Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien railed against “corporate elites” and a “broken” labor system in a defense of the American worker during his historic address to the Republican National Convention (RNC) Monday night in Milwaukee.
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The speech marked the first time a leader of the 121-year-old union addressed the RNC, as O’Brien called out major corporations for having “waged a war against labor by forming corporate unions of their own.” He acknowledged that his presence at the convention had some left-leaning critics calling him a “traitor,” with right-wing anti-union activists displaying backlash of their own.
“We all know how Washington is run,” said O’Brien. “Working people have no chance of winning this fight. That’s why I’m here today, because I refuse to keep doing the same things my predecessors did.”
In an ironic twist, O’Brien evoked his fiery exchange with Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) at a senate hearing last year, telling the audience, “It’s time for both sides of Congress to stand their butts up.”
O’Brien called for reform across numerous areas of the labor spectrum that have recently impacted many of the 1.3 million members who are unionized with the Teamsters.
“We need legal protections that make it safer for workers to get a contract. We must stop corporations from abandoning local communities to inflate their bottom line. We need meaningful bankruptcy reform today,” O’Brien said. “Corporate vultures buy up companies like Yellow Freight with the intent of driving them into bankruptcy and feasting on their remains. The courts leave workers begging for crumbs as third-tier creditors.”
The 17-minute speech included O’Brien appearing to take a veiled shot at Amazon for its failure to recognize the Amazon Labor Union, which organized two years ago out of a warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y.
“Americans vote for a union, but can never get a union contract ,” O’Brien said. “Companies fire workers who try to join unions and hide behind toothless laws that are meant to protect working people but are manipulated to benefit corporations. This is economic terrorism at its best, an individual cannot withstand such an assault. A fired worker cannot afford corporate delays, and these greedy employers know it. There are no consequences for the company, only the worker.”
O’Brien had some overt criticisms of Amazon, calling it “sickening” that the company “has abandoned any national allegiance,” in which its “sole focus is on lining its own pockets.”
The outspoken union leader referred to the e-commerce giant, alongside Uber, Lyft and Walmart, as arguments for corporate welfare overhaul, saying that they “offer no real health insurance, no retirement benefits and no paid leave, relying on underfunded public assistance. And who fits the bill? The individual taxpayer.”
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According to O’Brien, former President and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump invited him to the convention, with the Teamsters chief calling him “one tough S.O.B.” after surviving an assassination attempt during a rally Saturday. He also praised Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance as one of several lawmakers that “truly care about working people.”
At the convention O’Brien highlighted the efforts of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who voted for an amendment from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to add seven paid sick days to the rail workers’ contract in late 2022. Hawley changed his position on national right-to-work laws in the aftermath, saying he no longer supports these laws.
Despite the compliments to Trump and Vance, the union has not decided yet on who it plans on endorsing in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. The decision is not going to be revealed until after both nominating conventions, but a report from Reuters says deep internal divisions within the union could result in no backing of any candidate.
The Teamsters have given official support to a candidate in every election since 1996.
The Teamsters endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020, as well as Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. George H.W. Bush was the union’s last endorsed Republican candidate in 1988, with the organization also endorsing Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon during their election years.
“We are not beholden to anyone or any party,” O’Brien said. “We will create an agenda and work with a bipartisan coalition ready to accomplish something real for the American worker.”
Support for Trump, or none at all, would be a significant blow to the Biden administration , particularly since the president has previously touted himself as “the most pro-union president in American history.
The Teamsters held roundtables with both Biden and Trump this year and hosted roughly 300 local events with workers to gauge their opinions on the presidential election.
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