After the international Although the Brotherhood of Truckers broke with tradition and announced that it would not endorse any presidential candidate in this election, several joint boards in the swing states of Nevada, Michigan and Wisconsin have since publicly pledged their support for Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
“After reviewing six months of nationwide polling and concluding nearly a year of roundtable interviews with all major presidential candidates, the union has few commitments on key union issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris — and we have found no clear support among members for either party’s nominee,” the General Executive Board of the Teamsters union announced Wednesday.
The union's decision remains exceptional until November, as most major labor unions have backed Harris, including the United Auto Workers, the American Federation of Labor-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the United Steelworkers.
Earlier Wednesday, the Teamsters union released an online poll showing nearly 60 percent of its members favoring Trump, while a second phone poll showed 58 percent of members favoring Trump, compared with 31 percent for Harris. Trump touted the numbers at a rally in New York the same day. Still, local unions and boards, including the Long Island chapter, have endorsed Harris.
“As Vice President in the most pro-union administration ever, Kamala Harris worked with truckers and other union workers to pass the historic Butch Lewis Act, which has saved the pensions of more than a million retirees to date,” said Bill Carroll, president of the Wisconsin Truckers Joint Council 39. “In November, we will work with millions of union workers across the country to defeat Donald Trump again.”
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also received an endorsement from Michigan’s 43rd Joint House, which wrote: “Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz have consistently demonstrated their dedication to defending the labor movement, protecting Social Security, and ensuring access to qualified health care for all Americans, including women’s reproductive rights.”
Joint Councils 7 and 42, representing 300,000 truck drivers across California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam, endorsed Harris and Walz “for their commitment to standing with workers through action, such as supporting the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.” The joint statement also highlighted Walz’s signing of a bill banning forced captive public meetings. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) shared the endorsement on X, commenting, “Nevada truckers know that Kamala Harris is a fighter for our union workers. She has our back, and every union in this state, Nevada has her back.”
In August, Teamsters union president Sean O’Brien sparked an internal rebellion within his union when he spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. O’Brien also asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention but failed to receive an invitation. Instead, the Democratic National Committee invited Teamsters union members whose pensions were saved by the Biden-Harris administration to speak.
