By Illinois Review
Late on Wednesday, after the Teamsters announced that they would not be making an endorsement in this upcoming presidential election following the release of an internal poll amongst its members that showed former President Donald Trump dominating Vice President Kamala Harris in a head-to-head matchup, the Teamsters Joint Council 25 – a local organization of Teamsters in Illinois and Northwest Indiana, issued an endorsement of Kamala Harris – calling Trump’s policies “anti-union.”
The council’s executive board voted unanimously to endorse Harris late on Wednesday, according to Pasquale Gianni, the director of government affairs for Teamsters Joint Council 25. Gianni noted that Harris would be a “stronger voice for working people” and called Trump’s policies during his first term “anti-union.”
Earlier in the day, the Teamsters released internal polling results showing its members nationwide supporting Trump over Harris 58% – 31% in a phone poll and 59.6% – 34% in an electronic member poll. Shortly after the results were released, the union’s General Executive Board released a statement saying,
“After reviewing six months of nationwide member polling and wrapping up nearly a year of rank-and-file roundtable interviews with all major candidates for the presidency, the union was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris – and found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.”
The Teamsters have over 1.3 million members, including truck drivers, freight workers, health care workers and airline workers.
In July, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee – a move that angered high profile Democrats. The speech was historic and represented the first time a union boss had ever addressed the RNC in its history.
The non-endorsement represents the first time in 30 years that the Teamsters have remained neutral during a presidential election.
