President Biden could face a major blow in 2024 if he fails to secure the support of the Teamsters union, which promises to do its “duty of care” rather than automatically supporting Democrats.
Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters, seems to be playing both sides so far: He called Biden “definitely the most pro-worker president we’ve ever had, that we’ve ever seen,” but then also secured a spot as keynote speaker at this year’s Republican National Convention, with former President Trump in the audience.
There he called Trump “a tough guy” after an assassination attempt at a rally. O’Brien has said he has been asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention scheduled for next month, but has not yet been invited.
This is odd, as Biden often touts himself as the most union-friendly president, frequently visiting union halls and even once joining a picket line.
“There is a lot of frustration among labor overall, and I think that’s where the Democrats are engaging in political malpractice. And that’s why Sean O’Brien gave a speech at the Republican convention that made it clear that if you’re a union member, you might think it’s OK to vote for Trump,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution.
Although Biden enjoyed union support in 2020 and won several key states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, Democrats still lost many union members who switched to Trump, whose anti-free trade message and other rhetoric resonated with blue-collar voters, including in Ohio. In 2016, there was a significant shift in union support toward Republicans, contributing to Trump’s victory in states such as Ohio and Michigan.
Union members are among the key voting blocs in 2024 that Biden needs to rebuild the coalition that won him the White House in 2020. Meanwhile, Trump has nominated Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance, seen as a way to bolster the former president’s support among America’s middle and working classes.
Geevarghese argued that the Teamsters’ refusal to vote could be a sign that union members may turn to Trump again, as they did in 2016.
“I think the working class and union votes are up for grabs,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve necessarily seen a dramatic turnaround, although the president has made some significant investments in infrastructure and in manufacturing. The problem is that the investments won’t pay off for several years… none of this happens overnight. I think that’s something that Donald Trump will exploit.”
However, Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of the Labor Education Research Department at Cornell University, argues that O’Brien’s appearance at the convention and the Teamsters’ lack of support are not part of a larger trend among unions, but a political maneuver.
“I think what we’re seeing now is that the Teamsters president thinks Trump is likely to win, and that it would help the Teamsters if they picked a winner,” she said. “I don’t think they’re going to support him. I think he’s trying to get as much done as he can without supporting him.”
The Teamsters told The Hill that they traditionally express their support according to conventions and that they seek input from members in different ways and incorporate it into decision-making.
And the DNC has not yet officially announced its August speaker list.
“I never saw them exclude the union that wanted to join,” Bronfenbrenner said of the Democrats.[O’Brien] believes [O’Brien’s] he’s playing his cards smartly. And the question is, will that backfire on his members and the rest of the labor movement? And if Biden or a Democrat were to win, would that backfire significantly?”
Biden received early support from other major union groups, including the main union organization, the AFL-CIO in June 2023 along with AFSCME and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, to name a few.
His allies support his support of unions and argue that he is the most union-friendly president in American history.
“We have the most pro-union and pro-worker president in the history of this country and I say that as a union member who is there for our collective bargaining rights, who is there for the safety of our workers, who is there for our pensions,” Governor Tim Walz (D-Minn.) said Wednesday.
In March, Biden met with the Teamsters to persuade them to officially endorse him, thereby securing crucial support from a major union.
He has also told unions at several union conferences that they had “brought him to the dance” – a phrase he repeats in union circles – and he has tried to join them.
“Some people learn very different lessons as they grow up than you and I … they learn – and my opponent learned it – that the best way to get rich is to inherit your wealth,” Biden said in April at the conference of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), a major union supporting his re-election campaign.
He then said at a conference of the North American Construction Union, which supported him, said: “We all know people like Trump who look down on us. Don’t you? We all know someone we grew up with who is like that.”
Meanwhile, polls suggest that Americans lack confidence in Biden’s handling of the economy, and Biden is struggling to convince Americans that his economic agenda is working.
An ABC News/Ipsos Survey in May 46 percent of Americans say they trust Trump on the economy and inflation, while 32 percent said the same of Biden, despite the economic push away from the high inflation for months.
Biden also has a history with the Teamsters during his presidency. O’Brien has asked the White House not to intervene when UPS workers began to strike last July after the White House had intervened in September 2022 to avoid a nationwide rail strike.
In September 2023, Biden became the first sitting president to break a picket line when he joined a United Auto Workers strike in Michigan, earning him support months later from the group skeptical of his electric mobility initiative.
But the Teamsters’ reticence and O’Brien’s appearance in Milwaukee were “highly problematic” for Biden, Geevarghese said.
“Whether or not O’Brien officially endorsed Republicans at the convention is beside the point,” he said. “Sean O’Brien created an approval structure that allows union voters to vote Republican.”
