The Teamsters’ political committee has donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee for the first time in 20 years, according to a report.
The donation came the same day former President Donald Trump met with the Teamsters’ leadership for the second time in January, according to the Washington Post, which reported the donation on Wednesday.
Although the powerful organized labor group has historically supported Democrats — it sent the Democratic National Committee $135,000 in December as well as $15,000 in March 2023 — the donation to the RNC is the first one since it last donated $15,000 in 2004, according to the paper.
Although the donation has reportedly outraged some of the union’s left-leaning leaders and members, Trump is popular among a lot of rank-and-file union members, the Post reported.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak after meeting with members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at their headquarters in Washington, Wednesday, January 31, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/AP)
The union represents about 1.3 million UPS and other transportation workers, according to the Post. The group endorsed Barack Obama in 2012 and 2008, Hillary Clinton in 2016, and President Joe Biden in 2020, but has not yet endorsed anyone for 2024, despite other unions already endorsing Biden.
One Teamsters executive board member, John Palmer, said the RNC donation looks like a “tacit endorsement” of Trump.
“We’ve never done anything like this in my time on the board,” he said. “I suspect the play is that we’ll have a bit more leverage with the GOP, but it appears like a tacit endorsement of Trump.”
The Post cited as Biden’s wins for the labor movement installing a labor advocate at the helm of the National Labor Relations Board who has made it easier for workers to join unions and approving trillions of dollars in federal spending on infrastructure, semiconductor, and climate packages that incentivize companies to hire union workers.
However, the paper said, Biden in 2022 drew backlash from railroad workers after he asked Congress to impose a union contract in order to avert a strike that did not include paid sick days.
In January, while meeting with union workers in Wisconsin, Biden accidentally put on a hardhat backwards, posing for photos along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
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