Teamsters’ Surprising Neutrality:-
Was any reaction to the Teamster’s decision not to endorse no they were it’s a great honor they’re uh not going to endorse the Democrats that’s a big thing and this is the first time in I guess 50 60 years that that’s happened Democrats automatically have the teamsters they took a vote and I guess I was at 60% or more and that’s a great honor I mean it’s really I’ve had a lot of teamsters work for me a lot of the concrete trucks built all these buildings that you see in New York City they Teamsters never did I think I’d see the day where an American politician a candidate for president would say that it is a great honor that a union didn’t endorse him but also didn’t endorse the Democrat so in this case we’re talking about the Teamsters Union and they have decided we’re just not going to endorse either candidate and I think that has a lot to do with where the actual members stand on this presidential race you might be surprised by it.
Union Membership’s Political Shift:-
I personally am not according to a survey uh or to survey data collected and released by The Union on Wednesday close to 60% of members who participated in the electronic poll support Trump while 34% back the vice president kamla Harris moreover another survey which was conducted via phone found Trump leading Harris again with union members by 58% to KLA Harris’s 31% now this news comes after an an apparently tense conversation and meeting between the Teamsters president Shan O’Brien this was a meeting that happened earlier.
Tension Between Teamsters Leadership and Biden Administration:-
This week now Teamsters president Shan O’Brien had asked to have two speaking slots one at the RNC one at the DNC I’m sure you all remember he did speak at the RNC I thought his speech at the RNC was fantastic people got mad at me for saying that it is what it is it was a great speech he did not speak at the DNC even though he wanted to he didn’t get an invite U now sha Fain who’s the president of the United Auto Workers did give a speech uh so I’m glad that that happened but you know Shan O’Brien of course did not speak .
Impact of Biden’s Rail Strike Intervention :-
A Teamsters Executive Board member and vice president at large said the meeting had lasted a little more than an hour he praised Harris by pairing questions on the role President Biden played in averting a rail strike in late 2022 and the ways the White House could have been more helpful in a Teamsters.
So I want to pause right there Biden’s stepping in to prevent the rail workers from striking clearly had some political consequences here and we updated that story by saying while he did fight to avert a rail strike behind the scenes he also fought to secure the paid time off that the workers wanted but it still wasn’t great Optics and it seriously did not sit well with some of the Teamsters when Biden stepped in and prevented that rail strike from happening /
Trump’s Savvy Politics with Workers:-
I think there are other issues at play as well I mean when you think about it when the train derailment happened in East Palestine Ohio Biden .Didn’t go visit until way later I think about a year later he did finally visit but Trump was Savvy enough to go ahead and visit the area by McDonald’s for all of the you know First Responders and workers who were there to clean up the mess that Norfolk Southern had had caused and those are like little retail politics you know type situations that do bode well for the person who’s Savvy enough to engage properly.
Democrats’ Struggle with Working-Class Support :-
I think in that case Trump engaged properly Biden didn’t it’s just the fact of the matter and look you can know everything about the two candidates policy-wise but that’s separate from the Optics okay when you have have Trump at least providing this illusion that he cares about workers more than Biden does well then that’s going to benefit him in the election and I think that that’s partly what we’re seeing here .
Teamsters’ Statement on Neutrality:-
I have more to say but let’s get to some more details here so allies of O’Brien indicated that they were still angry that Biden signed legislation ending a rail strike and imposing a labor agreement between rail companies and workers Harris said that the move had been initiated by congress not the president they also hit her for not preemptively saying the White House would play no role in settling the teamster dispute with UPS I think Democrats have a real problem here okay .
Missed Opportunities for Democrats:-
I think it’d be a mistake to be upset with the teamsters for supporting Trump over Harris at least the members remember the the union didn’t endorse one candidate or or the other but I do think that this is a sign of Democrats losing their appeal among working-class Americans and this has been a growing problem it doesn’t mean that you know Donald Trump is necessarily going to be better for workers but it does mean that workers increasingly feel abandoned by the Democratic party so Harris apparently understood that she might not get the endorsement from the Union.
Broader Implications for Democrats:-
Which has typically backed the Democratic presidential candidate um now some union members would be voting on other issues Beyond labor including uh the Border according to one person in the room and that’s another issue where Trump might seem more effective than kamla Harris right the issue of immigration the issue of the border that person said that she had asked that Teamster leaders educate their members about the bipartisan border control bill that she had backed and that Trump had killed she also recalled how Trump had told Elon Musk that striking workers should be fired and she said to them listen to the guy when he’s told you who he is and look it is true Trump has said some pretty terrible things about unions which is probably why the teamsters have not endorsed Donald Trump over kamla Harris they’ve just decided not to endorse either candidate but when the Biden Administration kind of ignored some of the issues at the border and didn’t really care to do anything about it until the final hour when it became a political liability pretty sure the workers noticed that see that’s the thing .
Looking Forward:-
I think one of the bigger issues is this underestimating of American voters insulting their intelligence and just assuming that you can just pull a narrative and they’ll buy it hook line and sinker that’s not happening um now following the data that showed members supporting Trump over Harris almost 2 to one Shan O’Brien released a statement regarding the Union’s decision to stay neutral in this presidential race the teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members faced 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 and he added that uh we sought commitments from both former president Donald Trump and vice president kamla Harris not to interfere in critical Union campaigns or coure Teamsters Industries and to honor our members right to strike but we’re unable to sec those pledges that’s going to speak volumes for the teamsters.
I’m really sad to hear that they were unable to secure that commitment from kamla Harris I mean I feel like that’s a layup Democrats Republicans and independents proudly call our Union home and we have a duty says Shan O’Brien to represent and respect every one of them we strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election and to remain engaged in the political process C but this year no candidate for president has earned the endorsement of the teamsters International Union so that’s where the teamsters are at I’m sure that there are plenty of democratic voters who are Furious about this I’m sure the Democratic party and establishment is furious about this but rather than getting angry I think that it would be better to maybe just pause and self-reflect .
Why is it that an increasing percentage of American voters no longer see the Democratic party as the party of FDR no longer see the Democratic party as the party that looks out for working-class Americans it is a problem for Democrats because what are they going to use to differentiate themselves from Republicans typically they lean into the culture wars or identity politics but that’s also going to be a failing strategy because if you look at the teamsters I mean if you look at workers overall guys workers come from all walks of life different political views different priorities the one thing that unites all workers is what they experience at the workplace that is that is the glue that bonds us as As Americans right and so if the Democratic Party leans into and is hyperfocused on the culture War issues or the identity politics that seeks to divide .
It’s just not going to speak well to to workers who are part of a union especially if you’re looking for their endorsement they need to focus on economic policies that actually improve Americans lives I will give kamla Harris a little bit of credit uh in that she has been a little more of a hardliner when it comes to dealing with the Border doesn’t seem to have played uh strongly enough with the teamsters to make a difference but it doesn’t matter I think she’s uh understanding that there’s a real problem that needs to be addressed and I also give her credit for understanding that we need to increase the stock of housing in this country .
I haven’t really seen a detailed plan on how she intends to do that and I do worry about that money that would be allocated for a project like that being squandered on either private corporations or nonprofits that have um done a real good job squandering our money here in California but she at least is able to identify what some of the issues are I would say that she’d be best served in honing in on what the detail of those policy proposals are and just really really leaning in to improving the economic situation for ordinary Americans in this country so we’ll see how it plays out but the teamsters they’re going to sit out this election they are not endorsing either candidate.