The International Brotherhood of Teamsters on Wednesday announced it will not formally endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, ending months of speculation about whether the labor union would back Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris.
The union’s general executive board said in a statement that its member polling showed no majority support for Harris, and no universal support for Trump.
“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables. Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in the statement.
“We 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,” said O’Brien.
With 1.3 million members, the Teamsters union is one of the largest labor groups in the country. The non-endorsement is a break from the union’s decadeslong tradition of backing Democratic candidates. But it’s not a complete surprise.
Is there any chance that a second Trump administration wouldn’t be markedly worse for organized labor? This is a textbook example of not voting for your own interests.
Their interest is getting Harris to make concessions or withold their vote. Giving it away like a sucker is what enables administrations to crack down on Unions without consequences.
That very well may be part of it, but I was commenting on what I believe to be the very real situation of a plurality of union members supporting Trump.