Teamsters meet Wednesday to discuss whether to support Harris or Trump

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Teamsters executive committee meets in Washington on Wednesday as the 1.3 million-member union decides who to support in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Teamsters support could be a factor in a handful of key states that will decide the Nov. 5 election, including Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where union membership is strong.

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said Monday that the union could make its choice as early as Wednesday, after union officials meet with Vice President Kamala Harris. They met with Republican rival Donald Trump in January.

“We can’t put this matter off until later,” O’Brien said.

The Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, represents truck drivers and a wide range of other workers, including airline pilots and zookeepers.

The union endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, as well as Democrats Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. It has chosen Republicans in some previous elections.

Before Biden dropped out of the race in late July, leaders were considering not supporting any candidate.

Most major unions have endorsed Harris, including the United Auto Workers. The AFL-CIO, which represents 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, endorsed Harris in July.

O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, but also criticized Trump for suggesting that striking workers could be fired.

The union will present the results of the survey of its members to the executive committee on Wednesday, which is one of the factors in its decision-making.

Asked whether the union might choose not to endorse the deal, O’Brien said: “We’ll look at all options… We have to make sure we make the right decision.”

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sonali Paul, Heather Timmons and Chizu Nomiyama)