The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the largest and most influential US labour unions, declined Wednesday to make a presidential endorsement, breaking with a quarter-century tradition of backing Democratic White House hopefuls. FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney speaks to Paul Clark, Professor of Labour and Employment Relations at Pennsylvania State University. He says that Kamala Harris will have the support of all other major unions in the US.
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00:00Welcome to Apropos.
00:04In a race with all still to play for,
00:06its endorsement could have been a factor
00:08in a handful of key battleground states.
00:11The executive board of one of America's largest trade unions
00:14has decided not to provide its backing to either candidate.
00:18That's despite a poll of members that saw Donald Trump
00:21receive 58% of the votes and Kamala Harris 31.
00:25For the latest, let's cross live
00:27to our Washington correspondent Fraser Jackson.
00:30Fraser, election observers had been eagerly awaiting
00:34white smoke following this meeting,
00:36and for the last few months really.
00:38Is this a major upset for the Democrats,
00:41the fact that neither Trump nor Kamala Harris
00:44has received the backing of this union?
00:48Both sides have been trying to get the Teamsters on board.
00:52They have roughly 1.3 million members
00:55and most of those members are in key swing states
00:59like Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
01:02So really it could be quite a pivotal endorsement
01:06which has now not gone either party's way really.
01:09The internal polling from the Teamsters themselves
01:13showed that around 60%, just shy of 60% of their workers
01:17favoured Trump and just under a third rather
01:21were favouring Harris.
01:23We heard from the president of the Teamsters, Sean O'Brien,
01:27who said neither major candidate was able
01:29to make serious commitments to our union
01:32to ensure the interests of working people
01:34are always put before big business.
01:36He then continued,
01:37we sought commitments from both Trump and Harris
01:40not to interfere in critical union campaigns
01:42or core Teamsters industries
01:44and to honour our members' right to strike,
01:46but were unable to secure those pledges.
01:48Of course those strikes last year in 2023
01:52were something that secured a pay rise
01:54for many union members across the automotive industry,
01:57around 11% increase for some workers,
02:00but there have been also criticisms of the right to strike,
02:04especially from Donald Trump
02:06in an ex-interview with Elon Musk.
02:09He basically said that Elon Musk did the right thing
02:12in basically trying to dissuade people
02:14from being able to strike
02:16and that was something that Sean O'Brien,
02:18the president of the Teamsters,
02:20pushed back against on by Trump.
02:22But Sean O'Brien also did speak at the RNC this year
02:26and made a relatively apolitical speech.
02:28He did apparently also try to speak at the DNC
02:31but didn't actually get given a speaker slot,
02:33but there were some Teamsters who were there.
02:35So an important endorsement,
02:39which is not going either way,
02:41both campaigns trying to spin it to their advantage.
02:43We're hearing from Donald Trump who said
02:45the vast majority of rank and file working men and women
02:48in this important organisation
02:50want President Donald Trump back in the White House.
02:52That was from his campaign.
02:54And the Harris campaign saying when she is elected president
02:56she will look out for the Teamsters, rank and file,
02:59no matter what, because they always have been
03:01and always will be the people she fights for.
03:03So regardless of the endorsement officially not going either way,
03:06both campaigns trying to take advantage of it.
03:08Fraser, for now, thank you so much.
03:10That is Fraser Jackson, our Washington correspondent.
03:13Well, for more, let's bring in Paul Clark.
03:15He's Professor of Labour and Employment Relations
03:18at Pennsylvania State University in the US.
03:21Thank you so much for being with us on the programme this evening, Paul.
03:24So has this lack of an endorsement come as a surprise?
03:28What were you expecting?
03:30Well, I don't think this is a big surprise.
03:33As your report suggested,
03:36a large percentage of the Teamsters are Trump supporters.
03:40The union leaders of the Teamsters are elected officials
03:44and they have to be responsive to their members.
03:47And in this case, I don't think the president of the Teamsters
03:52felt comfortable issuing an endorsement for either candidate,
03:58given the split in his membership.
04:00The Teamsters, they'd endorsed Joe Biden back in 2020,
04:04Hillary Clinton in 2016, Obama in 2008 and 2012.
04:09So how much of a blow will this be seen as being for Kamala Harris?
04:13She's received backing from other major trade unions in the US.
04:18Well, I think she would have very much liked
04:20to have had the endorsement of the Teamsters.
04:22But she will have the endorsement
04:25of virtually all other major unions in the United States.
04:30The only unions that won't, that have supported Donald Trump
04:35are the police unions and the border patrol unions.
04:39And the other unions, the major industrial unions,
04:44service unions, healthcare unions,
04:46they have all or will endorse Harris
04:51and they'll put their union's assets and resources behind her.
04:55So the support she's going to get from those unions
04:59is going to be very helpful.
05:01And how much sway do unions actually have though in the US
05:04in terms of when it comes to influencing
05:07how voters actually decide to cast their ballot on polling day?
05:11Well, really what unions focus on is their own membership.
05:16And union membership in the US is relatively small
05:20compared to other countries.
