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    • Teamsters won’t endorse Trump or Harris for election
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    Teamsters won’t endorse Trump or Harris for election

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    Topline

    The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced Wednesday that it will not endorse this year’s presidential candidate, ending a decades-long streak of supporting Democratic presidential candidates after failing to find definitive backing for Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump.

    Key Facts

    The 1.4 million-member union said it had “few commitments on key Teamsters issues” from Trump and Harris, noting it had been unable to secure pledges from candidates “not to interfere with critical union campaigns or key Teamsters industries.”

    The denial of support comes after years of support for the Democrats. The last time the Democratic presidential candidate was not endorsed was when former President Bill Clinton ran against Bob Dole in 1996.

    The Teamsters released polling data on presidential support on Wednesday, showing that President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in late July, won 44% of the union’s vote in polls conducted before he dropped out.

    Harris failed to garner the same support in later Teamster polls, with Trump receiving 59.6% of the vote, compared to Harris’s 34% in an electronic poll conducted July 24-Sept. 15. In a telephone poll conducted Sept. 9-15, he received 58% of the vote, compared to Harris’s 31%.

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    Crucial quote

    “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make any serious commitments to our union to ensure that the interests of working people always come before the interests of big business,” Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.

    Surprising fact

    O’Brien was a speaker at the Republican National Convention, where he said that unions were “not beholden to anyone or any party.” O’Brien offered some praise for Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, but also criticized the Republican Party for what he called its “active opposition” to unions.

    Main background

    The Teamsters endorsed Biden in 2020, though internal divisions within the union were among the reasons they considered not endorsing a presidential candidate, Reuters reported. Biden voiced strong support for unions during his campaign, even going so far as to join striking United Auto Workers members on a picket line last year, despite criticism from the union. The president also received support from multiple unions during his campaign, with groups including the United Steelworkers, the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the Communications Workers of America pledging their support after a poor debate performance that raised questions about his leadership skills, The Washington Post reported. Trump has tried to appease union members throughout the election cycle, and attempted to win the support of the United Auto Workers around the same time Biden was standing with striking members. However, the former president was condemned by the United Auto Workers, which compared him to wealthy corporate executives and the “billionaire class.” Trump also attempted to win the support of the Teamsters last month, ABC News reported. The former president told the union they would have “a seat at the table” if he received an endorsement.

    Read more

    Biden becomes first US president on picket line, but auto workers still haven’t backed him (Forbes)

    ‘Not Beholden to Any Party’: Here’s Why Teamsters Union Leader Sean O’Brien Spoke at RNC (Forbes)

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