The Teamsters declined to endorse a presidential candidate Wednesday, the first time in decades that the union has not supported a presidential candidate.
“None of the major candidates have been able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure that the interests of working people are always placed ahead of those of big business,” Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said in a statement.
He added: “We sought commitments from (former President Donald) Trump and (Vice President Kamala) Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or key Teamster sectors – and to respect our members’ right to strike – but we were unable to obtain those commitments.”
The union’s decision comes two days after top leaders met with Harris to determine who to support.
The Teamsters, which represents truck drivers, freight workers and others, held similar meetings with Trump and President Joe Biden while he was still seeking reelection.
The union, which with 1.3 million members is one of the largest in the world, gathered its members’ views on approval through informal surveys and a QR code poll printed in a union magazine, said John Palmer, the union’s general vice president.
On Wednesday, the union released the results of its poll, conducted after Biden dropped out of the race. It found that nearly 60% of the union’s rank-and-file members favored supporting Trump, while 34% supported Harris, according to an electronic survey of members. A telephone poll indicated similar margins, with 58% supporting Trump and 31% supporting Harris.
The union did not disclose the number of survey participants or the margin of error.
The Teamsters have supported Democratic presidential candidates for decades. The union supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. It also supported Barack Obama in both of his presidential campaigns, John Kerry in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000.
In an email sent Wednesday, the Trump campaign highlighted the Teamsters poll.
“While the Teamsters Executive Committee is not making any official statements, Teamsters working members have made it clear that they want President Trump back in the White House!” campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “These hardworking men and women are the backbone of America and President Trump will stand strong for them when he returns to the White House.”
The former president spoke about the union’s decision not to endorse a candidate in an interview with reporters Wednesday, saying it was “a great honor.”
“The Teamsters have a lot of clout. The Democrats can’t believe it,” Trump said. “Look, it’s always been a given that the Democrats get the Teamsters, and they said, ‘We’re not going to support the Democrats this year,’ so it was an honor for me.”
Harris campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt highlighted Teamsters locals that have supported the vice president.
“The Vice President’s strong union record is why Teamsters locals across the country have already supported her, along with the overwhelming majority of unions,” Hitt said in a statement. “As the Vice President told Teamsters on Monday, when she is elected President, she will look out for the Teamsters’ rank and file no matter what, because they have always been and always will be the people she fights for.”
During his presidency, Biden has voiced his support for the labor movement and has spoken out frequently on conflicts between unionized workers and corporate executives. In 2021, he voiced his support for the right to organize in a live video as Amazon workers in Alabama prepared to vote on whether to unionize.
In 2021, then-Teamsters President James P. Hoffa credited Biden with including an $83 billion pension fund bailout in the American Rescue Plan Act, which bolstered the central states Teamsters pension fund.
In 2023, Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he visited striking auto workers in Michigan.
But despite describing himself as “the most pro-union president, leading the most pro-union administration in American history,” Biden drew criticism from unions two years ago when he worked with Congress to pass legislation that averted a looming rail strike.
The law forced unionized workers to accept a deal negotiated by the Biden administration. At the time, four of the 12 unions involved rejected the deal.
In signing the bill, Biden called it a “tough vote for me,” but cited the need to “keep supply chains stable through the holidays.”
The International Association of Fire Fighters is the largest union that has yet to endorse a presidential candidate this year. The union backed Biden in 2020.
The AFL-CIO, which represents dozens of unions and millions of workers, and the United Auto Workers union have both endorsed Harris.
