Teamsters union says it won’t endorse a presidential candidate

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters opted not to endorse any candidate in the 2024 presidential election, according to a Wednesday press release. Union polling data found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee, the press release said. The union released the latest polling data among union members conducted by an independent research firm. Data showed 58 percent of members supported a Trump endorsement and 31 percent supported a Harris endorsement.

How is that data considered “non definitive support”? While Trump polled higher than Harris in the latest poll, another poll showed more support to endorse President Joe Biden over Trump. While the tally was taken before Biden withdrew, the flip-flopping and indecision among union members is tangible. Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, leading the public to expect an endorsement for Trump any day.

A major factor in the board’s decision to abstain came after in-person interviews with the candidates about issues important to the union, according to the Wednesday statement. Neither candidate would give solid support to issues like passing the PRO Act, which supporters say would protect employees seeking to join a union from being fired, O’Brien said in a Wednesday interview. He also said the candidates’ silence on so-called right-to-work laws also heavily contributed to the decision.

Local Teamsters unions are free to announce their own endorsements.

One of the union’s rank-and-file polls showed about 60 percent of workers supporting Trump, with about 34 percent supporting Harris. Trump considered his ranking in the union’s polling data as an endorsement despite the union announcing it would not endorse either candidate. He told a New York rally Wednesday that he received the Teamsters’ endorsement earlier in the day, citing the single rank-and-file poll. Harris already received endorsement from the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or UAW, at the beginning of August, along with a few teachers’ unions like the American Federation of Teachers.

Dig deeper: Listen to Carolina Lumetta’s report on The World and Everything in It about O’Brien’s appearance at the RNC.