Sam Cabral
Reporting from Washington

Image source, Getty Images

The Teamsters form America’s largest union, representing some 1.3 million members in the US and Canada, including freight drivers and warehouse workers.

It was the only major union yet to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race – and it has now said it will not endorse a candidate for the first time since 1996.

The announcement, coming less than 50 days out from election day, is a major blow to the Harris campaign’s efforts to win over working-class voters. Teamsters membership is particularly high in the all-important swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

While the Teamsters have largely allied themselves with the more labour-friendly Democrats, President Sean O’Brien has expanded outreach to Republicans over the past couple of years.

In a concerted push by the Trump campaign to snag the union’s endorsement, O’Brien became the first Teamsters boss ever to speak at the Republican National Convention, addressing the party’s voters in a primetime speaking slot this July although he did not endorse Trump at the time.

Democrats meanwhile did not invite O’Brien to speak at their party’s national convention in August, though Teamsters membership was represented at the three-day event.

Harris met with the Teamsters board on Monday in what the New York Times described as a “sometimes tense” sit-down, but ahead of its Wednesday decision, the union released polling that showed nearly two-to-one support for Trump over Harris among its rank-and-file membership, external.

In announcing its decision not to endorse, however, the Teamsters said they were 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”.