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11 Local Unions and Joint Councils Have Endorsed Harris Campaign in 24 Hours
Endorsements Include Teamsters in Critical Swing States of PA, WI, MI, NV
Local Teamsters unions across the country, including in key battleground states of Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, have rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz. Collectively, these unions represent one million Teamsters. These local Teamsters have committed to immediately begin knocking doors and engaging in other voter contact efforts across the battlegrounds. Many Teamsters have also taken to the airwaves — on local and national television — to make sure their members know that Kamala Harris has spent her entire career championing labor, while Donald Trump celebrated firing striking workers and his Project 2025 agenda would fundamentally undermine the right to organize.
The list of local Teamsters organizations endorsing Vice President Harris includes:
- Teamster Retirees
- Teamsters National Black Caucus
- Teamsters Joint Council 43 (Michigan)
- Teamsters Joint Council 39 (Wisconsin)
- Teamsters Joint Council 42 (Southern Nevada)
- Teamsters Joint Council 7 (Northern Nevada)
- Teamsters Joint Council 40 (Western PA and Northern WV)
- Teamsters Joint Council 28 (WA, AK and Northern ID)
- Teamsters Joint Council 32 (MN, IA, ND, SD, and WI)
- Teamsters Joint Council 25 (Illinois)
- Teamsters Joint Council 13 (Missouri)
- Teamsters Local 623 (Philadelphia, PA)
- Teamsters Local 122 (Boston, MA)
- Teamsters Local 186 (Ventura, CA)
- Teamsters Local 572 (Carson, CA)
- Teamsters Local 769 (Miami, FL)
- Teamsters Local 848 (Long Beach, CA)
- Teamsters Local 238 (Cedar Rapids, IA)
- Teamsters Local 237 (NYC)
- Teamsters Local 396 (Southern California)
- Teamsters Local 89 (Kentucky and Indiana)
- Teamsters Local 202 (New York)
Teamsters and other labor leaders have also spoken out to state their support for the Vice President:
On WXYZ (Detroit, MI) Michigan Teamsters President Kevin Moore: “In Michigan, we understand this is a blue wall state. We’ve seen four years of Donald Trump. It’s the same old rhetoric and we’re not going back. Tim Walz and Kamala Harris give us a vision for all people.”
On WNEM (CBS Flint, MI), Michigan Teamsters President Kevin Moore: “Our people in Michigan are fired up and they’re ready to go to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. […] We’ve seen Donald Trump’s four years. We know what the sequel will be — same old, same old. […] our people and our citizens in Michigan can see through all the rhetoric and lies. They want substance, they want action. They don’t want a lot of hatred and vile-spewed negativity.”
On WWMT (CBS Grand Rapids, MI): Reporter: “Michigan Teamsters President Kevin Moore says that Harris and Walz have consistently demonstrated their dedication to championing the labor movement. […]
Michigan Teamsters President Kevin Moore: “The joint council and the teamsters of Michigan know it’s too important… We’re going to do a full force endorsement for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
On Scripps News, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain: “I believe their union, just like our union, and most other unions I know of in this country, are going to vote heavily for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. It’s a clear cut choice [between] who stands with working people, and who doesn’t.”
On MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain: “Donald Trump showed that through whatever you call that town hall, that he has no clue what autoworkers or any working-class people in this country, the reality they are living… So you know it is sad, but it is just a testament to who [Trump] is and what he represents. He doesn’t give a damn about working-class people, he never has and he never will. I’ve said it before and I will say it until Donald Trump loses, Trump is all talk. Kamala Harris walks the walk and we know who is on our side.”
On CNN’s News Central, Teamsters Black Caucus Chair James Curbeam: “We got to make sure we educate our cohorts about what is best for us, and I say us as working people. We cannot vote against our own best interests. And we talk about strikes. Donald Trump laughed at us and talking about strikes, he applauded Elon Musk for [allegedly] firing workers and any elected official past or present to laugh at us and workers standing up for their right is a problem.”
In Spectrum News, Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd said “‘Our members want me to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States,’ Floyd told NY1 in an exclusive interview.
“Floyd said Harris is the candidate for working people, pointing to legislation passed under the Biden administration that provided tens of billions of dollars to shore up the union’s financially troubled pension plan.”
In the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Teamsters Joint Council 39 President Bill Carroll “said as vice president for President Joe Biden, Harris has been part of ‘the most pro-union administration ever.’
“‘As vice president of the most pro-union administration ever, Kamala Harris worked with the Teamsters and other union workers to pass the historic Butch Lewis Act which has saved the pensions of over a million retirees to date,’ Carroll said.”
In CNN, Teamsters Black Caucus Chair James Curbeam said that he was disappointed Teamsters President Sean O’Brien did not stand up to former President Donald Trump, whom he described as a “bully,” and questioned the polling the union cited to defend it’s decision to not endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in nearly three decades.
Teamsters said internal polling showed that a majority of its members supported Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris. Curbeam asked, “What is the actual number of people that took part in the polls?” and claimed that “the poll numbers are skewed.”
“‘Any labor leader thinking that Donald Trump is the candidate of choice should turn their union card in. This man laughed at the most valuable tool that all labor unions have, that is a strike,’ Curbeam said, referring to a conversation between Trump and Elon Musk last month in which Trump applauded Musk for supposedly firing workers.
“Curbeam said the union’s Black Caucus is doing its own organizing in support of Harris.”
In Rolling Stone, Michigan Teamsters Joint Council 43: “Both Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz have consistently demonstrated their dedication to championing the labor movement, safeguarding social security, and ensuring access to qualify healthcare for All Americans, including women’s reproductive rights.”
In Politico, Teamsters Joint Councils 7 and 42: “which are made up of 39 local unions representing 300,000 members in California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam — wrote in a statement that Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have a history of supporting expanded labor protections for workers, like the proposed Protect the Right to Organize Act and a Minnesota law that will ban employers from forcing workers to attend anti-labor meetings.”
In TribLive, Pennsylvania Teamsters Joint Council 40 President Carl Bailey: “said the vote by board members to back Harris, the Democratic candidate, over GOP nominee Donald Trump was unanimous.
“He said Western Pennsylvania Teamsters endorsed Harris because “she is the best for our locals and the best for unions.”
“He cited Harris’ support for the PRO Act, a bill to expand labor protections to workers across the country, even in states with anti-labor organizing laws.
“Bailey also praised Harris and President Joe Biden for helping save the pensions of Teamsters, including those of local members, as part of federal aid during the pandemic.
“‘We will never forget that,’ Bailey told TribLive Wednesday.”
In the Chicago Tribune, Teamsters Joint Council 25: “‘We experienced four years under Donald Trump,’ Gianni said. ‘Dealing with the [National Labor Relations Board], for example, proved to be incredibly difficult under his anti-union appointees and policies.’
“Harris, Gianni said, would be a ‘stronger voice for working people.’”
In KGAN (CBS Cedar Rapids, IA), Teamsters Local 238 Principal Officer Jesse Case said “Vice President Kamala Harris has been an integral part of the most pro-union presidential administration since Franklin D. Roosevelt,” said Jesse Case, Principal Officer of Teamsters Local 238. “Her steadfast support for labor has been evident in every step she’s taken alongside President Biden, including their critical effort to save hundreds of thousands of Teamsters’ pensions, and their commitment to rebuild the National Labor Relations Board into an organization that consistently defends the rights of workers. We trust her leadership and vision to continue advancing the fight for working people from the White House.” |
