Yes, a Union Leader Spoke at the RNC. Yes, the GOP Still Hates Labor.

The Teamsters went on to endorse Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and, in 2020, President Joe Biden, but according to Reuters, they are tentatively planning not to endorse either Biden or Trump in 2024. The reasons, Reuters says, include doubts about Biden’s feasibility as a candidate, but also may reflect irritation that O’Brien was refused a White House meeting to discuss a possible bailout for Yellow Corp, a large trucking company that declared bankruptcy last year. If the latter is true, O’Brien is overlooking that it wasn’t until Biden became president that the Teamsters were able to secure a long-sought $36 billion bailout of the Central States Pension Fund, a casualty of the Mob interference, Rust Belt decline, and mismanagement under federal receivership. Biden was vocally supportive of the generous contract O’Brien negotiated last year with UPS, securing wage increases of $7.50 per hour, heat safety protections, and an end to wage tiers and mandatory overtime.

According to Reuters, Republicans accepted O’Brien’s request to speak at their convention but Democrats have not. If true, that’s the kind of foolish inattention that I warned against in my April article, “Yes, Joe Biden Can Win the Working Class Vote.” In his Monday night speech, O’Brien said he was the first Teamsters president in history to address a Republican National Convention.

“I … want to thank President Donald Trump,” O’Brien said, “for opening the RNC’s doors to the Teamsters union, and inviting me to speak before you tonight.” O’Brien then articulated a series of Trumpian generalities about how working people receive little respect from the corporate elite. “We all know how Washington is run,” he said. “Working people have no chance of winning this fight. That’s why I’m here today—because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did.” That was a slap to James Hoffa, Jr., Teamsters president from 1998 to 2022 and an extremely partisan Democrat who, at a Detroit Labor Day rally with President Barack Obama in 2011, declared his union to be at war with the Tea Party and said, “Let’s take these sons-of-bitches out.” On Monday night, O’Brien said, “We are not beholden to anyone, or any party.” Indeed, the Teamsters raised eyebrows in February when it was reported that the union’s PAC gave the Republican National Committee $45,000. (The union also gave $150,000 to the Democratic National Committee.)