I know the DNC isn't exactly a pro-union party, but the GOP is an outright anti-union party. I am curious why the Teamsters went with this move, perhaps they want increased protectionism to fight outsourcing of jobs? But the Teamsters are largely truckers, ie you cannot outsource these jobs.
Very odd choice.
It's a bizarre thing, but union workers are often conservatives who completely ignore the anti-union sentiments of the GOP. They think the only union in the world that should exist is their own, and no others.
This is how the GOP is able to convince unions to vote against their own interests. The GOP will tell a union to its face how important it is, earning their votes. Then, once elected, pass legislation harming that same union.
The GOP has also successfully gaslit their base into believing the two best things for unions are controlling immigration and "tax cuts".
Worked in many union shops as a degree operational support function. Typical union front line are dumb fuck conservatives with let's go Brandon bumper stickers. They're making $45/hr and don't realize they're supporting the party that wants them making $14/hr like the warehouse next to theirs.
As someone who worked in a union I can vouch for this ^
Most of the guys I worked with don't even like the union they are in, they felt they were cheated into giving their money away for "no backup"
When in reality these guys would have lost their jobs YEARS AGO but because the union defends them against management, but because these guys can't do what ever the hell they want (ie call in 80 out of 90 days, taking 1 hour breaks, having todo what their job description says) they just don't care...
They also think "They'll never out source our jobs, or robots can't replace us!" When in fact management DID do that years ago but the Union won in deliberations and everyone seems to have forgotten.
I hate this timeline
I swear people are so goddamn dumb...
Fuck I just looked for work yesterday and found a union job pushing a pallet jack around for an overnight position: 60-75k!!
Every single other similar non union job: best I can do is 35k
Most people only consider a few key stances when deciding on a candidate. The GOP is anti-union but that may not be what is most important to truckers in a union.
The truckers themselves, sure. But the union as an organization should care.
I do generally think it's more of a case where American workers are often reactionary due to America's overall circumstances and Material Conditions in the broader geopolitical landscape, than anything else. Nationalism is a big thing in America, Union or not.
Imperialism also inflates Worker's living standards, as well as keeping a domestic underclass of immigrants willing to work for the barest wages via threat of expulsion. Unions can often be anti-immigration because of this, additionally adding to reactionary rhetoric among unions.
The secret ingredient is racism
Thirteen former Black and Hispanic employees for the Teamsters International Union filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the union and its president, Sean O’Brien, alleging racial discrimination over their firings after O’Brien assumed the helm in March 2022.
...
The lawsuit claimed that “rather than maintaining or increasing diversity at Teamsters, IBT [International Brotherhood of Teamsters] fired more than a dozen people of color and turned the Organizing Department from a diverse department into a majority white department”.
The terminations “set back the Organizing Department’s goals of effectively recruiting and organizing non-whites”, it alleged, “in favor of bolstering the majority white membership and leadership of the union. In total, Teamsters terminated 72.73% of the department’s staffers who were people of color, while firing only 28.57% of white staffers. Teamsters then proceeded to hire new staff members who were 73.33% white.”
The lawsuit also claimed that O’Brien “publicly humiliated” the plaintiffs in the case, claiming they were fired because they were “bad apples” and were “lazy” in their work.
e; alright, since someone else brought it up, breaking the railroad strike in 2022 probably didn't do Biden any favors, but the only difference between what Biden did there and what Trump would have done is Trump probably would've tried to find a way to have a SWAT team raid union offices or some crap when he did it, and no union president (whose whole job is dealing with political coalitions and compromises) is going to be dumb enough not to know this, so I maintain racism is the only thing that explains O'Brien's behavior.
e2; Also, every other union saw what Biden did with the rail strike, and y'know what a ton of them did? Endorsed him because they're not getting anyone better this election and they know it.
I can’t even think of a GOP person who wants unions to be a thing.
He didn't actually endorse Trump or Vance which is key. If he had, well, fuck him. But he demanded concessions.
That said: more than anything if you look at the crowd you'll see the remarkable difference between the ruling class attending and the working class base that make up the GOP. That was a speech to the GOP's working class base to make demands.
I have strong doubts if it will be fruitful, but I'm willing to see it out. Took some balls to make that speech without endorsing anyone.
With questionable situations like this I take into account two possibilities:
"We shall do this thing unless a thing happens that convinced us not too!"
Hail Hydra!
Sheeps voting for foxes. What could go wrong?
In the 1980 election, the PATCO (Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) union endorsed Reagan. He fired them all in 1981.
Well deserved, I’d say.
The Teamsters have lost their fucking minds. When does it ever make sense for labor to side with the party of trickle down economics?
Getting in bed early with the ruling class. Hoping to get better treatment when they literally (not figuratively) enslave the working class.
Also greed and a dollop of racism.
Still gonna be a slave, my dude.
Vichy Union
I am gratified to see how upvoted this is
How the fuck?!?
He didn't endorse the GOP, which I thought had happened at first. But it was more of a pro labor speech in the belly of the beast. Kind of wild.
You could see the division within the working class attendees and the elitists, with the latter squirming.
The crowd booed Mitch McConnell, for context.
Teamsters were part of the AFL as a “skilled labor union” pre-great-depression. What’s a “skilled laborer”? You can usually tell by their gender and skin color. Teamsters were also anti-communist and had several leaders who were anti-strikes. The Teamsters were a milquetoast union option that the bosses preferred to a real union as a compromise with organizing workers. They grew quickly.
Merging with the CIO cleaned a lot of this up. The symbol of the AFL-CIO is that of a white hand labeled “AFL” shaking hands with a black hand labeled “CIO”.
Teamsters historically have been an imperfect “foot-in-the-door” union. Something to begin the process of organizing and collective bargaining and giving workers a voice, while being willing to compromise to keep power and stay alive. Don’t look to the teamsters if you want radical change. Look to them to expand the reach of labor unions to white, blue-collar workers that are skeptical of more radical/socialist unions.
He's not going to endorse Trump, but he did give the most pro union speech at the RNC in our countries history. What he did took guts, and it opened a line of communication across the aisle. We need more of that not less.
Anyone that watched that speech knows he didn't give an endorsement of the GOP. The speech was largely pro labor, which both parties have ignored.
The visible confusion to outright discomfort was rather fun to witness, especially from Trump and Vance. JD was sweatin.
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