Harris Meets With Teamsters, Endorsement Still Up in the Air
Vice President Kamala Harris met with the Teamsters Monday, leaving one question remaining: Which presidential candidate will the union endorse ahead of the 2024 election?
The Teamsters are currently weighing its endorsement, with union president Sean O’Brien telling reporters after the event that it has “credible research and information to make a decision.”
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O’Brien did not commit to a timeline, but the union later confirmed that it could issue its official endorsement as soon as Wednesday.
The 1.3-million-member Teamsters union is one of the last of the major labor unions to officially endorse a presidential candidate, with most of them pointing in favor of Harris instead of Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump. Both candidates are seeking to court working class workers ahead of the Nov. 5 vote.
John Palmer, a Teamsters vice president and executive board member, told the New York Times that Harris expressed confidence in winning the election during the meeting, but pledged she would treat the union the same regardless of whether she gets the endorsement.
Harris has been received multiple high-profile labor endorsements including the United Auto Workers (UAW), the AFL-CIO and the Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The vice president also got an endorsement the West Coast port dockworkers at the The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). With a labor battle at the East Coast ports remaining at a standstill ahead of a Sept. 30 contract expiration date, the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) hasn’t endorsed either candidate yet—likely due to the fact that the Biden administration could still delay a possible union strike by invoking the Taft-Hartley Act.
In recent years, the Teamsters have gravitated toward Democratic candidates, endorsing Joe Biden in 2020, as well as Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. George H.W. Bush was the union’s last endorsed Republican candidate in 1988.
““We represent everybody from airline pilots and zookeepers, and we don’t just represent registered Democrats. We represent registered Republicans and independents,” O’Brien told reporters. “So we have to take [it] into consideration and she recognized the diversity of our membership as it relates to political affiliation.”
O’Brien said in the press conference that the union delegates discussed the proposed Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which Harris hopes to pass, as well as the importance of vetoing “right-to-work” laws.
Although Harris has been part of an administration that has touted itself as “the most pro-union” in history, the Teamsters have appeared to be divisive on their support of the vice president. During the meeting, union reps acknowledged their disappointment in the administration for signing off a legislation that thwarted a rail strike and forced workers to accept a new labor agreement.
Harris pointed out that the move was initiated by Congress, and not Biden, the NYT report said.
On top of that, the representatives also showed frustration that the administration didn’t declare ahead of time that it would not intervene in the Teamsters’ dispute with UPS in 2023. O’Brien told the White House to stay out of the negotiations weeks before a new contract was settled.
The added pushback on Harris compared to prior Democratic candidates aligns further to O’Brien’s plans to appeal to members despite their political allegiances. But even after appearing at the Republication National Convention in July—an unprecedented step for a Teamsters boss—O’Brien still has plenty of gripes with Trump.
The union chief has been critical of the former president for suggesting during an interview with Elon Musk that workers who go on strike should be fired, calling the proposal “economic terrorism.” When asked about his response to Trump’s comment after the meeting, he said, “my answer is not going to change.”
“We know how valuable Vice President Harris’ time is and appreciate her willingness to meet with rank-and-file Teamsters face-to-face. Our members are the backbone of this country, and their voices matter most in this election. Their support can make the difference during any election cycle,” O’Brien said in a statement. “These roundtables were historic, transparent, and a top priority to ensure the Teamsters remain the most democratic labor union in America.”
With the meeting, Harris followed in the footsteps of Biden and her opponent Trump, both of whom attended rank-and-file roundtables with the Teamsters earlier this year.