The International Brotherhood of Teamsters rejected it on Wednesday, Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as presidential candidates and said neither candidate had sufficient support from the 1.3 million-member union.
“Unfortunately, neither of the two major candidates has been able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure that the interests of working people always come before the interests of big business,” Teamsters President Sean M. O’Brien said in an announcement. “We have demanded commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in key union campaigns or core Teamsters industries – and to respect our members’ right to strike – but we have been unable to achieve those commitments.”
Vice President Harris met with a bunch of Teamsters on Monday. She has long courted unions and made supporting the center class her central political goal. Trump also met with a bunch of Teamsters and even invited O’Brien to talk on the Republican National Convention, where the union leader railed against corporate greed.
The Teamsters said Wednesday that an internal poll of their members showed Trump leading Harris.
The Teamsters’ decision to not support the union got here just weeks before the November 5 elections, significantly later than other major unions corresponding to the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers who’ve decided to support Harris.
