It’s not official but there are strong indications Trump has blown it in getting a key endorsement. The Teamsters are the only major union that hasn’t endorsed the Harris/Walz ticket and from what their President Sean O’Brien is saying they sure as hell won’t be endorsing Trump! Whether the Teamsters go ahead and formally endorse Harris remains to be seen but given the controversy Teamsters President Sean O’Brien generated by speaking at the RNC I’d say it looks possible. And if the Teamsters join with all the other major unions to endorse Harris Trump will go ape-sh*t.
I grew up deep in southern Illinois. It’s a region of great natural beauty and great economic hardship. At least for those who didn’t have the connections to get a union card from either the United Mine Workers (coal was still significant back there in those days) or with the Teamsters. They drove those coal trucks and all manner of other goods shipped by truck. Those guys (virtually all guys back then) could, with no education beyond high school could if they secured a union card invest no more than the cost of a lunch bucket and earn more than most college grads back there. Why Reagan had any appeal to those guys is something I’ll never understand but he did. The fact that early on Reagan turned right around on unions and fired every PATCO member (throwing air travel into turmoil) and went on a sustained campaign of union busting should have sent every blue collar union right back into the arms of Democrats. However it didn’t.
In more recent times blue collar unions, especially at the Local level have come to realize which Party has been there for them all along and which will put the screws to them. Still, as Trump saw union after union shift back to Democrats he still thought the Teamsters would be his. And there are a helluva lot of truck drivers in this country. O’Brien’s speaking at the RNC, even if he didn’t announce an endorsement was I’m sure taken by Trump as a sign that the Teamsters were his. However O’Brien immediately came under fire for speaking to the RNC and is facing major challenges to his leadership. Seeing the swiftness with which other unions have rallied behind Harris and Democrats including and especially the UAW his collar has to be awfully tight these days.
He’s been in need of an “out” for his gaffe and Trump himself has gifted him with one. In that rambling wreck of an interview with Musk on Twitter/X the subject of unions came up. As this article by Rolling Stone notes Trump praised the concept of union busting and Musk in particular and O’Brien wasted little time in responding:
“I look at what you do,” Trump told Musk, laughing. “You walk in and you just say, ‘You wanna quit?’ They go on strike – I won’t mention the name of the company – but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK. You’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone.'”
In a statement to Politico, O’Brien responded to the interview by noting that “firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism.”
Listen for yourself:
Trump praises billionaire Elon Musk for firing workers who were striking for better pay and working conditions pic.twitter.com/4ZGWHV49Mw
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 13, 2024
Just a couple of rich old men (Musk ain’t young anymore himself) born to wealth and privilege laughing it up over the plight of working Americans they screw over every single day. In minds as sick as theirs it’s their right to take pleasure in creating hardship and even suffering in “lesser” people. O’brien nailed it when he labeled their chat as Economic Terrorism. That clip I included is going to be played in a LOT of union halls, and for a lot of blue collar union workers who’ve been conditioned for multiple generations now to see Democrats as the enemy and Republicans as their friends. “Economic Terrorism”, and some examples of anti-union Republican policies and actions starting back with Reagan and firing PATCO workers and the inroads President Biden made can become a problem greater than the GOP can overcome.
It must be noted that prior to O’Brien’s appearance at the RNC he and others in the Teamster’s leadership met with Trump. Trump promised them a ‘seat at the table’ whatever the hell THAT was supposed to mean. Someone doesn’t get to where O’Brien is without having some savvy and you’d think he’d know what any promise from Trump is or ever has been worth. Again, he didn’t announce an endorsement at the RNC and to be fair even challenged delegates a bit but it seemed like he was doing a ‘wink wink nod nod’ on behalf of his union. It might have played well in the convention hall and to Republican leaders around the country but it sure as hell didn’t from within the Teamsters:
In addition to a direct challenge against his leadership post from someone who held it previously there’s this:
The Teamsters are the largest union not to endorse Harris, and O’Brien is facing pressure from disgruntled factions upset over his RNC appearance. On Tuesday, the Teamsters National Black Caucus broke with its parent organization and voted unanimously to endorse Harris.
“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have consistently demonstrated their unwavering commitment to workers and their families. Their records reflect a deep dedication to advancing labor rights and supporting working-class Americans,” the caucus wrote in a statement announcing their endorsement. “In stark contrast, former President Donald Trump has consistently undermined workers’ rights, fueled divisiveness, and discriminated against marginalized communities.”
I’ve seen stories that indicate real dissension in the ranks. Some Teamsters are MAGAs to be sure. However, others are looking around and seeing not just other major unions but blue collar ones like the UAW swiftly shifting their endorsements from President Biden to Kamala Harris. I’m betting a lot of them, the bulk of them in fact would rather have a different “Sean” running their union. As in UAW President Shawn Fain. Fain is blunt and talks in terms rank and file Teamsters understand. He calls a spade a spade, or in this case a SCAB a SCAB. Fain has already filed a lawsuit against Trump and Musk for”illegal attempts to threaten and intimidate workers”:
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement on Tuesday. “Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It’s disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
O’Brien would do well to copy his counterpart over at the UAW and hit Trump with the ‘S-word.’ He’s got a chance to rally his members and get a much better working environment for them all by spending the rest of the week hitting Trump with the one-two punch of ‘Economic Terrorist’ and ‘Scab.’ He can even remind him that President Biden was the first U.S. President to walk a picket line with a union. AND that VP Harris did the same thing (again, with the UAW) back in 2019!
For damned sure Trump has screwed the pooch when it comes to getting the Teamster’s endorsement. He has to know that by now. Dare we hope that soon, perhaps next week during the DNC the Teamsters will come out and endorse Harris? My what a time it would be to own stock in a Ketchup company! For now I’ll say just keep running your fat suck MISTER Trump. You and your big fat mouth are your worst enemy.
With tRump, a seat at the table means just that. Remember when he held his first cabinet meeting? They all sat around the table and kissed his rear. Everyone sits there and he is the dick-tater.
Is there anybody left that the Melon Felon has NOT pissed off?
The list of his supporters would be shorter.
It’s a good thing for him he was never in the mob, since he’s broken the two rules: always keep your mouth shut and never rat on your friends. Otherwise he’d be in a landfill in New Jersey. WHAT A PUTZ!
More likely swimming with the fishes in concrete overshoes somewhere off Long Island never to float to the top. And likely giving the fishes heartburn.
The Teamsters was the first union to break off from the Democrats as a result of Bobby Kennedy’s pursuit of Jimmy Hoffa. But the Republicans seem more interested in breaking unions than to get their vote, from someone who remembers the Air Traffic Controllers getting busted by Ronnie Reagan.