be forced to go deeply in debt to get the education and training they need to be productive members of our society.
At a time when 50% of older workers have nothing in the bank for retirement, and 25% of seniors are trying to live on $15,000 a year or less, we must re-establish Defined Benefit Pension plans and increase Social Security benefits. Workers are entitled to a secure and dignified retirement.
And finally, we must address the unprecedented and outrageous level of income and wealth inequality that currently exists. No. It is not acceptable that three multibillionaires own more wealth than the bottom half of American society. It is not acceptable that many billionaires pay an effective tax rate that is lower than truck drivers or nurses. We need a progressive tax system that demands that the wealthiest people in our country finally start paying their fair share of taxes.
Let’s be clear. None of these progressive concepts are “radical.” While they are opposed by the Big Money interests and marginalized by the corporate media and the political establishment, they are strongly supported by a majority of the American people. Most of these ideas, in one form or another, are already in place in other wealthy countries around the world.
So, on this Labor Day, let us redouble our efforts to grow trade unionism in America and create the kind of grassroots movement we need to take on the power of the Oligarchy. Let us, in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, create an economy that provides a decent standard of living for all, and not just massive and obscene income and wealth inequality.
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Union Firefighters Greet JD Vance With Boos After 'Most Pro-Worker' Claim
"Donald Trump and JD Vance are scabs and the audience knows it," said one observer.
Aug 29, 2024
A day after warmly welcoming Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, attendees of a firefighters' union convention in Boston on Thursday booed the Minnesota governor's GOP opponent, U.S. Sen. JD Vance—who claimed that he and his running mate, former President Donald Trump, are the "most pro-worker Republican ticket in history."
Vance, who represents Ohio, endured multiple rounds of boos, starting from the moment he thanked members of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union just after taking the stage.
"Semper Fi, guys," Vance said in response to the boos, using the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps, in which he served. "Sounds like we got some fans and some haters. That's okay; let's listen to what I have to say here, and I'll make my pitch."
That pitch to the IAFF—which has yet to endorse a presidential candidate—included the claim that "President Trump and I are proud to be the most pro-worker Republican ticket in history, and I want to talk about why we are fighting for working people, why we are going to fight for unions and nonunions alike."
This drew another salvo of boos.
A pro-Democrat account with more than 680,000 followers on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, mocked Vance's IAFF reception in a post saying that "Donald Trump and JD Vance are scabs and the audience knows it."
Vance did receive applause after saying that he respects the IAFF for "inviting both sides to take the stage" during the union's convention.
Walz—who is Vice President Kamala Harris' Democratic running mate—touted his party's strong union ties, as well as his own status as a "card-carrying member of Minnesota's teachers union," during his IAFF convention speech on Wednesday. He said that a Harris-Walz administration would support legislation including the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which if passed would expand labor protections including the right to organize and collectively bargain.
"We know that when unions are strong, America's strong," Walz said to robust applause.
Union leaders have warned that a Trump-Vance administration would be inimical to organized labor, with AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler calling the GOP ticket "a corporate CEO's dream" and American Federation of Teachers chief Randi Weingarten hailing the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden as "the most pro-labor, pro-public education leaders our country has seen in modern history."
Last month, United Auto Workers—one of many unions endorsing Harris—called Trump "a scab and a billionaire."
"We know which side we're on," the union added. "Not his."
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