Teachers union head glad Teamsters chief ‘savaged big business’ in RNC speech

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is “glad” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien spoke at the RNC. 

“Personally, I am glad @Teamsters president Sean O’Brien was at the RNC,” she posted on the social platform X. “And [I’m] glad that he savaged big business for their greed. Education used to be a bi-partisan issue until the GOP thought defunding was a better strategy than helping all kids thrive.” 

O’Brien was the first Teamsters president to ever speak at a Republican National Convention, and during the speech, he slammed “elites” whose only “loyalty is to the balance sheet.” 

“Against gigantic multinational corporations, an individual worker has zero power. It’s only when Americans band together in democratic unions that we win real improvements on wages, benefits and working conditions,” O’Brien said. 

During the speech, O’Brien said “working people have no chance of winning,” adding that he was at the convention because he “refuses to keep doing the same thing my predecessors did.” 

Unlike most other unions, the Teamsters have not yet endorsed President Biden. Unions are an important voting bloc within the Democratic party, and Biden has styled himself as the nation’s “most pro-union president.”

Reuters reported Monday that the Teamsters may choose not to endorse Biden or any other candidate. 

Biden made history earlier this year by walking a United Auto Workers picket line, becoming the first president ever to do so. 

Throughout the campaign, former President Trump and Republicans have been working to woo union voters in industrial states including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania — three critical swing states that may determine the election. 

After Trump met with the leaders of the Teamsters in January, he speculated he might receive an endorsement from the union, saying, “Stranger things have happened.” 

“Usually a Republican wouldn’t get that endorsement,” he said. “But in my case it’s different, because I’ve employed thousands of Teamsters, and I thought we should come over and pay our respects.”

O’Brien’s has also visited Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Florida, and the Teamsters have donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee. 

O’Brien was the convention’s last speaker Monday night, and he also thanked Trump for “opening the doors” of the convention to him as a union president. 

Most unions do not support Trump, and Weingarten has been an outspoken critic of Trump since he was elected, saying a second Trump presidency would “send the country backward.” She has also been a regular target of attack by Republican leaders.

After Trump announced Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate earlier Monday, other union leaders from across the country criticized the pick, calling Vance a “shill” who is not “pro-worker.” 

“Don’t be fooled—behind all his slick rhetoric, JD Vance is just another shill for the corporate class who will sell out workers to corporate America. This ticket isn’t pro-worker or pro-union. It’s the billionaire ticket through and through,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, posted on X.