The next is a transcript of an interview with Sean O’Brien, president of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Sept. 1, 2024.
NANCY CORDES: We flip now to Sean O’Brien. He’s the president of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of many nation’s largest labor unions, and he joins us this morning from Boston. President O’Brien, thanks a lot for being with us on this Labor Day weekend. I wish to begin out by asking you about endorsements, you lead one of many 10 largest unions on this nation, and I wish to put this graphic up. Have a look. The opposite 9 have all issued their endorsements for President of the US. They’ve all endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and her working mate, Tim Walz. It’s now September 1. The place has summer time gone? When do the teamsters plan to announce who they’re endorsing?
SEAN O’BRIEN: Nicely, I feel traditionally, the teamsters have at all times endorsed after each respective conventions. It is a little totally different. This time, beneath our management, we introduced each single candidate to the desk in entrance of our rank and file members and our common government board, and we’re ready on Vice President Harris to commit to come back meet with us.
NANCY CORDES: And I consider her campaign- marketing campaign says they’re working with you to determine a date for that. You recognize, her insurance policies are kind of consistent with the present President, who you probably did sit down with whenever you thought that he was going to be the nominee, once we all thought he was going to be the nominee. Are there any considerations that you’ve got about Harris presumably being much less professional labor, much less professional union than the present President?
SEAN O’BRIEN: So our union is loads totally different than most unions. We characterize 1.3 million members. Half of our members are Republicans, half of our members are Democrats. So we now have to serve all of our membership equally. Look, everyone has a distinct type of management. We wish the chance to sit down down with Vice President Harris. I imply, I mentioned to somebody the opposite day, you do not rent somebody except you give them an interview. And you recognize, that is our alternative to ask her about Teamster particular points and likewise labor points. So till we now have that assembly, you recognize, clearly we’ll wait to make that dedication.
NANCY CORDES: In a short time, you did not endorse anybody again in 1996, is that- is there a chance that would occur once more?
SEAN O’BRIEN: Look, we wish to make certain we make the most effective choice and endorse the most effective candidate for labor. You recognize, 1996 was a very long time in the past. It is all going to be pushed by our rank and file members and our management. We’re a really, very Democratic union.
NANCY CORDES: Bought it. Sean O’Brien, stick with us. We’ll have extra questions for you after the break. We’ll be proper again.
NANCY CORDES: Welcome again to Face the Nation. We proceed our dialog now with Teamsters President Sean O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien, thanks a lot for sticking with us. One among your fellow unions, the United Auto Employees, filed federal labor prices towards the Republican nominee Donald Trump after he appeared to have fun the notion of firing staff who go on strike. That occurred in a dialog that he was having with Elon Musk. Are you with the UAW on this? Do you assist the motion they took?
SEAN O’BRIEN: Look, I assist anyone that assaults labor, they need to be held accountable, and any group that is going to carry them accountable. I can not communicate for the UAW. However when you recall when these remarks had been made by former President Trump, I used to be the primary union to name them out, name the administration out, and name, fairly frankly, Elon Musk out. I have been preventing company billionaires in greed for the final two and a half years. And you recognize, UAW feels they’ve a proper to file a NLRB cost, that is their proper. I’ve acquired a proper to name out former President Trump or anyone else that assaults labor.
NANCY CORDES: Yeah, if I am remembering appropriately, you known as it financial terrorism. How did it go over together with your members?
SEAN O’BRIEN: Look, our members love the truth that they’ve a voice, that they’ve the power to face up and combat company America. It has been a very long time coming. Over the past two and a half years, the Teamsters union has had 226 strikes. We have grown greater than we ever have. So there’s a nice urge for food for the combat with our rank and file members, and our rank and file members allow us to combat for them day in and time out.
NANCY CORDES: That is an ideal segue into my subsequent query, which is about union membership on this nation. It’s Labor Day weekend, in any case. So let’s check out the state of union labor on this nation. About 10% of the US workforce are union members, down from about 20% in 1983. A majority of Individuals say that is unhealthy. That decline is unhealthy for working individuals. Is the decline irreversible in your view?
SEAN O’BRIEN: The decline is certainly irreversible. Now let’s look again, you recognize, to 1983 that is when a bipartisan congressional invoice was handed, trucking deregulation, and we misplaced 400,000 members. Lots of corporations went bankrupt. So you recognize, though there’s a number of politicians taking credit score for the labor motion of the final couple of years, they’re the identical politicians that precipitated this drawback that we face right this moment. However to reply your query, I feel we’re positively on the upswing. We’ve proved how worthwhile the American employee is to this nation, particularly via one of many greatest disaster we confronted was a pandemic, and that has clearly incentivized staff to type unions, and we have set to work collaboratively with each side to be sure that individuals be capable of arrange with out retribution or retaliation transferring ahead, and that is as much as politicians, whether or not an R or D or I.
NANCY CORDES: 5:37
You recognize, you shared that message on the Republican Conference, a transfer that some members of Teamsters management did- didn’t approve of. They had been fairly vocal about that. It seems that it additionally value you a talking slot on the Democratic Conference. Did the Democrats ever inform you why they did not offer you an opportunity to talk?
SEAN O’BRIEN: No, they did not. And look, I will say this, regardless of the critics on the market, they usually’re only a few, within the management. At any time when I get a possibility to spotlight the American employee, particularly the Teamster employee, I will take any and all venue. We requested each conventions, respectively, on the identical time, and the Republican Nationwide Conference instantly responded to us. Did not try to edit any of our messages, and I used to be hopeful that the Democrats would do the identical, however they did not. I am not upset about it, however I can inform you this, my rank and file members, who’ve been lifelong Democrats, usually are not comfortable about it.
NANCY CORDES: 6:32
I do know there have been some members of the union who spoke, however that is not the identical as having the chief of the group communicate. In a short time, did you select to talk on the Republican Conference, which is a fairly uncommon transfer for a union chief, since you really feel that Trump has been extra professional labor than previous Republican nominees?
SEAN O’BRIEN: No, under no circumstances. I spoke there as a result of it was the power to spotlight how essential we’re. It was the power to name out the individuals, the company elitist who overlook who constructed this nation, the American staff. You recognize, individuals wish to, you recognize, have their very own opinions on why we had been there, however I used to be there to speak in regards to the American staff. It wasn’t an endorsement for any and all Republicans. It was strictly a message about how essential and the way worthwhile we’re, and to let the individuals know that combat us daily, that we’re not going away.
NANCY CORDES: Understood. Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters, thanks a lot, and we’ll be trying ahead to listening to who your union ultimately endorses. Thanks for being right here, and we’ll be proper again.
