One of the most powerful labor unions in the country just sent a message to its 1.3 million members that it’s not just a Democratic Party mouthpiece.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters indicated that it was sending a $45,000 donation to the Republican Party convention fund, marking the first time since 2004 that the Teamsters had signaled any support for the GOP.
According to Axios, “Earlier that month, Trump met with Teamsters president Sean O’Brien behind closed doors. The former president also participated in a public roundtable meeting with the union on Jan. 31.”
Judging by some polls, “College graduates are now a firmly Democratic bloc, and they are shaping the party’s future. Those without degrees, by contrast, have flocked to Republicans,” according to the New York Times. The Times might have amended that observation by adding “flocked to Trump and the Republicans,” since Trump has continued his poaching of traditional Democratic constituencies.
The donation doesn’t mean that the Teamsters are going to endorse Trump. In fact, the union has given “a total of $135,000 to the DNC in December, including $45,000 for its convention fund,” per Axios.
But Biden doesn’t have the Teamsters’ endorsement wrapped up yet.
The gift to the RNC, which is facing fundraising woes, magnifies tensions for unions that have benefited from Biden policies making it easier for workers to unionize and subsidizing projects to create union jobs, even as Trump remains popular among a lot of rank-and-file union members, especially in battleground states such as Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Following a meeting in late January at the Teamsters headquarters in D.C., Trump told reporters that he had a “good shot” at receiving the union’s endorsement. But Teamsters chief Sean O’Brien said during the same news conference that the Biden administration had “been great for unions,” adding that the Teamsters still had “some more questions that need to be asked to both candidates.”
Richard Nixon had a close relationship with Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa. He pardoned Hoffa in 1971 which led to a Teamster endorsement and millions of dollars in Teamster contributions.
Ronald Reagan had some support for unions until he broke the air traffic controller strike in 1981. The unions were trying to blackmail the U.S. government and endanger the lives of air travelers. Reagan shut them down by firing more than 11,000 of them.
Trump probably won’t get the endorsement of the Teamsters. But that’s not going to stop rank-and-file members from casting their votes for him.
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