The union’s president, Sean O’Brien, earlier this summer broke with tradition and became the first Teamsters president to address the Republican convention.
The declined to endorse in the 2024 presidential race, becoming the only one of the nation’s major 10 unions not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
In a statement, the union said it had “few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris—and found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.”
The Teamsters is one of the largest unions in the U.S., with 1.3 million members, including large numbers of transportation and public works employees.
Although the Teamsters have endorsed Democrats since 1996, Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July. The last time the Teamsters endorsed the GOP candidate in a presidential election was in 1988 for then-candidate George H.W. Bush. They also endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984 and Richard Nixon in 1972. In 1996, the union did not endorse a presidential candidate.
In the announcement of their decision Wednesday, the labor union cited a lack of commitment from both Trump and Harris to “not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries—and to honor our members’ right to strike.” The union said neither candidate pledged to avoid government intervention in railroad or airline strikes. In 2022, Mr. Biden signed legislation that imposed a labor agreement on rail workers to during the holidays.
The Teamsters noted that Harris did pledge to sign the PRO Act, which would strengthen the right to unionize, and Trump would not commit to vetoing “right to work” legislation in a second term.
O’Brien forced the union’s first-ever roundtable interview process for the 2024 endorsement at the end of last year, inviting all major-party candidates to make their case for the union’s support. Union leadership met with former President Donald Trump, as well President Biden earlier this year.
