Vice President Harris joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for a roundtable Monday, as anticipation swirls around whom the union will endorse in the presidential race.
Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien told reporters they discussed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and “how important it is to veto a national right to work,” and they emphasized the diversity of views among his members after the meeting with the vice president.
“We represent everybody from airline pilots and zookeepers, and we don’t just represent registered Democrats,” O’Brien told reporters.
When asked whether his union was ready to make an endorsement, O’Brien said, “we have credible research and information to make a decision” but would not commit to an endorsement timeline.
Boasting 1.3 million members, Teamsters is one of the largest and most storied unions in the United States. The union has also hosted roundtables with former President Trump, President Biden and third-party candidates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
Its endorsement process has been closely watched as both parties compete for the support of labor leaders — who have consistently endorsed Democratic presidential candidates for decades — and union members.
Teamsters has yet to make an endorsement in the presidential race, even as other unions and labor organizations — including the United Auto Workers, the AFL-CIO and the Teamsters National Black Caucus — have endorsed Harris since she launched her campaign in mid-July.
Teamsters endorsed Biden during the 2020 election and has historically supported Democratic nominees, but O’Brien has bucked the notion that the union should automatically endorse a Democrat.
In July, O’Brien became the first Teamsters leader in the union’s 121-year history to speak at the Republican National Convention, declaring “the Teamsters are here to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party.”
While O’Brien called Trump “one tough SOB” after the assassination attempt in July, he was at odds with the former president weeks later.
O’Brien criticized Trump last month after the former president suggested firing workers who go on strike during an interview with Elon Musk on the social platform X, likening the proposal to “economic terrorism.”
When asked about his response to Trump’s comment, O’Brien said, “my answer is not going to change.”
“Because I had a meeting with Trump, because we interviewed him, doesn’t mean my moral compass or the Teamsters’ moral compass waivers. It’s all about workers,” O’Brien said.
Harris, on the other hand, has been supportive on the campaign trail of one of the union’s top policy priorities, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which strengthens workers’ ability to form a union and bargain with employers.
“You know, we’re going to call balls and strikes the end of the day,” O’Brien said. While he noted his “strong reaction” to Trump’s comments, he also said they had some asks with the Biden administration that haven’t happened.
O’Brien also said “Joe Biden’s been great for unions,” and that there “wasn’t a whole lot of difference” between the meeting with Harris and the meeting with Biden earlier this year.
Updated at 2:42 p.m. EDT