Harris to meet with Teamsters, but union president isn’t invited to speak at Democratic convention
Aug 17, 2024, 9:18 AM
FILE - Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)
DETROIT (AP) — Members of the Teamsters will host Vice President Kamala Harris for a roundtable discussion in the near future, but union President Sean O’Brien has yet to get an invitation to speak at next week’s Democratic National Convention.
Kara Deniz, a spokeswoman for the 1.3 million member union, said in an email Friday that the Teamsters are working with Harris’ campaign on dates for the roundtable.
But O’Brien, who angered some Democrats by speaking at the GOP convention last month, has not received a reply to his request to speak at the Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday in Chicago, Deniz said Friday night.
O’Brien made the request to the Democrats at the same time he asked Republicans, she said.
A person briefed on convention planning said Saturday that O’Brien will not speak, but the Teamsters will have a presence on the convention stage. The person, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the schedule, would not give further details.
Democrats have been the party of labor unions for decades, while Republicans largely have greeted them with hostility. Most major unions, including the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, already have endorsed Harris.
But the Teamsters met with her GOP opponent, Donald Trump, in January, and O’Brien received a tepid reception when he spoke on the opening night of the Republican convention in Milwaukee. In his speech, O’Brien criticized both major political parties for not doing enough to help working people.
The Teamsters say the decision on a presidential endorsement will be made after the conventions.
Earlier this year, Trump sat down with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in an effort to earn the union’s support. Emerging from that meeting, Trump boasted that a significant chunk of union voters has backed him and said of a possible Teamsters endorsement, “Stranger things have happened.”
But in a Monday discussion on the social media platform X with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Trump praised Musk for firing workers who went on strike. Musk laughed and agreed with him. Although it wasn’t clear what Trump was referring to, the statements brought rebukes from unions accusing Trump and Musk of being anti-labor.
The United Auto Workers even filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that statements from Trump and Musk interfered with workers who may want to join a union. The NLRB said it would investigate.
“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign called the allegations frivolous and a “shameless political stunt.”
O’Brien also criticized Trump and Musk in a statement. “Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism,” he said.
