UAW President Shawn Fain joined MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss the Teamsters’ lack of endorsement for either candidate. In his usual direct manner, Fain spelled it out very clearly why Harris-Walz is the only choice for Labor:
O’DONNELL: So, there he is cheering on firing striking workers and yet today the Teamsters union decided that they could not decide who to endorse in this presidential campaign. You did not have any struggle with that question.
FAIN: It is a simple equation for us and a really simple question to answer for us. This is a “which side are you on” moment for working-class people in this country and it is very clear where Donald Trump stands and where Kamala Harris stands. You know, let’s talk about Donald Trump. He was president. Where was he and what did he do when he was president? When factories were closing, and workers were being left behind, he was missing in action. He did nothing to stop it. And where are all of the manufacturing jobs and industrial plan that Donald Trump enacted when he was president? I will give you a clue, there wasn’t one. But we look at Kamala Harris and the body of work of the Harris and Biden administration, after they dealt with the wreckage of Trump’s massive failure to act during a pandemic, they came up with the American rescue plan which saved hundreds of thousands of pensions. They came up with the industrial recovery act, Inflation Reduction Act, I’m sorry, and also the CHIPS Act and they actually came up with an industrial plan. as we speak there are over 30 plants, manufacturing plants in the United States that are being planned, that have been built or are being built. that is the biggest industrial plan we have ever seen in my lifetime. So, it goes back to that, you know? Trump is all talk and Kamala Harris has done the work, so we know who stands with us and you look at the Teamsters situation. I don’t speak for their leadership, but we’ve done the numbers going back to 2008 and when you look at union households and working-class people, it has been very consistent with unions, union workers. 65% typically vote Democrat; 32% vote Republican and you know when you look at all of the Teamster councils that came out today, endorsing Harris and Biden, I’m sorry, Harris-Walz. You look in Michigan, 245,000 active and retired workers have endorsed Harris and Walz. Look at Nevada, the council out there, Ii think it is Council 42. 300,000 members endorsed Harris and Walz. Look at New York, the largest local endorsed Harris-Walz. Look at Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania council, Philadelphia, they all endorsed Harris-Walz. I believe the numbers are really accurate with where we stand and we’ve just got to do the work and I believe that is going to happen. Working-class people are tired of being left behind and Donald Trump is not the answer to our problems.
Indeed. If the gentle reader looks at the events as they unrolled on Wednesday, Team Felon must still be in a daze.
The Teamsters originally came out with an announcement that they were not going to make an endorsement in the presidential race. Immediately, Team Felon started calling this non-endorsement a victory, because of a phone poll that showed a high number for Felon Trump, and you all know how he loves his ratings.
But hold on. There’s more. There’s always more. It turns out that Trump was premature in his celebrating, a fact to which I’m sure Stormy Daniels could attest.
At the bottom of the actual statement from the Teamsters, where no one but I read, is this vital bit of information:
While Harris pledged, if elected, to sign the PRO Act, an essential piece of labor legislation strengthening union protections, and criticized dangerous “right to work” laws that are enacted to bankrupt unions, Trump would not commit to veto national “right to work” legislation if he returned to the White House.
“‘Right to work’ laws only exist to try to kill labor unions,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “It is a red line for the Teamsters and must be for any union when a candidate for elected office does not oppose such anti-worker legislation. It’s too important an issue for the labor movement as a whole to be left up to state legislatures.”
Then, in a testament to how the Teamsters really feel about this race, council board members and officers raced to convene meetings. The results were like something out of the movies, when the cavalry came riding in to save the day.
The West Coast Teamsters Joint Council came out with an endorsement for Harris-Walz. The Teamster Upper Midwest Joint Council quickly echoed this. An endorsement from Joint Council 39, based in Wisconsin, also threw their hat in for Harris-Walz:
And lastly, as of the time of this writing, the Teamsters men and women of ever-important swing state of Pennsylvania also joined the Harris-Walz camp:
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Now, as the ketchup is flying in Merde Lardo, a word to my Teamsters Brothers and Sisters – Guys, I love ya, but you all really gotta do something about that Scabby Rat Sean O’Brien, and do it fast.
