Teamsters decline to endorse any presidential candidate for first time in almost 30 years: Why their support is so influential
Local Teamsters unions in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, however, endorsed Kamala Harris.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced it would not endorse anyone in the 2024 presidential race. This is the first time since 1996 that the union hasn’t endorsed a political candidate.
The union’s executive board met in Washington on Wednesday afternoon to vote — two days after some leaders and members privately met with Vice President Kamala Harris. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, becoming the first labor leader to do so. O’Brien told CNN that he was trying to reach his Republican union members by speaking at the event and had also requested to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
"After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with 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 executive board said Wednesday.
The group cited a lack of consensus among its members for why there was no endorsement.
“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," O’Brien added in a statement.
The board’s vote was 14 for not endorsing a candidate and three for endorsing Harris. No Teamsters board member voted for a Trump endorsement.
However, local Teamsters unions in battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and western Pennsylvania have publicly pledged their support for Harris. West Coast Teamsters — which represents 300,000 union members in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Guam — also announced their endorsement of Harris.
Who are the Teamsters?
The teamsters describe themselves as “America’s largest, most diverse union” with over 1.3 million members across the U.S. The group helps set standards for wages, benefits and working conditions for workers across a multitude of industries from truck drivers and pilots to law enforcement and casting directors.
The Teamsters have endorsed every Democratic candidate for president since 2000.
Why is their endorsement important?
The labor union is very influential and connected when it comes to working-class voters in the Midwest and battleground states — especially “blue wall” swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. According to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of the Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), one of the largest unions in the U.S., 1 in every 5 voters in swing states is a union worker.
The decision isn’t entirely unexpected. While the group endorsed President Biden in 2020, the union did consider not endorsing him when he was still the Democratic presidential nominee.
A major source of contention was Teamsters wanting both candidates to commit to ending the Railway Labor Act, which was used by Congress in 2022 to impose unpopular contracts on four major rail unions that had already rejected the terms. The Railway Labor Act is intended to reduce the likelihood of a union strike, which is the most effective bargaining tool labor unions have. Neither Harris nor Trump would commit to shutting it down.
What does this mean for the Harris campaign?
Democratic strategists told the Washington Post that it’s unlikely the lack of endorsement would have a “noticeable” impact on Harris’s campaign financing.
However, no endorsement could mean the difference between “members voting 50% for Harris versus close to 60%.”
Several major union groups have endorsed Harris, including the National Black Caucus, the AFL-CIO, the United Auto Workers, the American Federal of Teachers and United Steelworkers.
What does this mean for the Trump campaign?
The Trump campaign celebrated straw poll results that were also released Wednesday that found Trump was favored over Harris 60% to 34% in an electronic member poll and favored 58% to 31% in a research phone poll. It’s not clear how many Teamsters members participated in either poll.
“While the Teamsters executive board is making no formal endorsement, the majority of the rank-and-file working men and women of the largest union in the country are with TRUMP!” the Trump campaign posted on Truth Social.
