As the International Brotherhood of Teamsters membership continues to vote on an official endorsement for president this election year, the Teamsters National Black Caucus (TNBC) has endorsed Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris.
In a news release posted to the group’s Facebook page, TNBC announced Tuesday that the caucus would endorse Harris for president.
“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz have consistently demonstrated their unwavering commitment to workers and their families,” the release states. “Their records reflect a deep dedication to advancing labor rights and supporting working class Americans. As a key partner in leading the most pro-labor administration in our lifetimes, Vice President Harris has proven to be a tough and principled fighter for workers’ rights and a leader who delivers on her promises.”
The endorsement also blasts Republican nominee Donald Trump, who the TNBC alleges is discriminatory, anti-immigrant and sexist. TNBC argues that while Trump was president, his administration weakened worker protections, undermined labor unions and blocked wage increases.
The TNBC is a nonprofit organization that represents Black members of the Teamsters union, which has over 1.3 million members in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. The caucus focuses on issues such as increasing participation within the Black community and other communities of color.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters reacts
While the TNBC is made up of Teamsters members, the organization is technically an independent group. Asked for the union’s reaction to TNBC’s endorsement, Kara Deniz, assistant director of communications at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said the union encourages all voices to be heard.
“We are a diverse union and what being in a union is all about, as a worker and as a member, is having your voice heard,” Deniz said in a phone interview with FreightWaves. “We encourage all voices because we’re a democratic union, and that is exactly why we are holding this endorsement process, so that our members can be engaged and involved.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is halfway through a monthlong vote polling its members on whom to endorse. Deniz said 1.6 million Teamsters members and retirees will have received a union magazine issue with a QR code that takes them to online polling about whom they want for president along with issues related to labor and what their priorities are.
Deniz said that going back to last fall, the Teamsters union invited candidates Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Biden and Cornel West to attend several presidential roundtables at Teamsters headquarters in Washington. There, candidates spoke with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien, Secretary Treasurer Fred Zuckerman and groups of rank and file Teamsters coming from Democratic, Republican and independent backgrounds from around the country.
“It’s really important to us that our members are engaged and that their voices are heard,” Deniz said. “The Teamsters union has never done anything like this before where we have sat down with the candidates, gone into the communities where members live at each local union and held these conversations that we’ve done.”
Deniz said the union’s decision on whom to endorse will come from data collected during the roundtable conversations, town halls and membership polls. The Teamsters’ general executive board will take all of this information into account in making the endorsement decision, which is expected sometime after the Democratic National Convention starting Monday.
“We have not had a sit-down with Vice President Harris at this time, although she has been invited,” Deniz said.
She said the Teamsters have not received a response from the Harris campaign regarding the roundtable invitation. As of Thursday, O’Brien has not yet been invited to the Democratic National Convention, which he has filed a request to speak at.
O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, making history as the first Teamsters president to do so. There, he called for labor reform and made an appeal to bipartisanship, stating the union was not beholden to any one political party.