The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, also known as the Teamsters union, declined to endorse vice president Kamala Harris or former president Donald Trump in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The General Executive Board of the Teamsters union, which has 1.3 million strong members, said the two candidates do not have sufficient support from the union.
"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," Teamsters union said in a statement.
Teamsters President Sean M. O'Brien said that Harris and Trump did not make any "serious commitments" to the union to ensure that the welfare and the interests of the working people are prioritized before the interests of big businesses.
"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," he added.
The stance of the Teamsters union was a reflection of how divisive it has become when it comes to issues on political identity and policy.
Both campaigns are actually claiming that they are being supported by the Union, Associated Press reported.
The spokesperson of Harris, Lauren Hitt, noted in an emailed statement that Harris was endorsed by more than three dozen retired Teamsters. These individuals spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. They noted that the Butch Lewis Act of Biden and Harris helped in saving their pension.
On the other hand, Trump's campaign also claimed that a Teamsters internal poll showed that Trump gained advantage over Harris. With this news, Trump's campaign immediately rolled out an email that claimed that the rank-and-file members of the union are throwing their hats Trump's way, ABC News reported.
During the Teamsters Rank-and-file Presidential Roundtables, the union shared feedback from members in the railroad and airline industries who work under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) and are at the mercy of government intervention that often prevents work stoppages.
They noted that while 10,000 Teamster members at United Airlines are currently negotiating a new agreement, tens of thousands of railroad staffs were forced to accept a new contract implemented by Congress without member support in 2022.
In roundtable discussions with Trump in January and Harris this month, the union highlighted that neither candidate promised not to intervene to force similar RLA contracts, which undermines workers' bargaining leverage.
While Harris pledged, if elected, to sign the PRO Act, an essential piece of labor legislation strengthening union protections, and criticized dangerous "right to work" laws that are enacted to bankrupt unions, Trump would not commit to veto national "right to work" legislation if he returned to the White House.
Meanwhile, Trump considered the move of Teamsters not to endorse candidates as a great honor, simply because the union will not be endorsing Democrats. For Trump, that is already a big thing for him.
On Wednesday, during a Fox News interview, O'Brien noted that the decision of the union not to endorse any presidential candidate should be an eye opener for 2028.
"If people want the support of the most powerful union in North America, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, start doing some things to support our members," he added.
The decision of the union came only weeks ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
