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[text/observer network qi qian] on september 18th local time, the north american truck drivers' union "international brotherhood of teamsters" (hereinafter referred to as "teamsters union") announced that the union will not support any presidential candidate in this year's us election.

according to politico and fox news, this latest statement represents a major shift in the teamsters union's position: the union has supported democratic presidential candidates since 1992, and the last time it supported a republican was in 1988. a recently released internal poll showed that nearly 60% of teamsters union members support trump.

"the international brotherhood of teamsters has decided not to endorse any candidate for president of the united states," the teamsters union announced in a statement that day.

the statement said that after six months of member polling, the union found that neither trump nor harris "had made any commitment to the issues most important to the teamsters, and did not find clear support among members for either candidate."

"the union's extensive polling of members shows that harris does not have majority support and trump does not have widespread support among members." the statement said that the union sought commitments from trump and harris not to interfere in important union movements or the union's core industries and to respect members' rights to strike, "but has not yet received these commitments."

earlier in the day, the union's board of directors held an internal vote, with trump and harris receiving 14 votes to 3.

fox news said the teamsters' decision not to support either candidate was a shift in its charter.the powerful union, which represents about 1.3 million workers in the united states and canada, has supported democratic presidential candidates since 1992 and last endorsed a republican in 1988.the union also became the only one among the top ten unions in the united states that did not support harris.

the announcement comes after the teamsters released internal polling of their 2024 candidates. in an online survey, union members supported trump by 59.6%, while harris received 34%. in a telephone survey, members supported trump by 58% and harris by 31%.

data shows that trump's support among truck drivers has soared since harris replaced biden as the democratic presidential candidate. before biden withdrew, union polls showed biden's support among members at 44.3%, ahead of trump's 36.3%.

union president sean o'brien revealed that about 40,000 union members recently participated in the internal survey. earlier this week, o'brien said that the poll of members would be an important consideration. he said in a press release: "our members are the union itself, and their voices and opinions must be at the forefront of everything the union does."

politico noted that the powerful union has deep ties to working-class voters in key swing states that could be crucial to the outcome of the november election. but gregory floyd, vice president of the union, said the result was not a surprise to the union and that it may not ultimately have an impact on the presidential election.

harris' campaign quickly responded to the teamsters' decision. in a statement, harris campaign spokeswoman lauren hitt said trump "believes striking workers should be fired" and harris "stands firmly in support of organized labor." she was referring to trump's statement on the strike last month, when he approved of employers who fired striking workers, sparking criticism from the union.

the statement also emphasized that harris "has a strong record of supporting unions, which is why other teamsters unions and the vast majority of organized labor across the country have expressed their support for her."

at the same time, trump's team emphasized the support of members of the teamsters union.

"union workers support president trump!" carolyn levitt, press secretary for the trump campaign, said in a statement, "the hard-working members of the teamsters have said loud and clear that they want president trump back in the white house! these hard-working men and women are the backbone of america, and trump will give them his unwavering support when he returns to the white house."

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