(ConservativeInsider.org) – In a move that breaks from decades of tradition, the political action committee for the Teamsters union voted to donate $45,000 to the convention fund for the Republican National Committee. The union claims it is a move designed to get leaders in both major parties to listen to “rank-and-file workers.”
Kara Deniz, the spokesperson for the Teamsters, said the check will soon be sent to the RNC. She also reported that the union made a donation for $135,000 to the Democratic National Committee back in December, $45,000 of which is for their convention. The union spokesperson pointed out that the union has not donated to or participated in conventions for both major parties since 2000, the year George W. Bush ran against former Vice President Al Gore.
Deniz made it clear that the union has not decided on who to endorse in the 2024 election yet, though in the last two elections, they endorsed the candidate who was running against Trump (Hillary in 2016 and Biden in 2020). Though the Teamsters are still undecided on their endorsement, the United Auto Workers, which is the largest union strictly for autoworkers, has already endorsed President Joe Biden.
In a mid-February rally in Michigan, a key state for union supporters, Trump told the crowd that undocumented immigrants are “going to take the Teamster jobs.” Trump privately met with Sean O’Brien, the Teamsters president, in January of this year, while also joining in a public meeting with the union on January 31st. While Trump believes he has a “good shot” at earning the Teamsters endorsement, O’Brien isn’t so sure, saying that Biden has “been great for unions.”
Many Teamsters members have spoken against the decision by the union’s PAC to donation to the RNC, including Teamsters vice president, John Palmer, who voted against the RNC convention donation. Other Teamsters members said they would not longer donate to the Teamsters PAC because they feel Republicans do not support unions or workers.
There are approximately 1.3 million workers represented by the Teamsters Union, and UPS employs almost a third of them.
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