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Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends a marketing campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., September 12, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The primary nationwide physique of the Teamsters union could also be: refused to endorse a candidate for the 2024 presidential election, however that hasn’t stopped native chapters from doing so.
Based on Kamala Harris’ marketing campaign, almost two dozen Teamster locals and joint councils representing about 1 million Teamster employees have endorsed the vice chairman in current days, together with councils in key states like Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The assist comes from the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBOT) mentioned this week that it broke precedent by not formally giving a presidential endorsement. The Teamsters have usually supported Democrats for president in current races.
“Neither main candidate might make any severe commitments to our union to make sure that the pursuits of working folks at all times come earlier than massive enterprise,” Teamsters Normal President Sean O’Brien mentioned in a press release. O’Brien spoke on the Republican Nationwide Conference and has mentioned he didn’t obtain an analogous invitation from Democrats.
Harris enjoys broad assist from different labor teams, together with the AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor union, the Service Workers Worldwide Union and the Culinary Staff Union. These are historically Democratic-leaning teams with a various workforce.
The Teamsters, nevertheless, are historically extra related to white, working-class voters, a key voting group that can decide the end result of November.
Whereas the Teamsters’ failure to formally assist the group was a transparent setback for Harris, the motion didn’t deter particular person Teamster items from making their very own statements of assist.
Kevin Moore, president of the Michigan Teamsters, mentioned the state teamsters’ choice to endorse Harris and her operating mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, was unanimous among the many board.
“The Joint Council and Teamsters of Michigan know it’s too necessary for us to supply a impartial endorsement,” Moore advised NBC 25, an NBC Information affiliate in central Michigan. “We’re going to absolutely assist Kamala Harris and Tim Walz… our members are telling us that.”
Moore was scheduled to attend a Harris marketing campaign rally in Michigan on Friday.
In the meantime, Invoice Carroll, head of Teamsters Joint Council 39, which represents 15,000 employees in Wisconsin, mentioned “some” of the 15,000 members assist Trump.
However, the unit was approving Harris and Walz.
“There was completely no motion that Republicans have taken in Wisconsin that has actually benefited organized labor or working households on the whole,” Carroll mentioned. advised radio station WTAQ.
James P. Hoffa, president emeritus of the Teamsters and son of former Teamsters chief Jimmy Hoffa, mentioned in a press release this week that the 2024 elections are “too necessary to our union to fail to do our responsibility.”
“There is just one candidate on this race who has supported working households and unions all through his profession, and that’s Vice President Kamala Harris,” he mentioned.
It is unclear what affect the newest constellation of endorsements will finally have on Harris’s possibilities of election. An inside ballot performed by the Teamsters had proven its members overwhelmingly backing Trump, whereas an earlier ballot confirmed majority assist for President Joe Biden earlier than he dropped out of the race.
Trump applauds the non-endorsement of the proposal.
“The Teamsters carry plenty of weight,” he advised reporters Wednesday. “The Democrats cannot consider it. Look, it was at all times automated that Democrats obtained the Teamsters, they usually mentioned, ‘We’re not going to assist the Democrats this yr,’ in order that was an honor for me.”
Native Teamsters teams announce endorsements of Harris after nationwide union refuses
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