Is Teamsters union endorsing Kamala Harris or Donald Trump? Here's what you need to know
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the country's biggest unions, said on Wednesday it will not endorse any candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
Teamsters decided not to back either Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump in the upcoming election. It marks the first time in more than 25 years the union has skipped an endorsement.
The move is a blow to Harris, the Democratic nominee who has touted her union backing on the campaign trail in her push to win the key Rust Belt battlegrounds of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
"Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business," Teamsters' president Sean O'Brien said in a statement following a nearly one-year candidate review process.
In Louisville, Teamsters Local 89 represents workers at UPS, the city's largest employer and the location of the shipping company's biggest global facility. The Courier Journal recently reported that the union is trying to help workers from DHL and Amazon in Northern Kentucky to unionize.
Teamsters Local 89 announced their own endorsement on Thursday.
Here's what you need to know:
Who is Teamsters endorsing in 2024 presidential election?
The union's General Executive Board arrived at the decision of not endorsing either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in the 2024 General Election. The decision was made during a meeting Wednesday in Washington after Teamsters leaders met with Harris on Monday. The union's leaders met with Trump in January.
Teamsters leaders commended Harris' support of the pro-union PRO Act in Congress and her opposition to "right-to-work" laws that undermine unions. Trump, on the other hand, would not commit to vetoing a national "right-to-work" law, the union said in a statement, which it called a "red line for the Teamsters."
But neither candidate in their interviews, according to Teamsters, agreed not to intervene in labor disputes under the Railway Labor Act, which gives Congress the authority to set contracts in the rail and airline industries. To avert a freight rail shutdown in 2022, Congress approved a new contract for rail workers that lacked support from Teamsters.
"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," O'Brien said.
Who is Teamsters Local 89 endorsing?
The Louisville-based Teamsters branch announced Thursday they are endorsing Harris and Walz.
2024 election: Louisville Teamsters union endorses presidential candidate despite no national endorsement
How did Harris and Trump respond to no endorsement from Teamsters?
Trump, campaigning in New York, told reporters, "It's a great honor. They're not going to endorse the Democrats. That's a big thing."
In response to the Teamsters' decision, Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt pointed to several local Teamsters chapters that have endorsed the vice president — including some that broke with the national union Wednesday.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the Teamsters' decision "disappointing" in a statement. "Donald Trump refused to support a pension bill for Teamsters. It was Biden-Harris and Democrats who saved Teamsters pensions in the Butch Lewis Act of our American Rescue Plan — without one Republican vote," Pelosi said.
Who do Teamsters union members support?
Trump has courted the backing of rank-and-file union members — even if he lacks the endorsement of their unions – as he looks to match the working-class coalition that won him the 2016 election.
Ahead of its announcement, Teamsters released internal polling data of members that found the majority of them back Trump over Harris, even as leaders of other unions have widely backed the vice president.
In a phone survey of Teamsters members taken last week, 58% said they support Trump and 31% said they back Harris. An electronic survey taken over the summer found a similar 60-34% margin in favor of Trump.
When President Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee, a Teamsters straw poll taken in the spring and summer found rank-and-file members backed Biden 44%-37% over Trump, according to the union. However, the straw poll used a different methodology, with members voting in person at Teamsters town halls.
"While the Executive Board of the Teamsters is making no formal endorsement, the vast majority of rank-and-file working men and women in this important organization want President Donald Trump back in the White House," the Trump campaign said in a statement.
Teamsters Joint Councils 7 and 42, which includes 300,000 members in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam, endorsed Harris shortly after the national union's announcement, as well as Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43 and Teamsters Joint Council 39, which represents all Teamsters in the state of Wisconsin.
"While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labor for her entire career," Hitt said. "The Vice President’s strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already endorsed her — alongside the overwhelming majority of organized labor."
Hitt added: "As the Vice President told the Teamsters on Monday, when she is elected president, she will look out for the Teamsters rank-and-file no matter what — because they always have been and always will be the people she fights for.”
More from The Courier Journal: After union win at UPS, Teamsters set sights on a major Northern Kentucky employers
Teamsters past candidate endorsements
Teamsters endorsed Biden over Trump in the 2020 election. But for months, Teamsters leadership held off announcing its 2024 endorsement decision even as nine of the nation's 10 largest unions endorsed Harris, including United Auto Workers, the AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers.
Although Teamsters has typically backed Democratic presidential nominees, the union has endorsed its share of Republicans, including presidents George H.W. Bush in 1988, Ronald Reagan in both 1980 and 1984 and Richard Nixon in 1960 and 1972.
In August, O'Brien became the first Teamsters president to speak at the Republican convention over the union's 121-year history, a move that angered many Democrats.
"Democrats, Republicans, and independents proudly call our union home, and we have a duty to represent and respect every one of them," O'Brien said in a statement. "We strongly encourage all our members to vote in the upcoming election, and to remain engaged in the political process. But this year, no candidate for President has earned the endorsement of the Teamsters’ International Union."
Is this the first time Teamsters didn't endorse a candidate?
No, this is not the first time Teamsters has not endorsed a presidential candidate.
Still, it marks the first time the Teamsters has skipped an endorsement in a presidential election since 1996, having supported the Democratic nominee in each election that followed. Teamsters also did not endorse in the 1976 election between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford.
What is Teamsters?
Teamsters is one of the nation's largest unions. It has 1.3 million members including truck drivers, freight workers, airline pilots and zookeepers, among a wide range of other workers.
Teamsters Local 89 represents UPS workers in Louisville. The shipping company is the city's largest employer and has its biggest global facility in Louisville.
Courier Journal reporter Olivia Evans contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Teamsters union won't make endorsement for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump
