Breaking: Teamsters begin voting for presidential endorsement

Union polls membership for top 5 political issues

Rank-and-file teamsters are encouraged to vote now on presidential endorsement. (Photo: Jim Allen / FreightWaves)

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced Friday that its membership would be voting on the union’s endorsement for U.S. president this election year.

According to a Facebook post from the organization, rank-and-file teamsters are encouraged to vote now on presidential endorsement. The post says that the union’s 1.6 million members and retirees recently received the latest issue of Teamster Magazine, which includes a QR code on the back page to cast votes for who the union should endorse for U.S. president in 2024.

The poll lists presidential contenders Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West as options to vote for endorsing. Voting undecided, no endorsement or write-ins are also options.

Additionally, the poll asks members to rank the top five political issues that they would like to see addressed by the Teamsters Union including: abortion, automation and AI, climate change, fighting corporate greed, immigration, inflation and cost of living, protecting union rights, quality affordable health care, retirement security and pensions, and right to work.

The Facebook post states that all members are eligible for and strongly encouraged to participate in the polling effort. The polling will continue through the end of August.

“Stay tuned for more updates from the Teamsters Union on a possible Presidential endorsement, which will be dictated and driven by the will of the members,” the post states.

The post comes over a week after the Teamsters announced a roundtable meeting invitation to Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on July 22. Harris’ campaign has yet to make a statement on if she will accept the invitation or not.

In a historic first, Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention in July. The union’s president is also slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention later this month. 

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is the largest union in the U.S. The organization has not yet made an endorsement for president this year.

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Caleb Revill

Caleb Revill is a journalist, writer and lifelong learner working as a Junior Writer for Firecrown. When he isn't tackling breaking news, Caleb is on the lookout for fascinating feature stories. Every person has a story to tell, and Caleb wants to help share them! He can be contacted by email anytime at Caleb.Revill@firecrown.com.