Teamsters union says not endorsing US presidential candidate in blow for Harris

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00:00One of the US's most influential unions has said it will not endorse any US presidential candidate,

00:06despite polling that has shown a majority of members backed Republican candidate Donald

00:11Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris. The 1.3 million member of the International Brotherhood

00:16of Teamsters Union represents truck drivers and a wide range of other workers. In the past,

00:21they have endorsed every Democratic candidate for president since 2000, but they have on occasion

00:27endorsed Republicans. Let's hear the reaction from Donald Trump. It doesn't include an

00:32exaggeration. The union last didn't back either candidate 28 years ago and last backed a Republican

00:38candidate George H.W. Bush 36 years ago. It's a great honor. They're not going to endorse the

00:45Democrats. That's a big thing. And this is the first time in, I guess, 50, 60 years that that's

00:51happened. Democrats automatically have the Teamsters. They took a vote and I guess I was

00:55at 60 percent or more. And that's a great honor. Donald Trump. Well, earlier we spoke to our

01:01correspondent Fraser Jackson in Washington. Well, both sides have been trying to get the

01:07Teamsters on boards. They have roughly 1.3 million members and most of those members

01:14are in key swing states like Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania. So really, it could be

01:19quite a pivotal, pivotal endorsement, which has now not gone either party's way, really.

01:26The internal polling from the Teamsters themselves showed that around 60 percent, just shy of 60

01:32percent of their workers favored Trump and just over just under a third rather were favoring

01:39Harris. We heard from the president of the Teamsters, Sean O'Brien, who said neither

01:44major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests

01:49of working people are always put before big business. He then continued, We sought commitments

01:54from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters

02:00industries and to honor our members right to strike, but were unable to secure those pledges.

02:05Of course, those strikes last year in 2023 was something that secured a pay rise for many union

02:11members across the automotive industry, around 11 percent increase for some for some workers.

02:17But there have been also criticisms of the right to strike, especially from Donald Trump. In

02:23an interview with Elon Musk, he basically said that Elon Musk did the right thing and basically

02:29trying to dissuade people from being able to strike. And that was something that Sean O'Brien,

02:34the president of the Teamsters, pushed back against on by Trump. But Sean O'Brien also

02:40did speak at the RNC this year and made a relatively apolitical speech. He did apparently

02:45also try to speak at the DNC, but didn't actually get given a speaker slot. But there were some

02:50Teamsters who were there. So an important an important endorsement, which is not going either

02:56way. Both campaigns trying to spin it to their advantage. We're hearing from Donald Trump, who

03:01said the vast majority of rank and file working men and women in this important organization

03:06want President Donald Trump back in the White House. That was from his campaign

03:10and the Harris campaign saying when she is elected president, she will look out for the Teamsters

03:14rank and file no matter what, because they always have been and always will be the people she

03:18fights for. So regardless, the endorsement officially not going either way, both campaigns

03:23trying to take advantage of it.

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