Andrew Harnik / AP
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks after meeting with members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at their headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024.
Sunday, July 14, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien should not speak at the Republican National Convention.
Doing so, regardless of the message, only normalizes and makes palatable the most antiunion party and president I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Teamster members and leaders have the right to demand an answer to the questions: What does the general president intend to say? What does he hope to achieve from such an appearance?
Does O’Brien intend to remind the anti-union delegates that labor unions exist to ensure that workers — regardless of their race, sex, gender, gender identity or religion — equally enjoy the security and fairness that a written labor agreement provides? The labor movement from its inception has been about expansion of rights for all workers.
Is he going to state the obvious fact that unions’ ability to achieve these goals is being stripped away by the current overzealous Supreme Court?
Most of these justices have been appointed by the same Republicans who will be at this convention. This court just overturned the decades-old Chevron decision, paving the way for corporate challenges to rules adopted by administrative agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Labor Relations Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and others responsible for protection of the environment and workers’ safety and rights. That ruling will open the door for judges who have corporate backgrounds and biases to substitute their opinions for the expertise of these government agencies. It will allow employers to bring meritless but endless lawsuits, effectively tying up the agencies’ efforts to prevent union-busting and the weakening of safety rules and environmental protections.
Is O’Brien going to confront Donald Trump and his Republican Party for continuing to support right-to-work legislation across the country? Republican governors in red states have openly and publicly opposed the unionization drives at Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz, going as far as to threaten to withhold state subsidies if employees exercise their democratic and legally protected right to vote by secret ballot to form a union.
Trump openly attacks immigrants as criminals, an attack on many hardworking and loyal American citizens whom the Teamsters Union is proud to represent.
His party and his Supreme Court have struck down the rights women have had to control their own bodies and protect their own health and well-being.
Trump and his party have endangered the physical and medical safety of the LBGTQ community by turning a blind eye to repressive state legislation.
As Teamsters, we owe a continued commitment to these communities, especially to those who are our members.
Trump has supported the growth of armed right-wing forces that adhere to a radical racial ideology, including those who engaged in a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump calls these criminals “hostages” and “patriots.” The IBT headquarters overlooks the Capitol building. No one who saw those armor-clad, weapon-wielding rioters would call them anything other than what they were: insurrectionists determined to stop the orderly and peaceful transfer of power to the legitimately elected president.
Trump foments blame and hatred against Blacks, Latinos, Asians, Muslims, Americans and immigrants, accusing them of being responsible for many problems both real and imagined.
All of this is directly contrary to the goals of the labor movement. It is no surprise that Trump echoes language used by Hitler in “Mein Kampf.” Nor should we forget that labor unions and their leaders were among the early targets for elimination by the Nazi regime.
What pro-worker accomplishments can O’Brien point to during Trump’s term? Trump could have supported the Butch Lewis Act and saved multiemployer pension plans. But he could not be bothered. Not a single Republican senator voted in favor of the bill passed by the Biden administration with the help of two newly elected Georgia senators and supported by the Teamsters Union but which Trump opposed and belittled. This one bill saved pensions for hundreds of thousands of workers.
Trump removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accords and its protections. His reckless disregard for the climate has affected workers and communities everywhere. Putting a handful of air conditioners in a few UPS vehicles does not protect all drivers from 102-degree heat.
Trump supports corporate efforts to automate industries, including the use of robotics and AI. The consequence of this automation is eliminating Teamster jobs in freight, grocery, warehousing and many other industries across the United States.
Trump and his party support the privatization of public services and public education such as vouchers, charters and the use of public monies for religious schools.
What happened to the separation of church and state? This party actively supports the banning of books from schools and public libraries in red states.
Trump passed and still supports major tax cuts for billionaires and huge corporations. Those billionaires oppose unionization and want to dismantle the National Labor Relations Board.
These are not Democratic or Republican issues, or even union and nonunion issues. They are issues that will determine the future of American workers — indeed, the well-being of the entire world’s population. It is unconscionable for any Labor leader to lend an air of legitimacy to a candidate and a political party, neither of which can be said to have done or can be expected to do, anything to improve the lives of the workers we are pledged to represent.
In a Teamsters poll, the majority of members chose not to support Trump. Members should demand that O’Brien not participate in the RNC, nor allow himself to disgrace this union by creating the false impression that Teamsters members support Trump and all he stands for.
Remember the Mar-a-Lago “thumbs up” photo and the travesty in the IBT headquarters lobby? We have been used enough. If O’Brien is going to satisfy his ego, if he’s going to pander and beg for Republicans to abandon their antiunion policies, then the Teamsters’ membership would be better served if O’Brien stayed home.
John Palmer is vice president at large of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
