How the 2024 election set the Teamsters on a collision course with their own union
The traditionally Democrat-leaning group broke decades of precedent with overtures to the GOP, capping with a refusal to endorse any candidate for the White House. It is a decision that is not sitting well with many rank and file members


For three decades, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has been a reliable partner among the various stakeholders that make up the Democratic party's coalition of allies. The Teamsters Union, as it is more commonly known, has endorsed the Democratic nominee for president every election year since 1996, encouraging its 1.3 million members to vote for the major political party understood as being the more labor-friendly of the two.
That streak ended this month when the union announced it would not be endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris or Donald Trump for president. In a press release the group explained that they had been "left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues" from the candidates and found "no definitive support among members for either party's nominee."
It is a break from tradition which, while shocking, was not wholly unforeseen. Two months earlier, union president Sean O'Brien made history as the first Teamster leader ever to address the Republican National Convention this past July. Predictably, O'Brien's speech proved immediately polarizing within his own organization, presaging the backlash O'Brien faces now for the group's non-endorsement — a backlash which has manifested in large part in the form of vocal endorsements for the Harris campaign from multiple local teamster chapters eschewing their national leadership.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
How did one of the most powerful labor unions in the country get to this point? And with just a few weeks to go before election day, where do they go from here?
What does the non-endorsement mean for the election(s)?
Although the national governing body may have declined to endorse a candidate this year, "a wave of local and regional Teamsters union branches in battleground states rushed to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris" in the immediate wake of the group's decision to abstain, The Washington Post said. Perhaps counterintuitively, "the outpouring of local endorsements for Harris could be more important in influencing how Teamsters turn out to vote than the national union's decision to abstain," since the most effective union mobilization efforts take place on the local level.
Whether done in good faith or not, O'Brien's rightward overtures and the decision not to endorse a candidate this year has "pissed off the Democratic Party. He has pissed off the Harris campaign. He has pissed off the rest of the labor movement and his union allies. He has pissed off the most politically astute segment of his own membership," In These Times said. As a result, he "looks weak, since his own locals staged a backlash against him." All this comes just weeks after O'Brien "ignited an internal rebellion" for his RNC speech, Rolling Stone said. At the tip of that rebellion is Teamsters Vice President-At-Large John Palmer's newly created campaign to oust O'Brien for having "promised a more engaged leadership and a more militant union" while delivering instead a "PR blast furnace of misinformation and betrayal."
NEWS: Teamsters VP-at-Large, John Palmer, who has been extremely critical of current President O’Brien’s overtures towards the GOP, has just announced he’s forming an opposition slate and running for president in the 2026 Teamsters leadership election. “We are better than this.” pic.twitter.com/f8wOrojhp7July 19, 2024
Former Teamster boss and General President Emeritus Jim Hoffa, son of famed union figure Jimmy Hoffa, has been similarly critical of his successor's "failure of leadership," issuing his own endorsement of Harris in a statement last week.
INBOX: Former Teamsters President Jim Hoffa just issued a harsh rebuke of Teamsters' Sean O'Brien.Hoffa accused O'Brien of a "failure of leadership" and "critical error" for not endorsing Harris. pic.twitter.com/q2Ml5NpFb9September 20, 2024
Where do the Teamsters — and both political parties — go from here?
Should Democrats win in November, O'Brien will have to "try to rebuild all of these bridges that have been burned" both within and beyond the Teamsters union itself, In These Times said. And if the Republicans win," being Trump's buddy is not going to save you from the end of the NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] and a return to pre-New Deal hostility to all forms of union power." The non-endorsement is "plainly shocking and a lose-lose" situation for the union, said Slate. "As the only union out of the nation's 10 largest unions not to endorse Harris, the Teamsters made the mistake of taking the Democrats for granted."
The Teamsters' national non-endorsement, as well as local chapter support for Harris is "unlikely to affect the election, at least not by itself," said Georgetown University Professor Hans Noel to U.S. News and World Report. "More likely, it could have contributed to the sense people have of who the candidates are and who appeals to them."
Ultimately, the Democrats should be "taking a step back and saying something's wrong" for having missed an endorsement opportunity, O'Brien said to The Boston Globe. Conversely, for a GOP that brags about being the "party for workers of America, this is an opportunity to not just talk about it but to prove it."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Why does Donald Trump want Greenland?
The Explainer Trump is not the only US president who has tried to gain control of Greenland
By The Week UK Published
-
What dangers does the leaked Signal chat expose the US to?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House's ballooning group chat scandal offered a masterclass in what not to say when prying eyes might be watching
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump sets 25% tariffs on auto imports
Speed Read The White House says the move will increase domestic manufacturing. But the steep import taxes could also harm the US auto industry.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Even authoritarian regimes need a measure of public support — the consent of at least some of the governed'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Waltz takes blame for texts amid calls for Hegseth ouster
Speed Read Democrats are calling for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Michael Waltz to step down
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
USPS Postmaster General DeJoy steps down
Speed Read Louis DeJoy faced ongoing pressure from the Trump administration as they continue to seek power over the postal system
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge: Nazis treated better than Trump deportees
speed read U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reaffirmed his order barring President Donald Trump from deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'There is a certain kind of strength in refusing to concede error'
instant opinion 'Opinion, comment and editorials of the day'
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published