Teamsters Union Makes Major Demand of Kamala Harris Before Endorsing Her

O’Brien created controversy when he became the first leader of the Teamsters in its 121-year history to speak at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July.

Founded in 1903, the union now has over 1.3 million members with 358 local chapters spread out across the United States.

For such a large union to not endorse a presidential nominee, especially one from a party that is supposedly in favor of workers’ rights, suggests that there could be more to this than meets the eye.

Also, the Teamsters are the only group of the top 10 largest unions in the United States to still not have given their endorsement this election cycle.

Unions such as the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) have endorsed her because she is “leading the most pro-labor administration in history.” This is why many are surprised that Teamsters are yet to endorse Harris.

According to O’Brien, unlike most of the other major unions, the Teamsters have an ideological split in its membership, forcing the organization to more carefully consider each candidate before endorsing them.

“I think historically, the teamsters have always endorsed after both respective conventions. This is a little different,” said O’Brien. “This time, under our leadership, we brought every single candidate to the table in front of our rank and file members and our general executive board, and we’re waiting on Vice President Harris to commit to come meet with us.”

They are demanding this interview because “you don’t hire someone unless you give them an interview.” While this might be true in most cases, it isn’t common for unions to interview a presidential candidate before endorsing them.

President O’Brien hopes Harris will sit down in an interview to ensure her policy prescriptions align with the goals of the Teamsters organization.

“Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats. So we have to serve all of our membership equally,” O’Brien said. “And you know, this is our opportunity to ask her (Harris) about Teamster specific issues and also labor issues. So until we have that meeting, you know, obviously we will wait to make that determination.”

The endorsement from labor unions is one factor that could swing the vote. Whichever candidate Teamsters endorses could influence who its members and people in swing states vote for.

O’Brien’s speech emphasized themes of anti-big business, a message that has been resounding in Republican politics under Trump in a way that it hasn’t in the GOP before.

“Today, the Teamsters are here to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said during the July speech. “We will create an agenda and work with a bipartisan coalition, ready to accomplish something real for the American worker. And I don’t care about getting criticized.”

“It wasn’t an endorsement for any and all Republicans. It was strictly a message about how important and how valuable we are, and to let the people know that fight us every day that we’re not going away,” O’Brien said.

Because of this, those who align with Democratic policies are worried that Vance could cause the union to side with Trump rather than Harris.

However, he never got a reply from them, which is likely going to further possible tensions between the two and could affect which candidate Teamsters goes on to endorse.

In August, they unanimously endorsed the Harris campaign, with the TNBC praising Harris and Walz for their “unwavering commitment to workers and their families.”

The union believes that Trump has shown them who he really is, and they don’t like it. They believe that if they endorse him, they will betray their values and beliefs, which is why they have shown their support for Harris.

The TNBC felt he created a hostile working environment for Black Americans, as well as loosening workplace safety regulations and opposing raising the federal minimum wage.

As for Harris, the TNBC liked that she had pushed to expand the child tax credit, which was done temporarily in 2021. They also liked that she had preserved union members’ pensions. All of these factors have led the TNBC to believe that Harris is the perfect candidate for them.

Many of these workers strongly believe that Harris is their best chance at having their needs met, which is why many are surprised that Teamsters are yet to endorse her (or any) candidate.

“VP has received and gladly accepted an invitation by IBT leadership to participate in a candidate roundtable to discuss her record of fighting for Teamsters and their families and to highlight her vision for the future. The campaign looks forward to scheduling the roundtable in the near future,” a campaign spokesperson said.

The Teamsters Union released a statement, outlining that they are excited to meet with Harris at a roundtable to determine where their visions align and finally decide which political candidate they will endorse.

On Friday, Harris gave the first sitdown media interview of her campaign and has been very limited when answering reporter questions on the campaign trail thus far.