With a brash and fiery speech delivered throughout the first night time of the Republican Nationwide Conference (RNC), Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O’Brien was imagined to illustrate a political realignment that is turned the Republican Celebration into the occasion of unionized working-class Individuals.
It is likely to be a intelligent media technique for each O’Brien and his new pals within the GOP. However a better take a look at O’Brien’s largest accomplishment as head of the Teamsters would possibly make some wonder if there’s a lot substance behind the union boss’ apparent aptitude for the cameras.
The factor that launched O’Brien into nationwide political prominence was the Teamsters’ current struggle with UPS, which employs 350,000 Teamsters to drive its vans. In a deal struck final June, the Teamsters received UPS to comply with outfit its fleet with air con, warmth shields, and followers—the type of factor that looks as if a sensible, essential enchancment to the working situations of union members. In a statement on the time, O’Brien promised that “air con is coming to UPS” and referred to as that concession “a big step in the direction of a stronger new actuality for therefore many employees and their households.”
On Monday night time, O’Brien nodded to that win as proof of his union’s energy. “UPS would not present these nice wages and advantages out of the kindness of its coronary heart,” he mentioned. “UPS does it as a result of the Teamsters struggle for it.“
The truth, nonetheless, appears to be like a bit totally different. The contract that the Teamsters and UPS signed only requires air con in vans and vans bought in 2024 and past. In June, CNN reported that UPS has not but bought any new vans that embody air con.
Because of this, Teamsters members working for UPS are still sweltering on the job this summer—whereas their boss turned a victory lap right into a plum talking gig on the RNC.
A supporter of O’Brien’s would possibly argue that progress within the labor second is all the time incremental and that air con solely in newly bought vans is best than no air con in any respect. Truthful sufficient.
But when unions had been important to extracting these concessions from employers, why are Amazon’s non-union supply drivers working in fully air-conditioned trucks?
This is not actually a debate over the effectiveness of the Teamsters as a union—even whether it is value mentioning that some members of the union have called O’Brien’s a lot ballyhooed take care of UPS “a weak deal” that left part-time drivers behind to be able to rating one other win that performed nicely within the media: a half-true claim that the typical full-time driver will earn greater than $170,000 yearly. Others (together with the union’s vp) are quite unhappy with how O’Brien has snuggled up with Trump and different Republicans.
Actually, this ought to lift questions concerning the effectiveness of unions, interval. And that ought to give pause to the Republicans who’ve been flirting with the Teamsters and different unions—figures like Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.), whom O’Brien singled out for reward on Monday. Republicans used to know that there was a distinction between being pro-worker and being pro-union. The previous means supporting insurance policies that encourage financial progress and labor mobility, whereas the latter means letting bosses like O’Brien get applause whereas the precise working situations do not enhance. It is comprehensible why most nonunion American workers aren’t interested in joining a union as of late, and there is a motive why states with decrease unionization charges have been extra profitable at attracting companies and employees in recent times.
“We’re right here to say that we aren’t beholden to anybody or any occasion,” O’Brien said throughout his remarks to the RNC on Monday night time. Good for him. Extra Individuals ought to really feel much less dedicated to blind partisanship—and to the extent {that a} political realignment breaks up the maintain Democratic politicians have had on the voters of union employees, that is all nice and dandy.
However one may also ask whether or not O’Brien feels beholden to the members of the union he leads or if he is placing political spectacle forward of doing his precise job.
