The Teamsters say neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump are pro-labor enough to endorse
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said it would decline to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in decades, stating that neither Vice President Kamala Harris nor Former President Donald Trump had agreed with its concerns.
“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 General President Sean O’Brien said in a 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.”
It marks the first time since 1996 that the Teamsters has chosen not to endorse a presidential candidate. In 2020, the union endorsed President Joe Biden and had previously endorsed prior Democratic nominees, although it has endorsed some Republicans — like Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — in the past.
Although Biden won the support of Teamsters members in polling conducted earlier this year, his successor was less well received. Just 34% of Teamsters supported Harris in an electronic poll conducted between June and September, while 31% supported the vice president in a phone pill earlier this month, according to the union. And although Trump won those polls, his support among members was not enough to outweigh his policy positions.
Trump said he would not commit to vetoing national “right to work” legislation if he was re-elected to the White House, according to the Teamsters. On the other hand, Harris both criticized such laws — which prevent workers from being required to join unions as a job requirement or paying agency fees for representation — and said she supported the pro-labor Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
“‘Right to work’ laws only exist to try to kill labor unions,” Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman said in a statement. “It is a red line for the Teamsters and must be for any union when a candidate for elected office does not oppose such anti-worker legislation.”
Both Harris and Trump declined to promise not to intervene to force contracts between workers and unions, which the Teamsters said was a dealbreaker. In December 2022, Biden signed the Railway Labor Act in order to block a national railway strike from a dozen unions representing 115,000 workers.
