The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it will not endorse any US presidential candidate, although most of its members favoured Republican candidate Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris, according to recent polls. With about 1.3 million members in the US and Canada, the union claimed that neither Democratic candidate Kamala Harris nor Republican nominee Donald Trump had made “few commitments on top Teamsters issues.” It further asserted that surveys of its regular members revealed "no definitive support" for either candidate, despite the fact that two of its most recent surveys showed a lopsided preference for Trump.

The decision is a huge blow to the Harris campaign's efforts to woo the working-class electorate, with less than 50 days left before the election. An endorsement would have galvanised thousands of Teamsters in vital battleground states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. In the wake of the decision, several regional councils of the Teamsters, constituting more than half a million members, including those in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and California, announced that they would vote for Harris.

The Harris campaign announced in a statement that it has the backing of "the overwhelming majority of organised labour" and that many local Teamsters members have endorsed her candidacy. "While Donald Trump says striking workers should be fired, Vice-President Harris has literally walked the picket line and stood strong with organised labour for her entire career," Lauren Hitt, the campaign's spokesperson, said.

The rank-and-file, in fact, a coalition of members, including freight drivers, warehouse workers and airline pilots, long ago ceased to be diverse politically. It is worth noting that General President Sean O'Brien has been trying to make contact with Republicans since he assumed the leadership at the helm of the executive board in 2022. He has also reached out to even more populist figures in the party, including US senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and JD Vance of Ohio, who is now Trump's running mate.Prior to the former president attending a roundtable with the union's board at its headquarters in Washington, DC, Mr. O'Brien also had a private meeting with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in January.

After the meeting, Trump declared that he thought he had a "good shot" at winning the union's support. Along with third-party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, the board also had meetings with President Joe Biden before his withdrawal as the Democratic nominee.

However, the union scared Democrats when it gave their rivals their first money in years, giving the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in February $45,000 (£34,000), the maximum amount permitted. By speaking at the Republican National Convention (RNC), Mr. O'Brien also made history as the first-ever boss of the Teamsters.The head of the union declined to endorse Trump despite praising him as "one tough SOB" and accepting an invitation to give a prime-time speech at the Milwaukee event.

He later criticized Trump and top campaign surrogate and billionaire businessman Elon Musk over comments in which the two discussed firing workers who threatened to go on strike.Mr O'Brien never received an invitation from the Democrats to address their party convention last month after he had decided to speak at the RNC.

The party instead invited rank-and-file members to represent the organisation and speak from the convention stage. Some members of the Teamsters union voiced anger at Mr O'Brien for his outreach to right-wingers. Last month, the Teamsters National Black Caucus and six union locals took their decision to endorse Harris on their own and to urge members to get behind her. On Monday, Harris met with the Teamsters board in a round table that had long been delayed, lasting an hour and a half.

The sit-down was described as "sometimes tense" in a New York Times report, but when questioned by the BBC, a Teamsters spokesperson refuted this description.

The Times also reported that Harris told Teamsters leaders, "I'm confident I'm going to win this," during their meeting. I will treat you exactly as if I had received your endorsement, but I really want your support." After Harris finished her pitch, Mr. O'Brien told reporters that "there wasn't a whole lot of difference" between the responses she gave and those of her predecessor, Biden.

Biden has frequently referred to himself as "the most pro-labour president ever," citing measures that have facilitated US workers' ability to form unions and given union labour priority for federal government projects. When he joined the United Autoworkers in Michigan last September in their strike against the Big Three US auto companies—General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis—he became the first US president to ever walk a picket line. Additionally, the Biden administration contributed $36 billion to the Teamsters pension fund, preventing, according to the organisation, the reduction of over 600,000 members' retirement benefits.

Biden has been praised by Mr. O'Brien and other leaders on multiple occasions for being "great for unions". However, before his withdrawal in July, rumours were circulating that the Teamsters were not going to support Biden's reelection campaign.

Image source: BBC