05:22But the margins for the key battleground states,
05:27Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, are going to be very narrow.
05:32And there are significant numbers of union members in those states.
05:36So unions will be trying to get their members
05:39in those key swing states to vote for Harris.
05:42They'll get out the vote efforts.
05:45They'll have phone banks.
05:48They'll have an energised membership.
05:51And that could make the difference when the margin is going to be so small.
05:55And how much influence then do the unions have when it comes to policy?
06:00Do they have any kind of influence there?
06:02Both Trump and Biden as well,
06:04they've been joining Teamsters Roundtable
06:07since they began holding them back in December.
06:10Well, Joe Biden ran on the position
06:13that he wanted to be the most pro-union president in American history.
06:18And he has done a great number of things
06:21that have benefited the labour movement.
06:24There's no question that the only pro-union candidate in the election
06:29is Kamala Harris.
06:33And unions have received a big boost from the Biden administration.
06:39And I think they'll receive, and they think they'll receive,
06:42a big boost from Kamala Harris.
06:45So it does make a difference.
06:47And in terms of what Teamsters president Sean O'Brien has been saying,
06:52he had sought speaking slots
06:54at both the Democrat and Republican conventions.
06:57What did you make of the fact
06:59that he was given a primetime slot by the Republicans
07:02but not by the Democrats?
07:05Well, I think O'Brien, who spoke at the Republican convention,
07:09he was the first national union president to ever do that.
07:14I think he was trying to send a signal to his membership,
07:18that percentage that support Donald Trump,
07:21that he heard them.
07:23The Democrats, probably in part
07:27because he did speak at the Republican convention,
07:29didn't invite him to speak.
07:32But I think his reasons for doing so
07:35are internal political reasons.
07:38He has to get re-elected
07:40and he didn't want to offend this large percentage of his membership
07:44that are strong Trump supporters.
07:47Because it may come as a surprise to some viewers
07:49because Kamala Harris, she's been supportive on the campaign trail
07:53of one of this union's top policy priorities,
07:56that is the Protecting the Right to Organise Act,
07:59which strengthens workers' ability to form a union
08:02and to do things like bargain with employers.
08:05So is this really something that's going to be seen as a boost for Trump,
08:09despite the fact that he hasn't been as pro-union
08:12as the Democrats have been?
08:15No, I don't think this will make much difference
08:19in terms of Trump support.
08:22He has his supporters in the unions.
08:25In the Teamsters, they have more Trump supporters than most unions.
08:31I don't think this is going to change anybody's vote,
08:34one way or the other.
08:36But you think it might have been crucial or important
08:39in some of the key battleground states?
08:42Well, I do think on the margin,
08:45having the Teamsters endorsement would help.
08:48Unions have been gearing up for this election for a long time,
08:52and they are ready to go.
08:55They're going to bring a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm.
09:00They're going to get out there in the communities
09:03to try to get their members who are undecided,
09:07the undecided portion of their members, to vote for Harris.
09:11And since the election is going to be so tight,
09:14that could make a difference.
09:16And what have some of the other unions been saying?
09:18Why have they said that they have been deciding
09:20to put their support behind Kamala Harris then?
09:24Well, again, it's because of the performance
09:26of the Biden administration.
09:29In our labour relations system,
09:31there's a government agency that interprets labour law.
09:36It swings back and forth.
09:38When Republicans are in office,
09:41it tends to rule in favour of employers.
09:44When the labour movement,
09:46when a labour-friendly administration,
09:48a democratic administration is in office,
09:50it tends to rule in favour of workers and unions.
09:54The Biden National Labour Relations Board
09:57has been very, very supportive of unions
10:01and has interpreted the law in a way
10:03that has really given them a boost.
10:05So that's probably the main thing that they're looking at
10:08that they hope will continue
10:10and they believe will continue
10:12under a Harris administration.
10:14And does the fact that there was, you know,
10:16no decision made to back either candidate,
10:18does that suggest that this union in particular
10:21is divided among itself
10:23when it comes to what the board may be feeling on one hand
10:25and what the rank and file members are saying on the other?
10:29Yeah, it really is.
10:31There is a split among American union members.
10:34Trump has a greater percentage of union member support
10:41than most Republican presidents in the recent past.
10:45But in his first administration,
10:48he did virtually nothing to support unions as organisations.
10:53The Biden administration has been a great deal,
10:56has done a great deal.
10:58The union leaders know this,
11:00but many of the members don't.
11:02They're voting on social issues,
11:04on immigration, on guns,
11:07on transgender rights.
11:10It's the union leaders that are really knowledgeable
11:14and focused on what the Trump administration
11:17versus the Biden administration has done to support them.
11:22OK, Paul, we'll have to leave it there for now.
11:24Thank you so much for your time on the programme, though.
11:26That is Professor Paul Clarke.
11:28He's Professor of Labour and Employment Relations
11:30at Pennsylvania State University.
11:32Thank you so much.
11:33You're welcome.
11:34Do stay with us.
11:35Do stay with us.