Teamsters decline to endorse a candidate

[gatomontes99]

But their members heavily support Trump.

Quote

Close to 60 percent of members who participated in an electronic poll said they supported Trump, compared to 34 percent who backed Harris. A separate survey conducted via phone similarly had Trump up big: 58 percent to 31 percent.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/18/teamsters-favor-trump-harris-endorsement-00179879

I said, and don't take this lightly, that when Joe broke the Railworkers' strike that the unions wouldn't forget. They did not forget.

Edited September 18, 2024 by gatomontes99

[Moonlight Graham]

Quote

The union said it expects to announce whether to endorse either candidate later in the day, but General President Sean O’Brien said earlier this week the polling of its membership would be a key consideration.

Why wouldn't the membership support be the only factor?  The union is made by the members.  The politics of its leadership is irrelevant.  I don't know why unions sometimes go against the wishes of their general membership.

[Hodad]

1 hour ago, Moonlight Graham said:

Why wouldn't the membership support be the only factor?  The union is made by the members.  The politics of its leadership is irrelevant.  I don't know why unions sometimes go against the wishes of their general membership.

Same reasons that elected officials don't just reflect the public opinion of their constituents. The point of representation is that the responsibility is delegated to a person who is (hopefully) smarter and definitely better informed and more focused on the issues. It's their job to know the politics, know the players and the secondary and tertiary ramifications of statements, actions and policies--to know better how to protect the interests of the union members.

Teamsters are majority white men and not well educated--right in the Trump core demo. They don't know that Trump and his allies are anti-labor, anti union and would be terrible for their livelihoods. The leadership does understand that, so they can't endorse Trump. --and frankly I think they are making a mistake by not maintaining their close relationship with the Democrats. Biden was good for labor. The teamsters are trying to hedge and play both sides, but only the Democrats actually want a relationship. Not a good hedge.

Edited September 19, 2024 by Hodad

[Five of swords]

5 hours ago, gatomontes99 said:

But their members heavily support Trump.

I said, and don't take this lightly, that when Joe broke the Railworkers' strike that the unions wouldn't forget. They did not forget.

Taylor swift is irrelevant, but far more relevant than a labor union.

[Deluge]

On 9/18/2024 at 5:20 PM, Moonlight Graham said:

Why wouldn't the membership support be the only factor?  The union is made by the members.  The politics of its leadership is irrelevant.  I don't know why unions sometimes go against the wishes of their general membership.

64% said f*ck you to the democrats - that's the majority. 

[robosmith]

On 9/18/2024 at 1:16 PM, gatomontes99 said:

But their members heavily support Trump.

I said, and don't take this lightly, that when Joe broke the Railworkers' strike that the unions wouldn't forget. They did not forget.

But many of the Teamster Locals support Harris.

Councils representing one million Teamsters endorse Kamala Harris

Quote

Local Teamsters unions across the country, including in key battleground states of Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, have rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. Collectively, these unions represent one million Teamsters. These local Teamsters have committed to immediately begin knocking doors and engaging in other voter contact efforts across the battlegrounds. Many Teamsters have also taken to the airwaves — on local and national television — to make sure their members know that Kamala Harris has spent her entire career championing labor, while Donald Trump celebrated firing striking workers and his Project 2025 agenda would fundamentally undermine the right to organize.

The list of local Teamsters organizations endorsing Vice President Harris includes:

• Teamster Retirees
• Teamsters National Black Caucus
• Teamsters Joint Council 43 (Michigan)
• Teamsters Joint Council 39 (Wisconsin)
• Teamsters Joint Council 42 (Southern Nevada)
• Teamsters Joint Council 7 (Northern Nevada)
• Teamsters Joint Council 40 (Western PA and Northern WV)
• Teamsters Joint Council 28 (WA, AK and Northern ID)
• Teamsters Joint Council 32 (MN, IA, ND, SD, and WI)
• Teamsters Joint Council 25 (Illinois)
• Teamsters Joint Council 13 (Missouri)
• Teamsters Local 623(Philadelphia, PA)
• Teamsters Local 122(Boston, MA)
• Teamsters Local 186 (Ventura, CA)
• Teamsters Local 572(Carson, CA)
• Teamsters Local 769(Miami, FL)
• Teamsters Local 848(Long Beach, CA)
• Teamsters Local 238 (Cedar Rapids, IA)
• Teamsters Local 237 (NYC)
• Teamsters Local 396 (Southern California)
• Teamsters Local 89(Kentucky and Indiana)
• Teamsters Local 202 (New York)

 

LMAO

 

 

[Deluge]

1 hour ago, robosmith said:

But many of the Teamster Locals support Harris.

But most of them don't.  

[Yakuda]

On 9/18/2024 at 7:20 PM, Moonlight Graham said:

Why wouldn't the membership support be the only factor?  The union is made by the members.  The politics of its leadership is irrelevant.  I don't know why unions sometimes go against the wishes of their general membership.

Because unions dont actually give a crap about their members. 

[impartialobserver]

not all that surprising honestly. endorsements are nice but not necessary for a win. 

[gatomontes99]

1 hour ago, robosmith said:

But many of the Teamster Locals support Harris.

Councils representing one million Teamsters endorse Kamala Harris

 

LMAO

 

 

Except 60% of their members chose Trump.

[robosmith]

31 minutes ago, gatomontes99 said:

Except 60% of their members chose Trump.

Not for the locals listed.