WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The International Brotherhood of Teamsters have declared that it will not endorse any presidential candidate.
The General Executive Board of the influential trade union took this decision on Wednesday after releasing the results of internal polling that showed a majority of members voted in favor of Donald Trump for a possible Teamsters endorsement over Kamala Harris.
'After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file round-table interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris-and found no definitive support among members for either party's nominee,' Teamsters said in a statement.
'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,' said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. He added that both Trump and Harris failed to commit not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries, and to honor its members' right to strike.
While 10,000 Teamsters at United Airlines are currently negotiating a new agreement, tens of thousands of railroad Teamsters were forced to accept a new contract implemented by Congress without member support in 2022. In round-table discussions with Trump in January and Harris this month, neither candidate promised not to intervene to force similar RLA contracts, which undermines workers' bargaining leverage, the union said.
It noted that while Harris pledged, if elected, to sign the PRO Act, an essential piece of labor legislation strengthening union protections, and criticized dangerous 'right to work' laws that are enacted to bankrupt unions, Trump would not commit to veto national 'right to work' legislation if he returned to the White House.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.3 million workers in both the public and private sectors in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
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