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White House officials, congressional Democrats and several labor leaders say they are angry about Teamsters President Sean O’Brien’s prime-time address to the Republican National Convention on Monday night, which marked a striking departure for a powerful union that for decades has supported Democrats.
In a speech closely watched by other union officials, O’Brien praised former president Donald Trump - calling him “one tough SOB” after Saturday’s assassination attempt - as well as his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, for “truly [caring] about working people.”
Breaking from nearly all other speakers at the Republican convention, O’Brien did not publicly endorse Donald Trump. He also criticized corporate greed and took pains to emphasize that he would work with any lawmaker who would support union priorities, regardless of party affiliation. But his very presence in Milwaukee - among GOP lawmakers and a former president who have pushed a policy agenda sharply at odds with that of the unions - sent shock waves through labor and Democratic circles.
[Analysis: Republicans try to square pro-worker rhetoric with anti-union policies]
White House aides were particularly furious over O’Brien’s appearance, which they viewed as a betrayal of the administration’s support for many of the Teamsters’ top priorities, according to two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
President Biden secured a pension bailout that restored retirement accounts for around 350,000 Teamsters members, appointed staunchly pro-labor allies to the National Labor Relations Board and instituted labor requirements for federal contracts. The backlash against O’Brien’s speech reflects the high stakes of the 2024 presidential election for the nation’s labor movement, which fears Trump will undo these policies.
“How could the Teamsters not endorse the man who is transparently the most pro-labor president in history? There is no question the White House is furious,” said one person in communication with White House officials. “Everybody is p---ed. Everybody is like, ‘What on Earth? How could this have gotten so messed up?’”
A White House spokeswoman declined to comment.
In his address, O’Brien acknowledged that Trump’s invitation to him to speak at the convention had sparked “political unrest” on both sides of the political spectrum. “The left called me a traitor,” he said to a round of boos from the audience. O’Brien has explained his decision to wait to endorse this year as an effort to carefully assess the union’s options, saying that his members’ votes “will not be taken for granted.”
Kara Deniz, a Teamsters spokeswoman, responded to the criticism with a statement: “The corporatists that the Teamsters exposed on the floor of the RNC own the Washington Post and were likely upset by how many times Sean O’Brien directly called out Amazon’s atrocious employment practices.”
“The Teamsters refuse to be pressured to fall in line by those who continue to applaud a broken system,” Deniz continued. “We will continue to participate in the political process at all levels on behalf of working people.”
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.
At least one labor leader, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, defended O’Brien’s speech. And some labor leaders say they hope they can cultivate the support of a minority faction of GOP leaders - including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has worked with O’Brien - who have suggested an openness to backing some priorities of organized labor.
“Today, the Teamsters are here to say we are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said at the Republican convention. “The Teamsters and the GOP may not agree on many issues, but a growing group has shown the courage to sit down and consider points of view that aren’t funded by big-money think tanks.”
Still, O’Brien’s embrace of Trump on the national stage drew criticism from other labor unions, congressional Democrats and even members of his own union.
John Palmer, a Teamsters executive board member and vice president at-large, said Tuesday that he was “embarrassed” by O’Brien’s convention speech. “Without Joe Biden, myself and many other Teamsters would lose our pensions. So this is really disrespectful,” Palmer added.
Other labor officials were also critical of O’Brien’s appearance.
Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of unions, said in a statement that although she agrees with O’Brien’s critiques of corporate greed, “Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the bosses’ side.”
“We won’t be fooled,” Shuler said.
“It’s disappointing to see a national labor leader speak like that at the GOP convention,” said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which has 90,000 members. “Make no mistake about it, their intent is to crush federal unions and have mass firings of federal employees and turn the government into an at-will employer where people are hired and fired based on their political leanings.”
Jimmy Williams Jr., president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, representing 140,000 skilled trades union members, called O’Brien “a brother of mine” but noted that “on this issue we respectfully disagree.”
“The Republican Party platform doesn’t do a thing to help unions or working people,” Williams said. “And what we are hearing in this campaign is no different.”
It’s not surprising that a number of top labor unions are angry, experts say.
“Many labor leaders and rank-and-file members, inside and outside the Teamsters, are upset and feel betrayed by O’Brien’s speaking at a convention of the party that has been vehemently anti-union,” said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University, citing conversations with union officials. “We have the Teamsters now endorsing, whether directly or indirectly, a Republican candidate that is very antilabor.”
[Trump praised by former rivals at RNC in a show of party unity]
Democrats on Capitol Hill also expressed astonishment at O’Brien’s appearance at the convention. The Teamsters have received backing from Democrats to launch campaigns against Amazon’s labor practices and save its union members’ pensions.
“The Democratic Party is pro-labor union and pro-worker,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the son of a Teamster, responding to O’Brien’s address. “Every single Democrat in Congress voted to save the pensions of hundreds of thousands of Teamsters workers. And every Republican voted against it.”
O’Brien’s Republican convention appearance rankled one progressive group so much that it is taking the unusual step of mounting an official campaign urging O’Brien specifically to endorse the Democratic nominee. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is asking Teamsters members to speak out against O’Brien. “It is misinformation to stay neutral in 2024 if Donald Trump and Republicans won’t publicly match the Democratic Party’s strong pro-worker agenda,” the group said.
Most major unions have rallied behind Biden, and some are likely to be prominently featured at the Democratic National Convention next month. O’Brien has requested to speak at the Democratic convention but has yet to receive an invitation, Deniz, the Teamsters spokeswoman, previously told The Post.
Democrats may see O’Brien’s support as buttressing pro-business forces, but GOP lawmakers hoping to change their own party are hoping more labor leaders follow his lead. Some Republicans praised O’Brien’s move as an important first step in encouraging more Republicans to support unions.
O’Brien’s “posture of saying to both parties, ‘Hey, we will be for you if you will be for workers, if you will support workers [to] get better wages and help protect their jobs’ … that’s pretty sharp,” Hawley told The Post on Tuesday. “What I think he’s doing is really savvy.”
Yet O’Brien’s tighter relationship with Hawley appears to be causing internal strife. After Hawley penned an opinion piece praising O’Brien’s convention speech, while accusing corporate America of using profits to push DEI and “the religion of the trans flag,” the Teamsters’ official X account briefly rebuked the Hawley piece.
Responding directly to O’Brien’s comments on X, calling Hawley’s article “100 % on point,” the Teamsters account said “unions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right, no matter how much people like Sen. Hawley attempt to tether such bigotry to a cynical pro-labor message.” The post was deleted but was captured in a screenshot and shared by journalist Matt Pearce.